The Knit No. 18.1 | yarn chicken
When you don’t have enough yarn
Happy belated New Year, my friend. And, before I forget, thank you so much for going on the advent pattern ride with me. I really enjoyed sharing 24 of my favorite patterns with you!
After a rough start to 2022 (COVID-19 paid a visit to this vaxxed and boosted household - we are all fine, in fact only two tested positive and one of those was asymptomatic - make it make sense), I’m ready to get back into the newsletter swing because I really do love talking about knitting and yarn and whatever else strikes my fancy. I so appreciate your coming along on the ride with me.
Today I want to share some tips on what to do when you don’t have enough yarn for a project you want to knit. A subject that is near and dear to my heart after my Boxing Day cast-on from Deep Stash. I’m not sure when I bought a copy of Carlina (pattern link to Harrisville Designs product page) from my friends at Harrisville Designs, but I do know that I liked the organic elements of the colorwork, and I’m always curious to see how other designers write patterns.
So, I pulled out various fingering weight yarns from my stash and ended up liking these two inky blue skeins from the Mother of Purl yarn shop in Freeport, Maine, with a skein from Backyard Fiberworks in this tonal pink called Casa Rosada, which veers from deep rose bits to almost white with lots of varying shades of pink. They turned out to be even prettier together than I thought they would be, but even before I cast on, I knew I wouldn’t have enough yarn for a long-sleeved pullover.
Though I don’t often knit other people’s designs, the first thing I do, when I choose someone else’s pattern, is browse the FOs. I am still able to use Ravelry, though I spend less time there than I used to, but for folks who cannot, I would visit the designer’s site/social media, try google image searches, as well as exploring Instagram hashtags for the pattern in question and Pinterest. It always helps to see what others have done. I saw that the updated pattern had a cropped and short-sleeved version, so that got me thinking that I could at least shorten the sleeves.
I also knew that I would have more than enough contrast color AND that garter stitch anywhere kind of eats up your yarn, something I was trying to avoid, so I decided that this top-down sweater would culminate in turned hems with contrasting facings for cuffs and hem.
Being a short-waisted lady, I knew that I could get away with a slightly cropped sweater, though I didn’t want super-cropped because shorter waists tend to be thicker (at least that’s how it is for me). I also knew that the 10% silk in the main color would give me some nice drape on the body, so I’ll gain some length after blocking.
This is one of the advantages to top-down knitting, though please don’t discount bottom-up. I love to do a provisional cast-on when working from hem up to collar and diving right into the meat of a design, leaving the choice of hems to the end, where I can add length if needed (ribbing can be as long as you want) or using a contrast color to eke out every last yard.
After dividing for the sleeves and working a bit down the body, following the pattern exactly as written, I realized that my stockinette gauge (vs. stranded colorwork gauge) was going to give me a very generous circumference on the body, one that would use up my yarn too quickly and not give me the fit I was looking for. As hard as it is to frog back, it’s one more tip I highly recommend. Better to frog back, make adjustments, and reknit to get what you want. Remember: YOU ARE THE BOSS OF YOUR KNITTING.
Sorry to yell there, but it’s important.
So, I made some gauge notes, frogged back (maybe put a lifeline in at the point where you finish the colorwork? just a suggestion for my future self), picked up stitches, did some math to get me the size I wanted on the body, and made adjustments as necessary before galloping along with a bunch of stockinette (sometimes that’s just what the doctor ordered). If you find yourself needing to adjust stitch counts, I highly recommend this site, especially the increase and decrease tools.
A handy tool for eking out every last yard/meter is a kitchen or postal scale, especially for weighing and dividing yarn for sleeves. After I worked my way down to the body hem, I weighed my remaining MC (including swatches) and divvied it up for the sleeves. I find that easier than trying to do both sleeves at the same time or something like that.
Things to consider when playing yarn chicken
Provisional cast-ons, whether working from bottom or top
Contrasting edges
Changing edges from garter stitch to ribbing or turned hems
Shortening sleeves/cropping body
Adjusting gauge and/or stitch counts
Knowing the properties of your yarn: fibers like silk and alpaca will give more drape/length to your finished garment than springy wool alone
Intermediate blocking - you can learn a lot by blocking while still on the needles
Consider cannibalizing your swatch(es) - it’s a last resort when you just need a few more rows/rounds
Anything else you recommend when you know you’re going to run out of yarn but still want to forge ahead with a pattern?
I’ll be back soon. Until then happy knitting!
xxoo, Kathleen
Oh, you probably want to see the sweater, yes? Here she is after a nice bath. Now to turn the pink edges under and sew them down. Unfortunately for me and this sweater, I’m really not in a finishing mood at the moment, but maybe this weekend’s pending snowstorm will motivate me to finish her up.
That is GORGEOUS. I'm hoping this storm won't be too bad. despite projections.