How to Combine Multiple Strands of Yarn for a NEW Larger Gauge

Hello knitters!
I’ve been doing a bunch of Holiday hat knitting – maybe you’re gift knitting too?

It’s been fun going through my stash to find yarns that I can evolve into some more useful sizes.

Have you ever gone to a show or festival or shop and ended up with a lot of single skeins? Or, if you’re like me, you cannot resist the siren song of sock yarn!

This year, while making this huge stack of socks, I discovered that all sock yarn is not created equal and might be better off being something else.

I’ve been combining two strands of fingering weight yarns to get a DK or worsted weight, which is much easier to knit a hat with! It’s been great fun creating some lovely marls, too.

Combine three strands of 7st/inch fingering weight and you have VOILA! Bulky weight, which goes even faster.

How you do dat?

Well here’s a handy dandy chart for you to use for holding two strands together of the same weight yarn (CLICK HERE to open larger size chart):

To combine three strands of yarn:
• Find the gauge for two of the strands first by using this formula: (G1 + G2)/3 = New Gauge where G1=Gauge Yarn 1 and G2=Gauge Yarn 2
• (Hint: just use the chart if their original gauges are identical).
• Then, apply the formula again, now adding the (New Gauge + G3)/3 to get the 3-yarn combined gauge.

EXAMPLE: combine 2 strands 8st/inch fingering and one strand worsted.

I can take the first combo gauge from the chart because it uses two equal gauge yarns to give: 5.5.

Now I add that to the worsted weight gauge and divide by 3:
(5.5 + 5)/3 = 3.5 sts / inch

Perfect for the He Said She Said hat/cowl set! (CLICK HERE for pattern…)

Try some fingering weights together and use up all your sock tidbits to knit one of these, the 4-Way Brioche Infinity Cowl (CLICK HERE for free pattern from Chic Knits):

HINT: remember – you can make this scarf any length you want – a shorter version of knit to 40″ then join – would be so pretty!