I knitted a small swatch with the 2ply sample I had spun and washed. I didn”t bother to knit a sample with the 3ply as I preferred the 2ply and think it will offer a lighter drape in the finished fabric, also will require less spun singles.
I measured the wpi of the finished sample at about 11wpi, which is Double Knitting (US Light Worsted). This is great news as thats what I was aiming for.
On 4mm the gauge is …sts x …rows per 4inches.
My sample only weighed 4grams and gave 8meters, I didn’t think this was a large enough sample to use to calculate yardage per gram. But using it as a guide (2meters/gram) I spun 50grams of the undyed fibre, which was 105meters. 2.1meters/gram. (2.3yrds/gram)
I haven’t rewritten the pattern as I tend to work the pattern out as I go, but I can still estimate the yardage based on the yardage for the original sizing and the final measures of the new garment.
I’m going to work the pattern to fit 3-4yrs.
Chest: 28inches (71cm)
Length: 15inches (38cm)
Sleeve: 10inches (26cm) x 8inches
I could just make a generous guess about how much bigger this is than the original size, however a bit of simple maths will give me a pretty realistic value to use to calculate yardage. (28×15 + 10×8)x2 = 1000. Technically this is the number of square inches of knitted fabric (it doesn’t take into account the fact the top is narrower than the bottom). For the original size : (22×14 + 7×8)x2 = 728.
To work out the new yardage : ( new size / original size ) x original yardage. (1000/728) = 1.37
Main Colour (250 yards);
blue (90 yards);
green (90 yards);
cream (90 yards);
black (less than 20 yards);
pink (less than 60 yards).
New yardage / weight
Main Colour 343yrds / 150grams
blue 124yrds / 54grams
green 124yrs / 54grams
cream 124yrds / 54grams
black 26yrds / 11.5grams
pink 83yrds / 36grams.
Total weight = 360grams
So todays job is dying each of the colours. Cream is undyed, and I’ve already spun 50grams of this.
I still haven’t decided on a colour for the main colour, I don’t want to do tan or any shade of brown, I’m thinking a pink or lilac or purple. Suggestions?