Working with Tight Twist Yarn

When you have yarn with a tight twist, how you work with the yarn can make a big impact on how the yarn goes into your project. What I mean by that is sometimes when you pull yarn from the ball/cake, you inadvertently add extra twist to the yarn. Although this is problematic with any yarn, when you have yarn that is already tightly twisted, adding in more twist can make the yarn start to kink up on itself, which can be a frustrating experience. Not only that, but if the extra twist goes into the knitted object, the unbalanced yarn can create bias in the fabric. Probably not something you want!

Do you wind the yarn into a cake? If so, do you pull from the center (or use a center-pull ball) or do you pull the yarn from the outside? For years, I pulled yarn from the outside because I liked keeping the cake neat, and pulling from the center meant that the more yarn that was used, the more the cake would collapse on itself, sometimes creating tangles. But the way I was pulling yarn from the outside was adding extra twist to the yarn, which also caused problems. (Pulling from the center does add a little twist.)

I had the cake sitting either beside me or on the floor and I was essentially pulling the yarn up off the cake while the cake remained in the same place. This is what creates extra twist. I finally got tired of it and decided to try pulling from the center. And although I still have cakes collapse on themselves, ultimately this is a better experience. But the best way to not add extra twist to the yarn is actually to pull from the outside, but to do so smoothly. How can you do that?

You need the yarn cake to travel with the yarn rather than remaining stationary. If you spin the yarn cake while the yarn is coming off of it, the yarn is being smoothly drawn from the cake and not getting extra twist. You can do this by using a yarn spinner or a yarn bowl.

Although I don't have one yet, a knit spinner from Craftiness is definitely on my wishlist. (And it looks like it'll remain on my wishlist for a while as the Craftiness shop owner is moving and has the shop on vacation mode right now. I've linked to a sold listing so you can see what I'm talking about.) Other shops have yarn spinners as well, under various names: there's this one, this one, this one, this one, and this double one, for example. The basic idea is that it allows the yarn cake to turn as you are pulling from it.

Yarn bowls come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and materials. The idea here is that you want a hole or groove that holds the working yarn and the bowl to allow the yarn to turn while you're pulling. Here are a few that caught my eye, but just do a search for "yarn bowl" and you'll find lots of options: pretty ceramic bowl, one with a cat, a Doctor Who one, and a lovely wooden one.

I also recently got a tip that helps a bit when you are pulling yarn from the center of the cake to keep it from collapsing on itself so much. This tip came from Ted, who is part of my local knitting group: I had given him a cake of yarn to knit a sample of one of my patterns (thanks, Ted!) and put the label around the cake; the label wasn't long enough to tape it on, so I wrapped a rubber band around it. When Ted was working with the yarn, he left the label and rubber band on and pulled from the center. As the yarn was used, the rubber band tightened, which tightened the cake and didn't allow it to collapse. I tried it myself and Ted was right: it works really well! Thank you for the excellent tip, Ted!

So if you're having problems with extra twist getting into your yarn while you're working with it, take a moment to consider how you're getting the yarn from the cake/ball to the needles.

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The content in this post was first featured in my newsletter (June 5, 2015). If you'd like to keep up to date on my designs and yarn and receive content like this right in your email inbox, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter.
 

Spotlight on Gawain

Gawain is a 3-ply fingering weight yarn with a tight twist. Because of the plies and twist, this is a great yarn for showing off textured stitches and cables. I picked this yarn base specifically to match with the Brangien Hat.

Although this yarn base has no nylon content (it is 100% superwash merino), it would still be appropriate for knitting socks because the tight twist will help it wear better (although still not as well as yarn with nylon in it). I'm imagining some yummy cabled socks in this yarn! (And at some point, that will happen.)

Some other pattern suggestions for Gawain:
Nennir (cowl) by Lucy Hague
Smaug Socks by Claire Ellen
The Pointy End (socks) by KnittyMelissa
Kyna (shawl) by Lucy Hague (and the other projects in this collection)
Denature (socks) by Margaret Mills
Tara (socks) by Janneke Maat
Strigidae Mitts by Glenna C.
The Wife of Bath's Cowl by Karen Robinson

Buy Gawain here!

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The content in this post was first featured in my newsletter (June 5, 2015). If you'd like to keep up to date on my designs and yarn and receive content like this right in your email inbox, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter.

Yarn Recommendations for Astolat Shawl

The yarn that I used in my original sample for the Astolat Shawl is Madelinetosh tosh sock, which despite its name does not have any nylon in it. It's 100% merino and does have just 2 plies although the twist is a little on the tighter side.

Round Table Yarns Guenevere was chosen as a base specifically for the way it was created (2-ply with a lighter twist) so it could be used in lace stitch patterns. I knit a second sample for Astolat out of Guenevere (in the Siege Perilous colorway), and I like it even more than the original.

