2 strands of yarn held together

douloskyriou · 09-13-2010, 05:03 PM

Hello everyone, I've just started learning to knit, and my wife is pregnant with our first child. I am trying to make a hooded afghan using Lion Brand Yarn's "Pound of Love" yarn and instruction. To start the project it says to cast on 87 stitches "with size 10 1/2 needles and 2 strands of yarn held together."

What exactly does this mean, two strands of yarn held together? Am I going to have to unroll the whole pound of yarn, double it up, and then roll it back into a ball in order to use it?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Jan in CA · 09-13-2010, 10:13 PM

Congratulations on your new baby and welcome to Knitting Help!

Since you are using the one big skein you can use both the yarn that comes out of the center of the skein and the one on the outside of the skein.

My personal preference is to wind two center pull balls or use two different skeins, but either way works.

All methods have a tendency for the yarn to twist. It may be fine, but you may also have to untwist them occasionally. If you find you want to wind another skein and you want to make it a center pull there are instructions here under Knitting Tips in the video section tab at the top of the page. Here's a link.
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips

douloskyriou · 09-13-2010, 10:14 PM

Ah, okay. I wasn't sure if both ends would pull through like it should. Thank you!

Hm. Now I run into another dilemma. I can't find the other loose end!

suzeeq · 09-13-2010, 10:26 PM

The inside end is in there somewhere, sometimes the outside end is too.

hyperactive · 09-13-2010, 10:44 PM

it is easier to find the outside end. So I hope that is your problem

just take a strand of yarn on the outside that looks as though it is far on top. pull that away making sure it untwists from the coil. you may end up with a lot of lose yarn before you find the end of it, but you can just losely wrap that around the coil again before starting.

btw: there is a thread in "General knitting" that just deals with the twisting thing. Maybe read there, too.

If you have questions whatsoever: we are always here. Pretty much always someone has the answer - and mostly it is suzee, however she does it!!!

and: congratulation to the baby that you are expecting. I think it is a good time in life to start making things (or maybe starting a new way to make things) when a new family member arrives. You will always think back to this project and the path of learning with love and in connection with the thrill about your baby arriving. Enjoy!