Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Weighing In

I remember the first time I read about a knitter using a scale to weigh her yarn, to figure out how much she'd used with her project.
At the time it seemed pretty crazy, I must admit (and I assume you're thinking as much, as you read this.) Today, however, I was knitting the leg of my sock, trying to decide if I had enough to do another repeat, or if that would leave me short on the second sock. What better way to figure it out than to drag out the kitchen scale and weigh the sock and the remaining yarn, to figure out whether I'd used nearly half of the yarn, yet.

It was a bit more complicated than that, of course -- after all, I had to figure in the weight of the needles (rather heavy nickel-plated ones: 8 grams, for the record.) Fortunately I remember basic algebra well enough to do that sort of calculation. In the end, I decided I wouldn't risk another repeat; if I used more than another 10 grams of yarn, then I would be eating into the second half of the skein, and I still had a bit of cuff to do, plus the bind-off row. So I finished up the first sock and got set up for the second.

Meantime, I am still waiting for the arrival of the yarn to finish off Lizard Ridge. I know you are all as anxious as I am, to see the finished project (not to mention what I'm going to make with the leftovers...)

2 comments:

MOM said...

So now I have heard everything, but it does make sense if you weigh your sock and the remaining yarn YOU should be able to figure it out, I couldn't mind you. LOL

Brandi Beckett said...

Wow, Dragon socks! That's pretty awesome Rhonda. If I was a better knitter I'd ask for a link to the pattern so I could make some too. Maybe some day.... they'd add a little something special to my dragon claw training. Very cool.