If you're having trouble knitting with multistrand yarn

I virtually never have problems knitting with multistrand yarn.  Crocheting, yes.  Weaving, a little.  

But knitting with it is easy for me... unless one or two strands are chenille. 

Azalea is for sale in my Etsy shop.  See links to the far right.

Chenille has a tendency to stretch and sometimes you have to wrap the chenille strand around the needle twice.  Or tie up some slack every ten rows. 

But let's back up a moment.  If you are a rank beginner, I recommend getting comfortable with a single strand of yarn first.  Then two strands on fairly large needles.  Then two strands on slightly smaller needles.  Then three strands.  I have had a couple of customers write to me and say, "I can't get the hang of this!" But only a couple of people have said this since I opened Life's an Expedition in 2003.  Virtually everyone DOES get the hang of it. It does take practice.  The fewer the strands and the larger the needles and the simpler the pattern, the easier it will be. But I have one customer who is a huge fan of entrelac using many strands of my yarn. 

Monaco is also in my Etsy shop.

Your biggest challenge with multistrand yarn will be to knit each stitch in its entirety, without dropping part of it. But if you get two of the strands and drop the rest, the piece will NOT unravel and with all those colors going on, your mistakes will be less noticeable. In some ways, it's easier than single strand knitting, in which every stitch counts and every mistake shows.  Since I hate to frog, I really like this feature of multistrand knitting.  People who are more anal will have more trouble taking a casual attitude to their work.  Especially if their work requires attention to tiny details, as in a pair of intricate socks.

Visit Life's an Expedition on Etsy.

A second problem you may encounter when you're using multiple strands is that one strand will sometimes be stretched out or seem "longer" than the others as you work your project. (I mentioned this a moment ago.  It tends to happen with chenille.)   If you reach the end of a row--that is, on a seam--and your piece has a right side and a wrong side, go ahead and tie up the slack on the pesky strand that is too long. Then when you sew up the seams, you can incorporate the slack into the seam. 

This is Cabana.

OR if you are making a blanket or something on which there is no seam and/or both sides will be seen, you can loop the "longer" strand around the needle a second time as often as needed to make it catch up with the strands. 

I have created yarns in which I never had to do this at all, but sooner or later, most multi-strand knitters face the problem of uneven strands. 

Multi-strand knitting is easiest when you are doing a straight garter or stockinette with minimal increases, decreases or shaping.

dj runnels

Life's an Expedition multistrand yarn is sold exclusively at the Life's an Expedition shop on Etsy.

Saving money on clothing. Now's the time to buy your summer wardrobe. Now.

When I tell you that you can save tons of money by buying clothes in the off-season, I can practically hear you saying, "Duh! We all know this!"  But I also know from my experience as an online retailer that people don't actually DO it.   I sold a pair of sandals and a pair of peep-toe pumps on eBay this summer while an awesome pair of wintry shoes just sat there despite an amazingly low opening bid.  Later on, I'll easily sell those wintry shoes at a much higher opening bid, just because it will be winter and people will be more in the mood to buy them.

I have seen people go out in throngs the day after Christmas to buy every shred of holiday wrapping paper and ribbons on the shelves. By the time they depart the Christmas aisle in any given store, it looks like a ghost town.  Why wouldn't people take the same devoted attitude towards cleaning out the clothing clearance racks at department stores?  There is much to gain by shopping at the end of the season and saving money is just one of the advantages.  So please hear me out.   (Clearing of throat.)

You can easily save 75% or more on seasonal clothing by buying it at clearance sales at the end of the season.  This might not be true globally, but at least in the United States in the midwest, where summer and winter climates are sharply defined, department stores have a lot of summer merchandise to get rid of in July and August.  You can find men's, women's and children's apparel--shorts, short sleeve shirts, summer pajamas, sandals, sundresses, bathing suits, swimsuit cover-ups, capris, pants in light cotton fabrics, white jeans and more--on discount racks for up to 75% off easily.  With searching, you can find 90% discounts. (Stick with me, here, as my advice is about to become less obvious.)

