US yarn in the UK
Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling in the UK: closest UK yarns
We couldn’t find it at LoveCrafts UK. The closest UK swap in the yarns we track is Paintbox Simply Aran: 100% acrylic, 184m per 100g against 170m, and the same knitted tension as the maker’s: 18 stitches to 10cm.
Best UK swap: Paintbox Simply Aran · 56 shades in stock · from £2.60 a ball
See Paintbox Simply Aran shades at LoveCrafts ↗Ad · paid link. Price and stock at LoveCrafts checked 4 October 2026.
How many balls to buy
Buy by length, not by ball: a ball of Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling in a solid shade holds 170m (print and multi shades often come in smaller balls; check the label) and a ball of Paintbox Simply Aran holds 184m.
- 1 ball of Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling (170m) → 1 of Paintbox Simply Aran
- 3 balls of Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling (510m) → 3 of Paintbox Simply Aran
- 5 balls of Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling (850m) → 5 of Paintbox Simply Aran
- 10 balls of Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling (1700m) → 10 of Paintbox Simply Aran
For any pattern, our yarn substitution calculator does the sum, and the pattern reader pulls the yarn list out of a pasted pattern.
UK yarns compared
| UK yarn | UK weight | Fibre | Metres per 100g | Knit tension (10cm) | UK balls per Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling ball | Shades in stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paintbox Simply Aran best match | Aran | 100% acrylic | 184m (+8%) | 18 sts (0%) | 0.92 | 56 of 65, from £2.60 |
| Stylecraft Special Aran | Aran | 100% acrylic | 196m (+15%) | 18 sts (0%) | 0.87 | 6 of 50, from £1.88 |
| Stylecraft Special Chunky | Chunky | 100% acrylic | 144m (-15%) | 14 sts (-22%) | 1.18 | 10 of 50, from £2.00 |
Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling: the maker’s specs
| Weight | 4 Medium / Worsted |
|---|---|
| Fibre | 100% acrylic |
| Ball (solid shades) | 100g (3.5 oz), 170m (185 yd) |
| Metres per 100g | 170m |
| Hook | H-8 (5 mm) |
| Needles | #8 (5 mm) |
| Tension | Crochet: 16 sc x 18 r = 4 in on H-8 (5 mm); Knit: 18 sts x 26 r = 4 in on #8 (5 mm) |
Before you swap
US “worsted” (weight 4) sits between UK DK and aran; most worsted patterns work in a UK aran, but a lighter worsted can be closer to a heavy DK. Make a 10cm swatch in your swap yarn with the pattern’s hook or needles and compare it with the tension above. If your square is bigger, go down a size; if it’s smaller, go up. Swapping fibre changes the feel and the wash: acrylic for acrylic, cotton for cotton keeps a pattern behaving as written.
Sources: Lion Brand product page, Paintbox Simply Aran. How we rank swaps: one combined score for closeness in metres per 100g, knitted tension on the ball band and fibre, with a small penalty for yarns with fewer than 10 shades in stock and for a chunky standing in for a worsted. See also UK yarn weights explained.