Malabrigo Sock -- another one with a deceptive name--no nylon and so soft that I wouldn't want to use it for socks since they would wear out so fast. But it does really well for shawls.

Dream in Color Smooshy -- this one has a special place for me because it's the yarn I used for the very first shawl I made.

Titus baa ram ewe -- This one is actually 3 plies, but I just picked up some earlier this year, and it is calling out to me to be made into a shawl. Perhaps it's because it feels so great and is a blend of Wensleydale, BFL, and Alpaca so is on my list for trying new things. (If you've used it, I'd love to hear what you made and how you felt about it.)

Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply -- I haven't tried this one myself, but I know Miss Babs is all the rage right now and this would be the base that matches up best for lace shawl knitting.

When looking in the Ravelry database for yarn suggestions, it does feel a bit overwhelming to have so much to choose from. It's a bit easier when you can go into a store and actually touch the yarns and investigate, but if you can't do that, try to see how much information you can find about the yarn before you decide on it. But really the best way to make good decisions about appropriate yarn for a particular project is to experiment and get to know lots of different yarns, both in content and construction. This isn't something you can do overnight, but it is something to keep in mind each time you buy yarn. Try something a little different from what you normally get rather than just always buying the same thing over and over. (Personally, I love both Malabrigo and Madtosh, but I've been trying hard lately to spread out and try other yarns.)

Also, I highly recommend reading the books by Clara Parkes: The Knitter's Book of Yarn and The Knitter's Book of Wool. (There is also one for socks.) Clara is super knowledgeable and there is a lot of information packed into those pages.

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Most of the content in this post was first featured in my newsletter (April 20, 2015). If you'd like to keep up to date on my designs and yarn and receive content like this right in your email inbox, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter.

Yarn Selection: Two-Ply Yarns

Along with fiber content, you should also consider how the yarn has been created. By that, I mean how many plies it has and how tightly it has been twisted. If you are a spinner, you probably know at least a little about twist and plying, but I know that it's not something I really considered a lot before I started spinning and even then I didn't fully move some of those ideas over into my choice of non-handspun yarns for a while.

To give a very brief overview, yarn is fiber that's been given twist. Some yarn has more twist and some yarn has just enough twist to keep the fiber from drifting apart while you use it. And how much twist your yarn has can have a pretty big impact on your project (which you'll quickly find out if you do something like knit a sweater from Malabrigo Worsted Merino, which is a loosely spun singles yarn that pills and felts as soon as you look at it. Not something you really want to happen to your sweater that you've put a ton of hours into.)

Sometimes yarn is made with just a single ply--meaning one "strand" that has been twisted. Yarn can be made with two and three strands twisted together (2-ply and 3-ply) or even a really large number of plies in various arrangements. And the number of plies and the way it has been plied also greatly affects the outcome of your project.

Side note: Talking about plies can be a bit confusing because in some parts of the world, yarn weight--aka worsted vs. fingering--is talked about in terms of plies. In those cases, it doesn't actually mean the number of strands that have been twisted together, so be careful about what a yarn label description really means when it says it is a 2-ply or 3-ply, etc. (fingering weight is also listed as "4-ply" for example). The best way to determine number of plies (number of strands twisted together) is to take your yarn and untwist it until you can see the individual strands that make up the yarn (you'll have to hold the yarn as you count because as soon as you let go, most yarn will spring back into shape).

So where is all this going? Some yarn constructions are better suited to particular stitch patterns than others. If you want texture and cables to really pop, get a nice rounded yarn, a 3- or 4-ply (or more). But if you want your lace stitch patterns to really stand out, rather than going for a rounded yarn, look for something with just 2 plies. Why? When you take two strands of yarn and twist them together (to create a 2-ply yarn) the strands are usually twisted together in the opposite direction each single strand was spun. And as these 2 strands of yarn rotate around one another, they create a flatter overall surface rather than the more rounded balance of adding in an additional ply. These 2 strands are also pushing up against each other. All of this works together in a knitted item to create a fabric that wants to remain more open and airy. And what is more open and airy than lace stitches? (Interestingly, I recently learned that 2-ply yarn also makes garter stitch look really nice.)

All of the above is the reason why when I was choosing yarn bases for Round Table Yarns, I knew that I wanted a fingering weight base that had just 2 plies with not too tight of a twist so it would be just right for doing lace patterns, especially shawls. (The resulting yarn is Guenevere.)

So when you're considering whether or not a yarn might be right for the lace shawl you're planning to knit, do a little investigation and untwist it to count the plies.

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The content in this post was first featured in my newsletter (April 20, 2015). If you'd like to keep up to date on my designs and yarn and receive content like this right in your email inbox, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter.