It's not just about the money.  I know, in July and August, you may be tired of summer clothing, but this is the best time to buy summer clothes because you already know exactly what is in your wardrobe.  You may have realized that you tend to buy too many dresses when what you really crave are more capris.  Or you may have figured out that those fancy rayon blouses you bought for work are too uncomfortable when the temps are in the 90's and you prefer more practical cotton knit tanks instead.  And if you live in a northern climate and think you might be headed to Florida or Arizona or Cali for a winter getaway or to see family during the holidays, you will have a head start on having the right clothes to pack.

Also, buying new clothing at this time makes you review the rest of your wardrobe, which means you can clear out debris and start a few boxes of stuff to sell in a garage sale.  Garage sales have flourished during the recession and if you have a yard or know a home owner willing to let you use their yard to sell off some of your "carp," you will make more money than you would have pre-2008.  If you don't have much time to organize a sale, see if you can find four or more people willing to go in on a sale together on a Saturday only, with each of you working a two-hour shift.   Or donate to charity and take a tax write-off.  Use whatever money you earned to buy new clothes at end-of-seasons sales. Once you get used to shopping during the end-of-season sales, you may not go back to shopping early in the season when the prices are high.

There are some items that do not always get included in end-of-season sales, especially year-round staples, such as underwear and socks.   But often you can find good prices on staples during back to school sales.   These sales focus on kids' clothes, but high school and college "kids" wear adult sizes, so any adult can find good prices on athletic shoes, jeans, t-shirts, trendy clothing in general, and basics such as underwear and socks.  These items won't be as sharply discounted as the stuff on the summer clearance racks, but it's still worth taking a look.  I always find the best prices on athletic shoes in August.

January and February are the best time in the U.S. to stock up on snow boots, fashion boots, scarves, knit hats, sweaters, anything wool, anything with autumn leaves or Christmas designs, coats, heavy jackets, gloves, boot socks, leg warmers, long underwear, layered sports jackets, children's snow pants, overalls and mittens.  Again, it's all discounted.  And you know what you've been wearing for the past few weeks or months, which outfits you favored, what you needed but didn't have and what colors you still need.  Depending on where you live, there may be plenty of winter left and you can start wearing new purchases right away.

Children's clothing in the off-season can be problematic, since kids grow at unpredictable rates.  You have to guess what size they will be nine months or so in the future.  Look for stretchy sport pants instead of more precise-fitting jeans.  Find dresses that can be hemmed up if necessary.  Girls' leggings can make a too-short dress wearable as a tunic if your daughter grew taller than expected.  Sandals and shoes may not be wise to buy for children far in advance... unless, say, you have three daughters, in which case you can pick up something for the oldest girl and assume that size will fit at least one of the girls at some point in time.   You can usually get snow boots at the end of winter if they are multi-sized and therefore leave a little room for error.  You can also try to find clothing in colors that will suit either a boy or girl, so if you guess wrong on a green sweatshirt you had in mind for Michael, maybe Sophia can wear it instead.

If you're yawning because you know all this (don't make me come over there and slap you!) consider this, which you might not have thought of:  You can find clearance clothing online, and the season for finding what you want can be much longer depending on site traffic and who the sellers are.  Online shopping sites will have varying discount periods.  High traffic will swarm all over the cute summer tops on clearance at Coldwater Creek.  But on a less popular site, it may take longer for the deals to disappear.  Those winter wool socks you had to fight three bidders for on eBay last December are just sitting there, without bids, from March until September.  The person selling them might be open to "best offers" from you, wherein you negotiate the price.  I have gotten winter coats very cheaply in spring.

Also, if you live in Florida but need something wintry for a trip to Canada, online sites will offer far more options for you than your local stores will.  Sometimes I am surprised at the number of Etsy sellers who don't bother to list their summer merchandise in winter; Canadians headed for Florida need that stuff.

Speaking of Etsy, you may find off-season apparel marked down.  But your selection is often the best in the pre-season.  That's partly because artisans cannot easily replenish stock the way a retailer can.  An example:  it takes me hours to knit a winter scarf.  I have to make scarves all summer to have enough inventory for fall/winter.  Then the scarves start selling around September.  By November, they are selling like crazy and I have far fewer winter scarf listings in my shop because I just plain can't keep up with demand.  Anyone who shopped my scarves back in September benefited from a bigger and better selection. By December, they are well picked over and the customers are pretty frantic, e.g.: "Can you make another one by this afternoon?! And send it express tonight?"  Um, sorry, no.

