Sometimes when I have a knitting project in the queue but don't have the correct yarn for the job I'll resort to combining two strands of a fingering or lace weight yarn to arrive at an aran or DK weight. And I've seen other knitters knit with two strands to achieve a marled effect, too. Until recently I only ever did this out of pure necessity but the results have so many pros that I'm definitely going to take it into consideration when planning projects from now on.

Here's what I like about it:
​
- The yarns lay next to each other, so your gauge remains in tact but the fabric you knit is actually thinner than if you used a yarn that is as thick as it is wide (ie round). It's like knitting with tape yarn. And because the two strands move to wherever they fit the most comfortably the twists and turns that occur during knitting don't create as much bulk and dimension as a tape yarn would. I have found that I really appreciate this thinner fabric for a spring or summer knit like the Gemini I'm wearing under my cardigan in the photo above.

The biggest pro in my experience has been the drape of the fabric (ie. how it behaves and looks when it hangs or moves). I'm particularly happy with the drape in this Gemini shirt which is a result of my first point about achieving a thinner fabric. The drape that this Sweetgeorgia Silk Merino Lace achieves in a double strand is just killer! Definitely something to consider (ie swatch) if you're humming and hawing between a double stranded fingering vs single strand of DK or light worsted - or any substitution using this technique. I have to confess I'm more of a 'start knitting and see how it goes' kinda gal - but swatching is never a bad idea. 

Lastly, if you're knitting with a hand dyed yarn you can knit with two stands of a finer yarn to arrive at a bulkier weight and avoid pooling by joining the two strands at different points in the colourway (Not to say there aren't ways to do this when knitting with a single strand.) Last month I test knit this Moonstone Cloche by Abbye Dhal in two strands of Malabrigo sock yarn. There are greens, reds and purples in this colourway and there was no pooling to be seen - although I was less on top of where the two strands joined when I picked up stitches for the crown.

Also, I suspect that there might be an economic benefit to knitting some yarns in this way in terms of gaining yardage or avoiding buying too many skeins ie. if you know you'll have half a skien left over when knitting your garment with a DK weight yarn you can eliminate the "waste" (I have so many unused half-skeins!!!) by buying one skein of fingering weight yarn to divide into two and knit in a double strand (instead of two full skeins).

Okay now for the CONS...

For me there is only one CON, but it is kind of a big one. I find that I have to really pay attention to make sure that I'm always knitting in both strands. A pointy knitting needle will help with this, but the knitting is a bit less mindless when knitting with a double strand. When I do miss a strand it appears as though there is a hole in my knitting and I end up having to 'repair' them with duplicate stitch if I don't catch them while I'm knitting. The duplicate stitch does the trick, though, so at least there's an alternative to frogging or dropping back to that stitch.

Okay, I lied! I have one more thing to add that might be considered a con. My one point against using a double strand for structural things like hats is that the thinner fabric may take away from the structure of it, which I did find with the crown of this cloche hat. The body of the hat is knit in linen stitch which is super dense due to all the slip stitches, so I did not find it made a fabric that is too floppy, but I could see that being the case for other hats in regular knit and purl stitches.
​
Do you ever knit in a double strand? What do you like/dislike about it?

​Janna

​Happy Spring!
I usually begin preparing each monthly newsletter immediately after I press send on the last one one. And then throughout the month I think of things to add and jot them down in the body of this greeting every second day or so. This month I did that for the first two days of March and then I totally abandoned it until last week. I laughed out loud when I finally revisited it and read my first note: It's okay to fail. Kim Werker told me so. Both these things are true, and If that's a message you need to hear I highly recommend connecting with Kim on her various platforms and listening to her on these podcasts (her name appears a few times on the list on the right).  So, I got to writing and working through some art angst this past month, a bit of emotional spring-cleaning if you will, and I had a revelation: Wherever I'm at is where I'm at, and that's a valid and okay place to be. Be it in my art practice or elsewhere. So simple, yet so freeing. And It's one thing to know that logically, but to internalize it is such a godsend. The BC podcast, Art for Your Ear helped me get there, too.

Springtime revelations are the best. Bring on new beginnings (and the sunshine!). And speaking of, my colleague Katie Earle and I recently began a new project, Everyone is a Portal. My first tapestry for the series came off my Mirrix last week and I wrote about how that aforementioned epiphany manifested in my art practice, over on the Mirrix Looms blog.

On the knitting front: I took a bit of a knitting hiatus when we were living in New York. I think in the craziness I just couldn't get into the zone (or something). Even after I made a couple of baby cardigans recently I wasn't convinced that I was actually knitting again. But this month I have FOUR hats off my needles. I'm back, baby! This Missoni inspired Pussy Hat is being blocked as I write. And I blogged about the two toques I knit earlier this month. Plus a couple of days ago I finished test knitting this cloche hat by local designer Abbye Knits and gifted it to my great aunt who says she'll wear it with a brooch, which I love.

In other local knitting news

• Speaking of hats, I discovered two new socially-engaged hat patterns recently:
  • Kim Werker's hat for science
  • and Rae Spoon's They pronoun toque. Although, I think it may only be available for Rae's Patreon supporters right now. It's totally worth being a supporter.
• Knit City announced their 2017 instructor list.
• I found another local podcast Tricities Knit who just entered double-digit episodes and recently interviewed local indie yarn dyer Chantel of Mudpunch.
• Sylvia McFadden released a new book featuring three gorgeous shawls knit in chunky yarn. They will be perfect for next winter's gifts.

Top row from top left: 

• Jane Richmond is having a 2 for 1 sale on all her patterns until April 9th!
• I can't stop thinking about this incredible lace shawl that Hannabee Design just released. It's in my queue but I'm just getting up the courage to attempt it. I'll be using lifelines for the first time, that's for sure. Anyone want to try it with me? 
• a quick video of me knitting my Moonstone Cloche

Bottom row from left

• My Moonstone Cloche in process. I love that linen stitch.
• My Brookmere hat by local designer Pip'n'pin
  
• This gorgeous yarn is dyed in Chilliwack by @blackcatcustomyarn

• Woolith Fair - Vancouver's annual three-day yarn crawl is April 28th - 30thGO HERE FOR DETAILS
• Gauge Dye Works is having a trunk show at Baaad Anna's on April 29th
• Mark your calendars for Sheep to Shawl on May 6th in Surrey where weavers compete to spin the yarn for and weave a shawl in one day! There will be vendors, sheep shearing and more.
• The exhibition Cocoon is opening at the Silk Weaving studio on May 4th
• Got Craft? is coming up on May 6th + 7th
• And check out Got Craft's around town page for all the spring craft fairs happening in and around Vancouver starting with NORTH SURREY HANDMADE BAKER'S MARKET on Saturday April 8th, and NIFTY FOR FIFTY on Sunday April 9th on Main Street Vancouver.

I cruised our Workshops page and here are few fun things I found:
There are still spots in the Saturday April 8th Indigo Social offered by Sophena Kwon.

Did you see Lenka's table at Fibres West? Her bobbin-lace work is incredible! She has a workshop coming up on April 22 (Saturday) // Needle Lace Pendant: Spring Blossoms at the Surrey Museum.

And Saige & Sky is holding a macrame workshop at Hunni's Coquitlam on Tuesday April 19th 6-8:30pm
​