Crocheting with Doubled Yarn

Have you ever tried doubling up your yarn—effectively using two strands at once?

Crocheting or knitting with double strands holds many advantages:

1.  Enables you to achieve a ‘bulky yarn’ product when you can’t actually source bulky yarn.
2.  A great stash-buster!
3.  You can create you very own fabric that will be unique – mixing different colours creates a marbled effect, using different textures and weights gives   you something that wouldn’t be possible with just one yarn.  For example mixing cotton with metallic yarn – It adds strength to the metallic yarn and softens the look of the sparkle.  Some novelty yarns look great but are awful to work with on their own—adding a second yarn, even if a thin cotton, in similar colour can help to see the stitches better.
4.  Often it creates a stronger fabric for example baskets, potholders, rugs. However this will depend on the yarns you are combining.

However using double strands isn’t always easy.  Here are some tips I picked up from using several strands together.

1. Two medium weight yarns, don’t automatically create a super bulky yarn. Similarly two 4ply yarns together won’t necessarily equate to an 8ply yarn. There is no specific formula to follow, as this is dependent on the different fibres, the way they are spun and how they wrap around each other as they are worked up. A gauge swatch is the only way to determine whether you will get the thickness you are after and the look you are looking for.
2. Keep an even tension on both strands of yarn. It is quite common for one ball to pull /unravel easier than others. To help keep tension, pull out more yarn from each ball than you need.  To help with this, thread the two strands through a bead before you begin your work – the bead pulls the strands together consistently – or if you’ve already started your project, slip a stitch marker around the strands to help them flow.
3. To avoid the yarns tangling, keep them in separate balls, or on either side of you. As you use them they can and should twist together so that they feel like one yarn. Yarn Bowls, No Mess Yarn Bags, or Spindles can all help to avoid the tangles, and stop your balls rolling around the floor.  Alternatively, you can use a winder to rewind the two balls together into one ball.
4. The increased thickness will make your hands tired, so have frequent breaks. You’ll also likely need to experiment with the hooks to get the right hook size. If your hook is too small, this can put additional strain on your hands/wrist you don’t need.