Hand-dyed yarns can vary quite a bit in shade, even within the same colorway.  If you knit through one skein completely, then another, you’ll see a distinctive line in your project where the two skeins meet. This isn’t a problem if you’re making a one skein project, but what if you want to make a sweater, a shawl or something else using multiple skeins of hand dyed yarn? Try alternating your skeins! If knitting or crocheting flat, work two rows from one skein, then work two rows from another and so on. If working in the round, switch skeins at the start of each round. This will blend the color changes together to transition more smoothly and will give you a much cleaner look.

This same technique can be used when using commercially dyed yarns from different dye lots.

Using a kitchen food scale is the easiest way to split a ball of yarn exactly in half.

1. Weigh the full ball and write that number down so you don’t forget!
2. Wind off your yarn until the scale reads half the original weight.
3. Cut the yarn and you’ll have two equal balls to work from.

Royal Ball Winder available at yarn.com

This is perfect for using a double-strand for a bulky project or for making sure you have enough yarn for two equally-sized socks.

What if you don’t have a kitchen scale? How have you been able to divide a ball of yarn in half?

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