Help with yarn sub

[dialex]

Hi everyone I'm a new member... I've been knitting for a couple of years, when making projects I usually use the yarn recommended..mostly I am not comfortable making yarn substitutions.
Is there any easy way of doing this? I have gone on yarndex and have compared yarns... but sometimes the yarns used in the patterns are not made anymore and then I get stuck as to what would be a suitable substitution.

Thanks for any suggestions or help you may have

[Plantgoddess+]

The way I use most often anymore is to go to Ravelry. You have to join and there is generally about a week wait to get your invitation. There are thousands of people there who post their projects along with info of yarn used etc. If you can find the pattern you want to make there you can see what other people may have substituted and how it turned out.
You can also put in the fiber info of the yarn called for in the pattern into Yarndex and see what other similar yarns are available.

[teachermom]

I would look for a yarn that is similar in weight to the one recommended. You will have to knit swatches to get to the gauge/tension used in the pattern.

I've used different yarns than the recommended yarns before, sometimes because I didn't like or couldn't afford the one used in the pattern - get your gauge to match and you should be okay.

[DorothyDot]

Teacher mom has it right. It's all about the gauge.

I've been substituting yarns most all my life - I call it "Depression-Era Knitting". Means I make whatever the project is using whatever yarn I have on hand.

Especially for anything you intend to wear - or for someone else to wear: you absolutely must knit to the gauge - especially the identical number of stitches per inch. (The length, rows per inch, can sometimes be fudged by knitting more rows than the pattern calls for - but you need to know what you're doing before going this route. And some patterns won't let you play in this fudge-pot at all.)

Hope this helps,
Dot