Yarn Selection: Fiber Content for Shawls

In the past, I've just known that I have a preference for natural fibers (particularly wool) but I hadn't really gone too in depth into differentiating fiber content. I've been learning more about fiber content and behavior lately and have even gone further into breaking "wool" down into more specific breeds. So one of my goals over the next few years is to get various breeds and knit lots of swatches and small projects to see how different breeds behave. But that's not what I'm going to go into here. Instead, let's look at a broader overview and what kind of yarn you might pick for shawl knitting.

A lot of shawls are written for fingering weight yarn, and I'm sure you've heard people say that if you have a bunch of sock yarn in your stash, you can make shawls instead of yet another pair of socks. And although that is true in most cases, take a closer look at your "sock yarn." Sometimes people use "sock yarn" and "fingering weight" interchangeably but sometimes "sock yarn" is a bit more specific. Think about the properties of yarn that you might want for your socks: something that is going to hold up to wear especially around the heel and toes. So what gets put in a lot of yarns intended for socks? Nylon. And nylon is a great strengthener for making socks. But it's not always that great when you want to make shawls. Do you really need your shawl to stand up to a lot of heavy wear? (If the answer is yes, then perhaps nylon in the yarn would be a good idea for you.) Also, most yarns that are intended for socks will have a tighter twist (again, so it will wear better), and too tight of a twist can mean that the lace patterning doesn't show up as well. So I'm not saying don't use sock yarn with nylon for shawls, but it wouldn't be my first choice (except for when it's a blend of merino, cashmere, and nylon. I forgive the nylon because of the cashmere and have made some nice shawls with MCN).

What about something like bamboo? I know that thinking about knitting in warmer weather means wanting to move away from wool yarn, so people often turn to something like bamboo. This is where swatching can be extremely helpful. And not just swatching for gauge--swatching to see how the yarn is going to behave after it has been knitted. This is where I'd recommend doing a fairly large swatch using part of the lace pattern of the shawl. Then you'll want to wash and block the swatch. But for bamboo, I'd do one more thing--hang it (after it's dry) and let it hang for a few days. Does it grow? I have a scarf that I made using 100% bamboo. I remember finishing the scarf and wishing I had gotten another skein because it seemed a bit short. It hangs on my coat rack and has taught me quite a lesson about bamboo: that scarf is now easily twice as long as it was when I finished knitting it! Bamboo has a tendency to grow! This might be just fine in something like a shawl, but you should test it first to make sure that it doesn't grow so much that you're no longer happy with the finished item. (As for my scarf, I love it more now than when I finished knitting it, so that was a stroke of luck for me since I did not swatch when I did the scarf.)

Another fiber that grows a lot is alpaca. Mmmm. Alpaca. So soft. I love alpaca. But I'm very careful with what I choose to knit with alpaca and I tend to use a much smaller needle than called for to help tame the alpaca and keep it from growing too much. This is a bit problematic when knitting a lace shawl as usually you use a larger needle size than the yarn calls for when knitting lace. Because alpaca is a pretty dense fiber, it can get relatively heavy, which can cause it to stretch out of shape but also might not be the lightweight spring/summer shawl that you're looking for. So this is another fiber that really benefits from a good swatch that you wash and check the behavior of the swatch. Or get alpaca blended with something else (such as wool) to help keep it from expanding too much. Alpaca is wonderful (and I'd personally love to make a shawl out of it); just make sure you're informed about what you'll end up with so you'll be happy with your finished shawl.

Silk. I have a beautiful skein of 100% silk in my stash. I want to make a shawl out of it. But I've been hesitating. Silk is really slippery and it doesn't "bounce" the way wool does. That means it's going to have a very relaxed drape (which actually isn't that bad for a shawl) but also that silk is a bit unforgiving. Sometimes when working with wool, if you have stitches that aren't perfect, when blocking, you can smooth things out (not perfect means irregular--not actual mistakes. Perhaps you pulled a little more tightly on a stitch or two and want it to more evenly match the others around it--using wool can help you do that a bit during blocking.). But with silk, since it has no memory and no bounce, it's going to pretty much look like it looks as you're knitting it. (This becomes most apparent if you have large blocks of stockinette or garter stitch--so if you want to use pure silk, pick your stitch pattern accordingly.)

Honestly, I like using wool, of various types of breeds, for shawls because--after a good blocking--I've been most happy with the shawls I've made in wool. Now as for which breed of wool, Merino is the ever popular choice, but I'm hoping to expand my knowledge and experience and try things like Border Leicester (one of the three breeds featured in a past issue of PLY Magazine), which has a much longer staple length than merino and therefore will knit up differently (I mention this breed in particular because it is so different from merino and also because I picked up some earlier this year and am looking forward to working with it).

What is your favorite fiber for knitting shawls? What would you like to try? 

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The content in this post was first featured in my newsletter (April 20, 2015). If you'd like to keep up to date on my designs and yarn and receive content like this right in your email inbox, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter.