US yarn in the UK
Patons Canadiana in the UK: closest UK yarns
The maker’s online shop, Yarnspirations, sells it to the US and Canada, and 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 187m, and 18 knitted stitches to 10cm on its ball band against 20 on the maker’s.
Best UK swap: Paintbox Simply Aran · 53 shades in stock · from £1.69 a ball
See Paintbox Simply Aran shades at LoveCrafts ↗More choice: search Amazon UK for aran acrylic yarn ↗
Ad · paid links. Price and stock at LoveCrafts checked 6 October 2026.
How many balls to buy
Buy by length, not by ball: a ball of Patons Canadiana in a solid shade holds 187m (print and multi shades often come in smaller balls; check the label) and a ball of Paintbox Simply Aran holds 184m.
- 1 ball of Patons Canadiana (187m) → 2 of Paintbox Simply Aran
- 3 balls of Patons Canadiana (561m) → 4 of Paintbox Simply Aran
- 5 balls of Patons Canadiana (935m) → 6 of Paintbox Simply Aran
- 10 balls of Patons Canadiana (1870m) → 11 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 Patons Canadiana ball | Shades in stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paintbox Simply Aran best match | Aran | 100% acrylic | 184m (-2%) | 18 sts (-10%) | 1.02 | 53 of 65, from £1.69 |
| Paintbox Wool Mix Aran | Aran | 50% wool, 50% acrylic | 180m (-4%) | 18 sts (-10%) | 1.04 | 37 of 60, from £4.55 |
| Stylecraft Special Aran | Aran | 100% acrylic | 196m (+5%) | 18 sts (-10%) | 0.95 | 3 of 50, from £2.35 |
Patons Canadiana: the maker’s specs
| Weight | #4 Worsted (Medium) |
|---|---|
| Fibre | 100% acrylic |
| Ball (solid shades) | 100g (3.5 oz), 187m (205 yd) |
| Metres per 100g | 187m |
| Hook | 5 mm (US H/8) |
| Needles | 4.5 mm (US 7) |
| Tension | Crochet: 14 sc x 17 r = 4" (10 cm) on 5 mm (US H/8); Knit: 20 sts x 26 r = 4" (10 cm) on 4.5 mm (US 7) |
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: Patons 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.