Revised October 30 to add:  Pay attention to business news about retail chains that are struggling so you can go forage their wares.  They may cut prices very aggressively.  J.C. Penney is in very dire straits and I picked up a designer dress from their website for half price this year.  Abercrombie & Fitch's sales are down at present and I just saw $58 skirts on their site marked down to $10.  Aeropostale also had weak earnings lately; I see $5 t-shirts on their web site today.  American Eagle is having some issues and on the day I write this, every sweater on their site is on sale with free shipping.

dj runnels
Life's an Expedition on Etsy.

Beware of eBay listings that state clothing is New With Tags.

Some eBayers will list clothing or shoes that are new but the tags have been removed.  But I recently bought a pair of leather boots that were supposedly New, albeit without the box, and here's what I received:

How did she think I would not notice this?

One boot had a footbed liner that appeared to have been worn.
The other boot didn't have a liner at all.

The Lesson:
If you ever place a bid on eBay for "new" clothing without a tag or box, you might want to inquire about it first.  Get the seller to guarantee you that it is, indeed, a new and unworn garment, as the eBay rules state.  They are not allowed to list something as new if it has been worn.

Or to play it safe, only bid on clothing that is New With Tags.  Even then, you can get burned, because some people find a way to wear something with tags in place.  Or they remove the tags, wear the clothing, then replace the tags with one of those retail guns that attach tags.

I have filed a complaint through eBay and hope to get this resolved soon.  If the seller pays for return shipping, I will ship them back.  If not, I will donate them to charity.  But I just can't bring myself to wear used boots.


UPDATE August 6, 2013.  eBay was very cooperative.  Their buyer protection plan is wonderful and I ended up getting my money back, even though the seller completely ignored my emails.


UPDATE October 5, 2017: I have had many other disputes with sellers who list merchandise as New Without Tags and, in fact, the product is not new at all.  I am avoiding any seller whose feedback score is under 99.9% positive and I am avoiding all merchandise other than NEW WITH TAGS or NEW IN BOX.

dj runnels
Life's an Expedition on Etsy does not sell used shoes or new shoes or any kind of shoes at all.

Multiple strands of yarn in menswear.

 

Feast your eyes on the colors and textures in this.  It's a men's scarf in which I mixed some Tribal Earth Tones yarn with the soon-to-be-listed Warm as Toast series and some other similar yarns.  And it's far easier to knit than it looks.

Simply hold all the strands together and knit on large needles--US size 13 works well for many people--in a garter stitch or stockinette or whatever fairly simple stitch that you love and feel confident using.  The more complex the stitch or the pattern, the more challenging it may be, but I have customers using my yarn for entrelac and cables.

I listed this scarf on Etsy, if you'd like to see more details.

If you've never used multistrand yarns before, you will want to practice using two strands on large needles before advancing to more strands or to smaller needles, but virtually all my yarn customers get the hang of it.   If you stab the needle through part of the stitch, your mistake will likely go unnoticed because of all the colors and strands involved.  And your work can't unravel because the strands you DID stab will hold it all together. 

Crochet takes a bit of practice, too.  I recommend sticking with the larger hooks. 

I have more advice about multistrand knitting in this blog.  

dj runnels
Life's an Expedition

Everyone asks, "How do I launder this yarn?"

Washing something made with Life's an Expedition yarn is like washing any other knit garment.

I launder all knit garments, including those I made, either by hand OR in a mesh bag in the washer on delicate cycle for just a few minutes. The mesh bag is very important. Zippers and long fingernails and rings can snag your garment like crazy. Use cold water and shampoo instead of detergent. It's best to wash garments separately, as I have found some will ooze color, especially cotton chenille and hand-dyed wool.  But if I've washed something before and know for sure it is colorfast, I may throw it into a mesh bag with other things.

