Rebecca Patterns

We really like patterns from Rebecca magazine in general, they're some of the best available in the US right now (even though they're German :-)). Some of their patterns are even available free online, and we really recommend them if you want to test them out. Original and cool designs, nice shaping, simple charts... The main problem is that the yarns they recommend are heinously expensive. We thought we'd provide you with some perfectly acceptable alternatives for some of our favorites.

Ribbon sweater with fur bands (Fall 02)

This lovely sweater for instance is a recent one in grey ribbon with a furry trim. We like the look as is, although of course one could go a lot wilder in the colors. But it's a simple matter to translate it to our own yarns, no matter what colorways you have in mind. The desired gauge is 9-10 st/10cm, which is the important part.

The most obvious interpretation is almost a literal one. Here is a sample swatch knit from Deco-Ribbon (101 white with black stripe) which we get to gauge perfectly on size 10.5 needles. The trim is in plain Splash (0202 ebony) on the same needles.

Deco-Ribbon grey swatch

This sweater in Deco-Ribbon is very easy to translate, since the 73m/50g of the original is very close to the 80y/50g of our equivalent, with only a fraction of a yard more. So you'd need 8 balls for the smaller size given (400g), and 9 for the medium (450g). And of course no more than one ball of Splash, which would be ample for the trim.

A good alternative would be Iceland, which for us knits up to the same 10st/10cm gauge on size 13 needles. You could use a printed version to maintain the same varigated look. And it would make a soft but warmer sweater more suitable for the winter. Iceland gives 110 yds/100g ball, or just over 100m. So you'd need 6 balls for the smaller sweater, and 7 for the medium.

Here is another sample swatch knit from 2 strands of Merino Frappe held together (010 ivory and 004 charcoal), which we also get to gauge on size 10.5 needles. While the original sweater is in ribbon, we feel this particular combination would give something very close to the original look, but much warmer and cozier.

Merino Frappe grey swatch

The quantities in Merino Frappe would be somewhat different, since we get 140y/50g for that. So you'd need 4 balls of each color for the smaller size, 5 for the medium. And the one ball of black Splash.

We did test the trim in doubled Fizz as well, but we don't recommend it. It's much softer than it looks and so it feels perfectly fine against the neck. But the resulting fabric just doesn't have enough body to make anything but a very droopy trim. It'd be fine if you wanted to extend it to a lacey cowl neck, but for this particular sweater it would look inadequate. The Splash is much denser and makes a much more satisfactory trim, not to mention its shine is in our opinion a nice addition, a counterpoint to the sleek ribbon or a contrast to the matte merino.