Double yarn for bulk or colour!

Just finished another muffler. Stopped knitting to move house and now I am ready.

Most of us in India get really good wool but mostly acrylic and mostly single strand. You can find patterns that say hold "two starnds together" and they look nice. In the US, I found wool that was already made of two wool strands together, and so was wound up like a single wool.

Here are some tips~

To create some patterns that we find on the net we need to hold two woolen yarns together and knit. Try needle number 4 or 5 uk and knit loose.try a cap or a muffler first till you get familiar with holding the yarn. If you use contrast colours it looks really nice, like an unusual wool.

The most common mistake is to forget you have to knit two strands together. Practice with different coloured wool as you know you have a strand of each colour in each stitch. Also don't knit three stitches together. The mistake can cost us by creating extra stitches or decreasing our count.

It also helps to count more often, not a job to do while listening to someone talk!!!

Dont try to roll a ball with two strands it gets confusing. Instead roll two balls and join the yarn as you knit along. Take a Look at the photos.

Its a good idea to knot the two strand ends loosely to gether and pull the woolen strands taut together. If one wool is loose and the other tight it creates problems. Try using similar wool of different colours in the beginning.

Before you try a pattern do take time to knit a tension swatch. Even if you are the most expert knitter you cannot estimate wool-use across countries. Most of the patterns as we know come off the net or from Books from US or UK. The double wool that I bought for example suddenly thinned into a thin brown line and patchy pattern, unlike the pretty lion brand scarf I was seeing on the net.

For the expert and the resourceful:

http://www.knittersreview.com/article_how_to.asp?article=/review/profile/010830_a.asp

unless anyone else got the new wool from vardaman knits, its hard to achieve texture, so Indian knitters try the colour and the bulk hints.

Thanks to all those who are writing in. I will put up pictures double knitted pink/ purple scarf asap.