Grumperina goes to local yarn shops and Home Depot

I hope you like it as well. I have some Classic Elite Four Seasons, and I love it beyond reason. I hope all their yarns are as nice. I'll look forward to your take on the Sundance.

Yeah, I swear the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and Cascade Sierra are the same yarn.

It is so wonderful that you are calling it the underpants blankie. I love it! And I'd never thought about different yarns being actually the same yarn. Very interesting.

It's always such a surprise when that happens! It's always amused me when I run across a yarn I am convinced is "related" to another brand that I've seen before.

That yarn'll look great in the Underpants Blanket (love the name, too!). :)

You crack me up! Those colors look great together.

Since working at Webs I have learned a lot about mills, distribution companies, etc. This twin yarn phenomenon is not your imagination! The coolest discovery for me was a lot of Rowan tweeds in our warehouse...on CONES =)

Oh yes, twins...I remember at the LYS I used to work at, the owner on several occasions ordered "twin" yarns. I'm not sure whether she just forgot, or just wanted different colors, but anyway, it's annoying when they are very different prices.

Tahki Cotton Classic is the same as Butterfly Super 10. Even the color numbers are consistent, although the skeins are not the same size.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Tahki Bali and Rowan Bamboo Tape are twins, too... even the same yardage. Hmm, someone should compile a list of these; it would be a huge help for bargain shopiing and for finding yarn "subs" at the LYS.

I do sometimes wonder about the twin yarn phenomenon. Whether they're the same yarn or different, that color looks great!

hmmm...cotton Microfiber? Another Morrigan candidate?

Ditto with Cascade's Pastaza and Classic Elite's Montero.

I reckon this happens with several of the fine merino yarns - Filatura di Crosa/Jaeger/Rowan maybe. Also kid mohair/silk. And then there's the price difference thing Sarah mentioned.

It's true, so many yarns for different companies are made by the same manufacture. You can expect them to be very very similar if not identical in structure, thickness, components etc. I know most of Gedifra is made by Coats, so is Rowan and I am sure loads more.
You're really good with colour matching.

I think that all the big yarn companies basically have the same stuff. That Gedifra also looks like my Lana Grossa Bingo, although that's 100% wool.

Ooh, I think Caitlin has a great idea. Someone should compile a list, with prices.

I'm fairly certain that Jagger Spun Zephyr and Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace are the same base yarn, just in different colors (and with a huge price difference).

Ooh, I think Caitlin is right. Someone should compile a list.

I'm fairly certain that Jagger Spun Zephyr and Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace are the same base yarn, just in different colors (and with a huge price difference).

I'm still cogitating about a name for your current blankie (even though I know you have chosen a name and are not likely to change your mind...) Here it is: "I See London." I presume you know this children's rhyme even though you did not spend your early childhood in the USA?

Sneaky sneaky companies. :p Good for the mills, though, to have more buyers for the same items, and good for knitters who sometimes like to substitute yarns or are loyal to certain brands.

Queensland Kathmandu Aran Tweed is the same as Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed. Even the color numbers are the same and its cheaper than the Jo Sharp. Yay!

Yay! A new version of this great yarn.

Fluffy Ewe, Jo Sharp was phased into Kathmandu by the distributor. So it's isn't really a twin, it just has a new name and packaging; there is a ****load of JStweed out there in the world so it will take a while to buy it all up (but I'm trying! ;)

K, you are very observant and usually correct in everything you write, BUT on this one you are not: the yarns cannot be brothers because yarn is feminine (not at all because knitting is considered by some to be a woman's craft).

I think in terms male/female for all things because in my native language (Spanish) that's the way things are and even though I don't know the word in Spanish for yarn, to me it has always been feminine.

Good observations about the yarns, though. (I was just kidding about you being wrong as to yarn's "gender".)

Thanks for the tip! I've been wanting to try it since you first raved about it many moons ago. I did get one skein in a swap a few months ago, but it is really not much to do anything with on its own.

*Keeping an eye out for Sundance now! ;)

There are only so many manufacturers of yarn in the world, and yes, the same yarns are often sold under different names by the various distributors and companies out there. They usually try to have different colors from each other, but sometimes that isn't even the case. Until January of last year I had my own yarn shop and every year I would wait until I'd seen most of my reps before really deciding on certain yarns cos I knew they were the same but the prices would vary. I tried to order the lower prices because my shop was in a lower income area.

I can think of a very specific example: Peru Luxury DK (labelled as such for Michael's pre-chapter 13) and Uruguay Luxury DK. Same. Exact. Yarn. I got that one from the store-owner I purchased the Peru version from.

i'm not a connoisseur of fine yarn because i don't have a large yarn budget, but i've noticed this with a store brand that my discount craft store carries and some name brand yarns. none of them are all that wonderful, but spending $3 a skein instead of $5 is still a nice savings.

my LYS dude told me that Madil Kid Seta is the same stuff as Rowan KidSilk Haze, although in different colors. (And at different price points!)

I've knit with both of those, and had very different experiences, although I think it's very likely that they're brothers, at the very least.

It blows my mind when there are yarns that are exact twins, although I suppose with the yarn universe getting as large as it is, it's not completely unsurprising.

Thank you for the Classic Elite lead...I need one more skein of Gedifra Korfu (#2004 Sandshell). Keeping my needles crossed, hoping the Classic Elite Sundance (Candlelight)is a very close cousin.