I've been replying directly here, but this commenter indirectly raises an important point. I agree - knitters do need to learn how to make yarn substitutions! It's such an important skill. But the question is how do they learn that... ? 1/... https://twitter.com/HotsyHotsyTotsy/status/1285105588775424000

It's a crucial part of the value of the LYS, assisting with yarn choice. But LYS are closing, and not everyone has access to a LYS. So how do knitters learn about yarn substitution? There aren't that many resources. 2/...

And sure, experiential learning is crucial piece of this - I learned the hard way that a non-superwash wool is a bad idea for kid's socks. But that gets expensive, fast. And one of the motivators of this discussion is a very reasonable concern about financial accessibility. 3/...

So yeah, I'd *love* to see designers adding one or two small bits of additional info to their pattern, to support knitters on their learning path. It's about helping knitters build the skills for themselves. /end

A few people seeing this didn't see the article that prompted this commenter's response... This is what I propose a designer adds, specifically: http://kateatherley.com/yarnsubs/