More Knitting Questions ... Again

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, I'm making some good progress. I'm making the baby blanket from SnB using a really sweet Merino multi-coloured yarn, for my expected niece or nephew. I'm enjoying my Denise needles - they're so cool! But of course I have questions:

1. SnB says that some people knit in the round to avoid having to perl. Does this only work for tubular things? Or is there some magical way to use circular needles to make a flat thing in stocking stitch, without perling?
   
   
2. What does the word "baby" mean on yarn? Does it mean washable? Soft? Or is it just a meaningless term of endearment?
   
   
3. I was tempted to mess with a pattern, to change it from 2 strands held together, to a single strand. I realise this would change the stitches per inch, but I figured I'd just work out how many stitches I should do, instead (I'm fine with ratios and math and all that). And I realise this would mean the finished object look different. But would it be thinner? Thicker? The same?
   
   
4. If I'm doing intarsia or other yarn mixing, does all the yarn need to be the same? I guess it should all be the same thickness? Does it need to be the same material, too?
   
   
5. Do you often mix two different colours, for doing two-strands-together knitting?
   
   I think that's it, although I'll no doubt think of more ...

[tamum]

Hello Right then....

1. this only works for tubular things as far as I'm aware- I can't see any way of avoiding purling if you are doing something flat. You could do a tube and sew the ends to make a double thickness blanket, but you'd have to really hate purling for that to be worth it.
   
   
2. Just marketing I'm pretty sure. I think it usually does mean washable, but Rowan do some yarns where they just call it "baby" because of the colours.
   
   
3. It would be thinner, I'm sure, assuming I have understood. I would definitely do a swatch for something like this, once with two strands and once with one, and compare the kind of fabric you get to see if it suits what you're making.
   
   
4. Yes, assuming it's something you intend to wash at some stage. Definitely the same thickness if you don't want it to look pulled, and if you are going to wash then you would have to be sure that both yarns reacted in the same way to washing (in terms of shrinkage). Again, you could swatch a bit with a random bit of intarsia, wash it and see? Mind you, the 80s Kaffe Fassett patterns where you use loads of yarns in a single garment often mixed different weights and materials, but that was largely fair-isle, and was quite random looking anyway.
   
   
5. I never have, but I should think it would look quite nice.
   
   Any more questions just come back

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, I don't hate purling that much, anyway, I was just curious. (I do hate sorting out ends, and seams, so I guess I will prefer sewing in the round, once I try it.)

My current challenge is to knit while my baby is awake. He has plans for my yarn, that don't mesh very well with my plans.

[NotQuiteCockney]

How do you bind off cut edges? How odd!

I was yarn shopping online last night and found all these faux fair isle yarns for socks, how odd. Do they really work?

[NotQuiteCockney]

I'm not sure I said "how odd" enough times in there.

I think cutting and rebinding looks like more finishing work, which is the part of knitting I really object to, so I don't think I'll be doing that ...

[tamum]

I've never quite been able to bring myself to do steeking. There are some really good explanations on the WendyKnits blog though, like this one .

The fake fairisle yarns are indeed, as you put it, odd. I can't understand how both socks look the same unless you knit them simultaneously....

[NotQuiteCockney]

For me, it's not that they wouldn't look the same, so much as, well, don't you have to be knitting exactly the size they expect, or it all goes out of whack?

I do feel tempted to buy those yarns and make something completely different with them, just to see how messed up it looks.

I'm using a multi-coloured yarn at the moment, and enjoying the effect.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, yes, another question:

Is there an easy way to tell how much "stretch" a yarn has? I have worked out that "rope" means "no stretch". Does "tape" also mean "no stretch"?

I know, go and feel the yarn is the best option, but there seems to be a wider range of yarn online.

I find my tension problems are much worse if the yarn has no stretch, which is probably normal.

[tamum]

Ermm, no idea. You do ask the hardest questions. I find that anything cotton has less give than wool, but it depends on what else it's mixed with really. I don't honestly think there will be any substitute for feeling it in a shop. I'm knitting with some Jaeger Shetland Aran at the moment, which is just heavenly (contains alpaca). I'm doing another () Rogue with it.

[NotQuiteCockney]

tamum, that looks really pretty.

I did spend a while in John Lewis feeling yarn, and came away knowing something I already know - plain wool is itchy, merino is fine. (Ok, I learned that I like cashmerino and various other cashmere blends, shocker.)

[tamum]

I really wish there were some real-life shops that sold Koigu. You can buy it online, but with these variegated colours it is so much nicer to see them in the flesh!

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, is Koigu that Japanese hand-dyed stuff? I saw some in John Lewis, very pretty.

I might try buying random things off ebay, now that I know what I want. Well, actually, I've just placed an £85 order with angelyarns.com, so maybe I'll have enough yarn for a bit

[tamum]

I think that's Noro that you would have seen in JL. Koigu is Canadian, I think, much finer than Noro. It's here . I'm sure you'll be fine with Angel but I had real problems when I ordered buttons from them. Keep on their case if there are any delays!

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ah, well, I'll have to check it out when I'm next in Canada.

I ended up needing to use angelyarns because I wanted a few more skeins of the merino I'm using to make the blanket, and not many people had the right colour/type. (It's a multi-colour yarn, and I'm using two balls at a time, so I hope if it's a different dye batch, it won't be obvious on the blanket.)

Oh, and also, I emailed them a question at 7pm or something, and they answered at 8pm.