I just skein off the yarn from the bobbin to my 2 yard diameter warping mill and when I tie the skein I mark the number of times around the mill. Usually when I take the skein off, it 'shrinks' to about 60 to 65 inches. Simple multiplication of each marked skein gives yardage, which I then compare with the knitting pattern requirements. the yardage per pound (kitchen scale used here) and eyeballing can give me an idea whether it fits as a standard worsted, double knitting etc.
Actually I spin for size (laceweight, fine, double knitting, worsted,) based on experience and eyeballing samples, then check the yardage against the pattern. I have been so close that I ended up with a yard or less after sewing up the sweater, though I prefer a bit extra. for some reason, I usually find that the needles I use for handspun are a couple of sizes below the pattern recommendation, though with commercial yarns, I tend to be exactly on guage, and dont bother with guage swatches. For handspun, sometimes I knit 4 to 8 inches of the sweater,. rip and change needles or guage. I dont care, as I knit pretty fast. Swatches are a pretty poor predictor, though I do swatch handspun first. Nancy To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
