Posted on by Bonne Marie

Thursday, March 20, 2008

chic-knits-ribby-pulli-42891.jpg
 
Bonita gets her math on…

SO. I have two balls of yarn, one larger than the other. How do I figure out how to split the knitting of the hood so I maximize the yarn that most matches the body?

The poll results show that most thought the new color should be closer to the neckline so it is resting under the Hood when it isn’t up. I give this concept a Big Thumbs UP. (Thanks everybody!)

Here’s how I figure out how far up I should knit with New Color before changing to the Old (it helps if you pretend it’s Charlie Eppes from NUM3RS writing on the Blackboard real real fast…)

1. Weigh the garment—I have 14.4 oz of Ribby (sounds like the Beef Special at Gibson’s on a Thursday night!)

2. Figure out Yardage used per square inch—Cotton Fleece has 215 yds of yarn per 3.5 oz skein so 14.4 oz = 884 yds or 4.11 skeins

3. The Body of the Sweater is 39 inches around by 21 inches long = approximately 819 square inches

4. The Sleeves have approximately 200 sq in

5. 819 + 200 = 1019 sq in

6. 884 yds / 1019 sq in = .87 yds per sq inch

7. The Hood has approx 275 sq in so I need 275 x .87 = 240 yds of yarn

8. I have about .89 skeins of Old Yarn leftover (from #2 above) or 190 yds

9. SO! Theoretically, I need about 50 yds of new yarn…

BUT how many inches should I knit before changing yarns?

10. Each row of the hood takes about 66 inches of yarn = 1.833 yds per row

11. 50 yds of yarn / 1.833 yds per row = 27.3 rows

THEREFORE: I will work 21 rows, then alternate 2 old, 2 new, 2 old, 2 new, 2 old, then to infinity and beyond with the OLD!!

[I don’t know how the yarn looks on your monitor, but the new yarn is slightly greener than the old…]

7 Replies to “Thursday, March 20, 2008”

  1. You can see a slight difference in the color on the computer picture. ok, but i have to tell you, that your math has just scrambled my brain.

  5. That is a lot of math. Sensible math.

    I’ll admit that while I don’t find math hard, I am probably too lazy to go through the effort of mathifying that you did.

  6. Ohh, my head hurts too. I was worried about the color difference for you! I think your plan will make everything undetectible. (PS. My hubby LOVES eating at Gibson’s when he makes his annual trip to Chicago.)

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