2 socks at the same time - yarn question

14 Responses to “2 socks at the same time - yarn question”

On February 2nd, 2008 at 5:00 am Liz Marley said:

Do you have an electronic scale? I put the ball on the scale and wind off onto another ball until there’s only half of it left; but mine works in increments of one gramme…

On February 2nd, 2008 at 5:00 am Kelly Smith said:

I wind the yarn once, weigh it, then start winding a second ball. When the second ball weighs 50% of the first ball, I cut the yarn and have two equal balls.

On February 2nd, 2008 at 5:37 am Tara said:

Even though it’s fussy as all get out I prefer to knit one from the center and one from the outside of the ball. This will involve lots of detangling/spinning nonsense, but when you finish you will have one chunk of left over yarn. Especially when I’m going to have enough left for sizeable adds to another project (even if it’s just contrasting heel/toe work on another sock) I’d rather that my left overs weren’t in two separate pieces.

There’s also the issue that most electronic scales have a +/- 1 to 2 grams. Our scale is closer to the 2g side of error, so it’s kind of shot in the dark as to whether or not the halves actually start equal or not.

On February 2nd, 2008 at 6:03 am Kim Tucker said:

Use a small scale and wind a new ball. When the two balls weight the same amount, cut the yarn and proceed. I would be interested in knowing how you like knitting two socks at one time. Good luck!

On February 2nd, 2008 at 6:41 am Stariel said:

I knit from both ends of the same center pull ball. Actually you don’t have to deal with tangling - just put the ball on/in a table/bag/whatever with the center pull coming from the bottom. That way the yarn coming from the outside of the ball doesn’t get wrapped around the yarn coming from the inside!

In the few situations where I have split into two balls I use a scale.

On February 2nd, 2008 at 6:41 am Tan said:

If you knit from both sides of the ball your stripe order will be reversed on the second sock. I use a scale. 1 gram accuracy works for me.

On February 2nd, 2008 at 8:06 am Ann Valdez said:

I have never used a scale- which sounds like the ultimate idea. I wind one ball, meausure the diameter, then wind two balls off the one ball, each half in meausurement. Works for me- always seem to have plenty. Think I’ll get my Weight Watchers scale out and try the other way…God knows I’m not using it to track food consumption.

On February 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 am Chaya Mushka Davey said:

i too wind one ball and knit one from the outside end with a stitch counter or “clicker” marked outside and one from the inside end with the clicker marked inside!!! it works great and FAST… wind and start knitting the two sock… so fuss no muss

On February 2nd, 2008 at 9:29 am Sharon in Salem, Mass said:

I use a yarn meter to measure how much yarn I have wound onto one ball. When I have about half of the yardage on that ball, I cut the yarn and wind the other ball. One ball is usually a little bigger than the other. With the ball that is a little larger, I knit the gauge swatch (if needed) and wind off yarn onto a yarn bobbin for the reinforcement stitches I do on the inside of the sock (at the toe and ball of foot and also along the bottom and back of the heel). If I run out of yarn on one ball, I will pull from the inside of the other ball for that little bit that is left to knit. I like to finish knitting my socks, cut the yarn, weave in the ends and put them on.

I am planning on getting a scale. I think it would be useful for me to know the beginning weight of each ball. I have a hard time estimating how much yarn is left when I am knitting. I think a scale could help me determine when to start the cuff, or if I need to order more yarn.

On February 2nd, 2008 at 9:32 am Juliet said:

I don’t have a scale but I have a ballwinder so I use this (fairly inaccurate, but close enough that I’ve never had to attach new yarn) method: As you’re winding the yarn into a ball count the times you rotate the handle (say 2 or 3 hundred, for example). Do it again and when you get to half the rotations, cut the yarn. That said, I agree with Tara. I like one leftover chunk.

On February 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 am Pam Mann said:

I used to use a yardage counter that you put between the swift and the ball winder - the yarn went through a slot, and the counter measured off the yards. It sometimes isn’t accurate, however. If you’re using a skein with really good yardage, then it’s not so important to be absolutely accurate, but if you don’t have a lot of yarn, then a scale is the best way to ensure that you have two equal balls.

If I’m buying yarn that has barely enough yardage, I’ll just buy two skeins. It might be more expensive, but then I wind each one into a ball and don’t have to worry about it. I know that I use more yardage than what’s stated in patterns because of how knit, so that’s something you should pay attention to as well to make sure that you buy enough yarn in the first place. You should also take into account the foot you’re knitting for - is it wide, flat, have any other things about it which might take up more yardage? There are a lot of variables that you will only learn with experience. Good luck!

On February 4th, 2008 at 7:15 am Rosa said:

Thanks so much everyone!! It sounds like a I need to a purchase a scale! I like the idea of not having to cut the yarn and since I don’t have a scale yet, I probably will try using yarn from both ends of the ball. But will my stripes not match up as Tan suggested?

On February 4th, 2008 at 10:30 am Tan said:

Looking at people’s finished socks (having not started mine yet!) I think this particular colorway looks as if you could knit from either end without messing up your stripes. When there are several colors, if you have, say, a large section of color A followed by smaller sections of B followed by C, if you knit from the outside of the ball you will have your large section of color A followed by C and then B. If the colorway has a lot of small sections, it matters less because any striping is so narrow it all kind of blends together.

This is just in my personal experience. You could experiment! The worst that would happen is you would end up having to frog and start over. I do that all the time.

On February 5th, 2008 at 6:45 am Deborah Murphy said:

Hi!

Someone gave me a wonderful digital kitchen scale, just for this purpose. Wind the yarn from the skein until the ball weighs approx. 2.25 ounces. Then you’ve reached the halfway point! I believe the total weight for the skein is 4.5 ounces. You can also weigh finished socks to see if you’ll have enough for the second one.

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