Double yarn = double needle size?

hedgewick · 03-05-2006, 05:50 PM

I'm planning on making a baby blanket with knitpicks shine using 2 strands together to add bulk. My question is how do I figure out what size needle to use. The yarn description says to use #3-5. Since I'm using 2 strands should I bump it up to a #8 or 10? I'm kind of a tight knitter so I'm leaning toward 10 (or should it be larger). Has anyone done this before? How did it turn out? Any ideas?

hedgewick · 03-05-2006, 10:56 PM

one more question re: this. If I use 2 strands does that only make the blanket thicker or will it increase the gage as well? If a patern calls for 14 balls with one strand can I maybe decrese it to 10 balls if I use 2 and it will be the same size? Sorry if this is a dumb qustion. I'm kinda new.

countingsheep · 03-05-2006, 11:04 PM

Since Ingrid has obviously not seen this yet... I feel safe responding to part of your question: Yes, using 2 strands changes the gauge! I do a lot of 2 strand knitting and, because you are using "thicker" yarn and bigger needles, your guage changes. Yes, the amount of yarn changes with this but it depends on your gague. My advice? Do a swatch to see exactly what the gague will end up being.

As far as needle size - I've never used this particular yarn so I'm not one to advise. I believe that you have a bit of flexability in so far as how tight or loose you want the knitting to be. Someone else will be better able to guide you here.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Angela

PS - not dumb questions as all! Don't ever worry about that here - everyone's pretty awesome about answering whatever questions get tossed out! Especially Ingrid!

Ingrid · 03-05-2006, 11:43 PM

I did see this question earlier, but I don't have a definitive answer. The Shine dk is about half the thickness of worsted weight. Doubled would work on 8's, again depending on what you want the fabric to look like. If I were going to double yarn, I'd probably buy double the yardage needed for a blanket the same size in worsted, but, again, it depends on the stitches, your tension, etc. If you want a looser knit, go with 10's. If I was just going to cast on and knit a blanket, I'd probably make a small swatch just to see if I like the look and feel.

What you could do is make a blanket on the diagonal. Use half your yarn to get to the middle and then the other half to finish it off.

hedgewick · 03-06-2006, 02:14 PM

Thanks for the help on this. Guess I'll do a small swatch and see what happens.

candicane · 03-06-2006, 05:02 PM

Don't have an answer for your original question, but did you know that KP Shine now comes in a worsted weight?

Candice

hedgewick · 03-06-2006, 05:08 PM

I did see that

! I have never used knitpicks before so this morning I ordered color cards in shine, shine worted and crayon so I could see the colors in person. Then I'll decide what to order.