8 plus 8 doesn’t equal 14 you say!

Except when you are knitting or crocheting… Do you have a 14-ply knitting pattern, and have your heart set on an 8-ply yarn colour, or want to use up your 8-ply scraps to create your own uniquely coloured garment or blanket?

The answer is easy… Just knit two 8-ply yarns together as one, on your 14-ply needles (6mm or 6.5mm) and watch the marle* effect appear.  Double the fun in half the time!

You can do this with 2 yarns of the same wool, 2 similar yarns from different brands, or 2 different yarns e.g. a plain yarn and a shiny sparkle. I’d recommend using only similar yarn weights and fibres together to start with - e.g. wool with wool, or acrylic with acrylic - unless you are wanting to add a ‘fluffy’, ‘feathery’ or other textured yarn to a plain yarn to give it more body.

*Marle refers to a single thread which is made by twisting together yarns of different colours, resulting in a tweed or heathered look.

A different result comes from using an ombre yarn combined with one or more shades of plain yarn.  This can “coordinate” a busy ombre with multiple colours to produce a garment which appears “toned” down and more coherent that with the ombre by itself.

*Ombre yarn features a gradual colour transition, or gradient, that blends smoothly from one shade to another. This can be a sequence in the same colour tones, e.g. from aqua through sky blue to dark navy, but can also include blends of different coordinating colours.

For added interest you can get a graduated effect by changing only one colour at a time as you knit.  E.G. for a graduated rainbow you could start with 2 strands of red, then 1 strand red and 1 strand orange together, followed by 2 strands of orange, then 1 strand orange and 1 strand yellow together – and so on.  You get to suit the size of colour changes to your project. Try this out with a simple rainbow, or multiple tones across one colour range for a baby or child’s blanket.

Remember to do a tension square or check your tension after you get started.  Then you can easily adjust needle size or garment size to get the right size at the end, without having to pull-down and re-knit the whole garment.

And finally… Yes, you can do the same with other yarn plies / weights, e.g. two 4-ply yarns should work for an 8-ply pattern and needles, depending on your knitting style  and tension. 

If you have a topic that you want covered or a tip of your own to share, please contact me.

Happy knitting.

Fern, Knit Sew Quilt NZ