Doubling yarn - the sequel

Guess what - I've been coding, now isn't that a surprise LOL.

This time I decided to expand on the doubled yarn sizes, lets face it the little chart I put up before wasn't all that helpful... So I decided as I seem to be coding helpful little calculators/gadgets that I would expand on the theme.

I can't seem to find a calculator like this one on the net although the math itself is relatively easy to find. I only put up to four strands in the calculator because I figured anyone up to using more than four strands:

1. Is a braver person than me
and
2. Can probably do the math for this in their sleep LOL

There is no need to put the third and fourth gauges in unless you need them and you can put any combination of yarns (except eyelash and similar novelty yarns). I tested it properly but if you see any problems give me a shout

Once again this will be ugly until I do a proper design for the blog and sort the styles out properly

Yarn 1 stitches and rows over 4 inches
Yarn 2 stitches and rows over 4 inches
Yarn 3 stitches and rows over 4 inches
Yarn 4 stitches and rows over 4 inches

approximate gauge = stitches and rows per inch - ( stitches and rows over 4 inches)
weight

I have finally finished my chunky sweater jacket so I should have an FO post as soon as I get round to taking a decent photo

How many stitches - simple squares or rectangles

I've written another little time saver for myself to help out with a little top secret project I'm doing for my Dad. I haven't started it yet but when I do any Ravelry members can see it (can't see any of my family joining Ravelry when they don't knit or crochet LOL) but you won't see it on the blog til after xmas - just in case...

Plug in your gauge, approximate size required and any stitch/pattern offset you need and it calculates the number of stitches to cast on, rows to knit and number of pattern repeats needed. It also tells you the actual size that any stitch/pattern offset will enlarge the finished shape by.

Once again it's ugly for now but it works like a charm

swatch gauge = stitches by rows over 4 inches
approximate size required = height by width (inches)
pattern offset = multiple of + stitches by rows

cast on stitches and work rows ( pattern repeats)
finished size: height by width (inches)

I seem to be in the swing of coding at the moment. Maybe it has something to do with all that revision I've been avoiding LOL. If any of my family does manage to find this blog - don't worry I am revising - I am just doing this when the revision gets too much. :-D

How big will it be if I use a different gauge

So I'm making a baby blanket, a large one. The original pattern is in 4 ply and I want to do it in DK. I figured out what the new size would be and then decided as all I wanted to do was punch the numbers in, I would write a little javascript function to add to my references. It isn't pretty because I can't be bothered with pretty (except for with knitting) at the moment.

original gauge = stitches by rows over 4 inches
swatch gauge = stitches by rows over 4 inches
original size = height by width

new size = height by width

Looking at the preview it really isn't pretty so sorting out a new blog design has been added to my list of things to do after my exam LOL.

Doubling yarn

After doubling my cotton chenille for Finlay's bunny blankie I thought it might be a good idea to make a small reference for doubled up yarn equivalents I might use so here is my very basic table:

2 strands of	equals (approx)
4 ply (Fingering)	DK
DK	Aran
Aran	Chunky

A proper explanation of how this works is here

Wraps per inch (WPI)

As I've got quite a few odd balls of yarn I needed some way to find out what weight/thickness they were so I've made a reference table to help me:

UK	Wraps per inch
2ply	18+
3ply	16
4ply	14
Light DK	12
DK	11
(US worsted)	9
Aran	8
Chunky	6
Super Chunky	5 or less

To measure the wraps per inch, wrap your yarn around a large knitting needle/ruler/pencil and measure the wraps in an inch. The yarn should just be touching comfortably, not squashed together or spaced so that you can see the object underneath. As you can see from the picture on the left, the yarn used wrapped 10 times which makes this yarn a D.K./worsted weight.

Needle equivalent chart

Here's a needle equivalents chart which comes in handy every so often. I have all bar 5 of these sizes (I even have the largest 25mm ones!) most in bamboo. I HAVE to have them to keep up with my ever increasing stash :-).

Metric	US	Old UK
1.75	00
2	0	14
2.25	1	13
2.5	11/2
2.75	2	12
3	21/2	11
3.25	3	10
3.5	4
3.75	5	9
4	6	8
4.5	7	7
5	8	6
5.5	9	5
6	10	4
6.5	101/2	3
7	103/4	2
7.5	-	1
8	11	0
9	13	00
10	15	000
12.75	17
15	19
19	35
25	50

Yarn equivalents

I got so fed up with trawling through my bookmarks every time I wanted to look something up that I decided to start a reference blog with all the details in one handy place.

I'm starting with a yarn equivalents table because I seem to be looking for that more than most LOL

UK	USA	Australia	Needle size	Approximate gauge*
2ply	Laceweight	2ply	1.5–2.25mm	32–34 sts
3ply	Light Fingering	3ply	2.25— 3 mm	32sts
4ply	Fingering	4ply	2.25— 3.25 mm	28 sts
Light DK	Sport	5ply	3.25— 3.75 mm	24–26sts
DK	DK/Light Worsted	8ply	3.75— 4.5 mm	22 sts
Aran	Worsted/Aran	10ply	4.5— 5.5 mm	18-20sts
Chunky	Bulky	12ply	5.5— 8 mm	14-15 sts
Super Chunky	Super Bulky		8mm and up	8-12 sts

* The approximate number of stitches over 4 inches/10cm