Month: October 2017

A Yarn Weight Key for Holding Two Strands Together

~ Kristin Tolle ~ 45 Comments

Holding two strands of yarn together can make some beautiful projects. I came across several blogs and lovely patterns on Ravelry which show some spectacular outcomes of holding two yarns of the same weight together.

I’ve got it in my head to do a gradient sweater with a set of Miss Babs Fingering Weight yarn and I’m not too keen on knitting it at a fingering weight. I once knit a sport weight and it took me over a year to complete it (of course not knitting monogamously).  And yet, patterns like the Happily Sweater by Katy Banks, the Progressive Pullover by Faina Goberstein and the Gradient Pullover by Amy Miller are calling my name!

     

I’ve been looking for a key to holding two strands together and couldn’t find a definitive source. This won’t be one either, as this is not an exact science. But after researching and testing I came up with what you could use as a good rule of thumb. After that, swatching should get you the rest of the way.

First to the Craft Yarn Council to get the “standard weight” categories, including a “new” knitted yarn weight called Jumbo—which I often get by hold three worsted weight strands together. The table below is a modified version of what you’ll find at their site. I encourage you to look there for the full table.

Category
Fingering 10-count thread
Sock, Fingering, Baby
Sport, Baby
DK, Light Worsted
Worsted, Afghan, Aran
Chunky, Craft, Rug
Super Bulky, Roving
Jumbo, Roving
Gauge Range Over 4”
33–40 stitches
27–32 stitches
23–26 stitches
21–24 stitches
16–20 stitches
12–15 stitches
7–11 stitches
6 stitches or less

In general, from standard yarn sources (e.g., Quince and Co, Lion Brand or Cascade Yarns, in general I find the following is true:

  • 2 strands of thread weight = Lace weight to fingering
  • 2 strands of lace weight = fingering to sock to sport weight
  • 2 strands of sock = sport weight to DK
  • 2 strands of sport = DK or light worsted
  • 2 strands of DK = Worsted or Aran
  • 2 strands of Worsted = Chunky
  • 2 strands of Aran = Chunky to Super Bulky
  • 2 strands of Chunky = Super bulky to Jumbo

Always check your gauge, since your mileage may vary. I’m selfishly sharing so I could put the list in a place I could find it. 😊

Maybe next time I’ll do some tests with mixed weights, since I do an awful lot of those combinations too. And after that maybe three strands.

Like so much with knitting, the possibilities are endless!

Titillating Toe-up Socks

~ Kristin Tolle ~ Leave a comment

This weekend I looking for a way to make sock knitting a bit more bearable. My husband has gone crazy for them! I did I test run with some worsted acrylic I had lying around in a bright variegated yarn called “Lava”.

The "hole" truth
The “hole” truth

As I’ve mentioned before, they were just a prototype. I never thought he’d wear them, but on completion–he HAD to have them. In a few short months he’d loved them to death and demanded a replacement pair–in the same “lurid” color. It wasn’t worth knitting them in that same bad yarn which will only wear out quickly again, so I hunted up a similar color scheme in wool. Cost a pretty penny too!

IMG_6564

Since this is expensive yarn I want to use it wisely–making them as long as possible. That requires then to be toe-up. So I’m at it again—looking for an easy way out—so frustrated by the toe-up patterns that cause me nothing but heartache.

Enter Staci and VeryPink.com.

  • Want to learn how to knit two socks at once on two circular needles? Here’s how: https://youtu.be/i4iD77aJCAw
  • Want to do a provision cast on for magic loop socks (because I can’t seem to get other method to work)? She’s got you covered: https://youtu.be/eQgxMypJlXA
  • Want to make sure the socks don’t get holes? Reinforce them! https://youtu.be/OJPZVswnVxQ. And this will come in handy so that I don’t have to knit another pair so soon.

 

It’s still in the early hours of knitting these little follows, but I’ve come a lot further in a much shorter time with a little help from Staci.

Too Proud by a Half!

~ Kristin Tolle ~ Leave a comment

For once a timely sweater!

Just in time for Fall, I finished a Fuchsia Lillian to go over my Fabulous Fitted Fuchsia Funnelneck. And yes, it is a bit matchy matchy, but I love it; one, because I can wear the shell a bit longer, and two, because it is another of my funky modified sweaters—I made it my own.

It hardly resembles the Lillian cardi that it is based on, yet other than changing the stitch pattern it is the same sweater. So it just goes to show how little you have to do in order to create a completely different look.

I did 3×3 rib instead of the garter starting at an empire waistline for the same number of rows as the shell. In the body I only did a little “needle size” shaping. The collar/band is 3×3 ribbing as well, not the 2×2 in the pattern. I also ribbed the sleeves at the same point as the body.  If I were to do it again, I would not use a ribbed band—but have gone with garter or some other stitch because I notice that even the original (as you can see in the photo above) the bottom of the band tends to scrunch up because it is so broad. Maybe after a good blocking it won’t be so bad. Fingers crossed!

The yarn is a vintage cotton/linen blend—Bernat Panama, so it will breathe when the weather is fine and it considerable warmer than wearing the shell alone. In fact, it’s so snuggly, after I finished it I put it on and nodded off to sleep.