Shampoo is better than detergent for washing wool and it doesn't have to be a premium brand. I like Suave professionals with humectant in a white and blue bottle. My mom uses baby shampoo. We both agree to avoid Woolite, although it's fine for lingerie. 

I used to dry my work flat on top of the washer or on a bath towel in the bottom of a bathtub. Now I have mesh sweater drying racks that stack up; found 'em on eBay. 
 
Baby your hand-knits and they will last longer. If you live in a cool dry climate, the humidity will help humidify your house. 

dj runnels
Life's an Expedition.

Can a beginner knit with multiple strands of yarn?

Someone asked if a beginner can use multistrand yarn.

I recommend getting comfortable with a single strand first.  If you feel you know what you're doing with one strand, you can eventually handle more.  Start with two or three until you get the hang of it.  I have had customers write to me and say, "I can't get the hang of this!" But I reassure them that they can and virtually everyone DOES. It does take practice.

Your biggest challenge will be to knit each stitch in its entirety, without dropping part of it. But if you get two of the strands and drop the rest, the piece will NOT unravel and with all those colors going on, your mistakes will be less noticeable. In some ways, it's easier than single strand knitting, in which every stitch counts and every mistake shows.  And I'm the sort of person who hates to rip out rows and redo it.

A second problem you may encounter when you're using multiple strands is that one strand will sometimes be stretched out or seem "longer" than the others as you work your project.  If you reach the end of a row--that is, on a seam--and your piece has a right side and a wrong side, go ahead and tie up the slack on the pesky strand that is too long. Then when you sew up the seams, you can incorporate the slack into the seam. 

OR if you are making a blanket or something on which there is no seam and/or both sides will be seen, you can loop the "longer" strand around the needle a second time as often as needed to make it catch up with the strands. I have created yarns in which I never had to do this at all, but sooner or later, most multi-strand knitters face the problem of uneven strands. It happens most when one strand is chenille, because chenille can stretch easily. 
 
Or sometimes I see it happen when some of the strands are much thinner and/or a different fiber than the others. It has not put me off of multi-strand knitting, but someone who is using multi-strands for the first time might freak. Just remember, most knitters DO get the hang of it and if you are clever about fudging the yarn a bit here and there, you will relax. 

Knitters and crocheters who are really into elaborate stitches sometimes resist the notion of multiple strands, because they have so much going on just following the pattern.  I can understand that.  Multi-strand knitting is easier when you are doing a straight garter or stockinette with minimal increases, decreases or shaping. But I've done seed stitch and ribbing with multiple strands and loved the results.  And I've had customers go on an entrelac binge with Life's an Expedition yarn.

Lastly, someone who is super-picky about their craft might never enjoy it.  Also, anyone who is devoted to knitting socks or anything on very small needles might not have the patience for multi strands.

 
I'm getting ready to shut down my web site, so I am transferring some info to the blog that everyone will be asking about later.

dj runnels
Life's an ExpeditionLife's an Expedition on Etsy.

An example of using multiple yarns in one project.

Hope I don't sound like a broken record, but I am sometimes asked how it is possible to use more than one strand, or more than one yarn, in a single project.  And I did promise that I would show examples on my blog once in a while.

Here is a freeform crochet scarf called Brighton that I listed on Etsy.  It contains four yarns by Life's an Expedition:  Nightscape, Castle Gold, Millefiori and Tantallon Castle.

The most challenging part in working with so many yarns is dealing with color breaks.  Many people refuse to knot the yarn and are adamant about weaving it in, but I find that the ends come loose after awhile.  I tend to knot the yarn (gasp!) using a square knot.  Very important.  It must be a real square knot.  There are knots that look like square knots, but they are not.  If you have any doubts about whether or not you are tying it correctly, ask a Boy Scout for help.  (No, I AM serious.  It's kind of hard to tell with me, I realize, but I am being serious at the moment.)  Often I will pick up a needle and thread and secure the knot to the back of the garment to make sure it doesn't work its way to the front.  I do this especially when I mix yarns while making a handbag because a handbag needs to be super durable.

dj runnels
Life's an Expedition on Etsy.