What Kind Of Yarn Do You Need?

When you are buying a YYMN slot you might not know for sure what kind of yarn to get. Sometimes I will have yarn in stock for you to pick from. In the event I don't have yarn or you might want different colors than what I have available you need to know how to shop for yarn.

Q: What is a yarn weight?
A: Yarn thickness is classified by names. Worsted (also called Aran) and Bulky yarns can all be usable for making diapering pants. There is a very large variation in size of a yarn in each particular category. One of the biggest things to look at is yardage per ounce. The more yards per ounce the thinner the yarn. DK, Fingering, Sport and Lace weight yarns are not suitable for diaper products.

Worsted weights you want to have between 55-75 yards per ounce.
Bulky weights you want to have between 30-55 yards per ounce.

Q: How much yarn do I need to buy?
A: First decide if you want solid color trim. Trim is not required and is more of a personal preference.

Approximate yardage amounts for worsted weight wool. Aran or bulky weights will take more yarn.

	0-3 months Waist 14" Rise 13"	3-6 months Waist 16" Rise 15"	12 months Waist 18" Rise 17"	18 months Waist 20" Rise 19"	24 months Waist 21+" Rise 20+"
Soaker	100 yds 2 oz	130 yds 3 oz	150 yds  3 oz	200 yds 4 oz	250 yds 4.5 oz
Shorties	130 yds 3 oz	150 yds  3 oz	200 yds 4 oz	250 yds 4.5 oz	300 yds 5 oz
Longies	170 yds 4 oz	200 yds 4 oz	260 yds 5 oz	320 yds  5.5 oz	400 yds 7 oz
Skirty	300 yds 5 oz	350 yds 6 oz	400 yds 7 oz	450 yds 8 oz	550 yds 10 oz
Ruffle	add 25 yds .5 oz	add 25 yds .5 oz	add 25 yds .5 oz	add 25 yds .5 oz	add 25 yds .5 oz

Q: Where do I buy yarn?
A: You can buy wool in most fabric stores. You want a product that is 100% wool. You might find a blend of animal fibers that you want to use. In general this is fine but certain animal fibers retain their shape better. If you stick with at least 75% sheep wool you should be ok. Make sure the other fiber is an animal hair.

You can also buy wool online. A lot of the premium and Indie dyed yarns are available online.
You can buy yarn dyed to order at the following places. When you dye yarn to order it may not look like the photograph listed. Yarn colors vary so keep an open mind:

www.Threeirishgirls.com
Doodlebirds
Purewool

You can also find in stock yarn in multiple places.
Spots Corner
Hyena Cart
Etsy
Diaper Swappers FSOT

There are also online suppliers that can provide you with wool:

HandPaintedYarn
BlackBerry Ridge
KnitPicks

Q: What about superwash?
A: There is a lot of conflicting information about whether or not you can use superwash. Superwash yarn is treated with a resin to keep the fibers from felting together. Some people experience difficulties getting the product to provide adequate water resisting capabilities. In general I recommend avoiding superwash.

Still have questions? That is normal! Please don't hesitate to contact me, Aimee Jadegaia@comcast.net, if you need help finding a suitable yarn.

Mandi's custom

Mosaic Moon Lughnasagh

Mosiac Moon Goblin

The Goblin custom is coming out really nicely:

Ella Complete

Ella Elephants is complete. I just need to wash and take a picture when the sun comes up. I should be casting on the Teague longies tonight. If I can get them done by Monday I will start the pair for the 100% HC$ Auction in December.

Stocking info etc

I am getting through my customs on a nice schedule. I haven't posted to the blog in a long time because I couldn't log in! For the stocking on 11/04/08 I will have stocking stuffer items and only one knit item. I am shooting for 3 knit items on 12/01/08 for our Christmas stockingl

Large Arlito Longies

I am about 3" into the inseam of my latest custom. I finally figure out how to magic loop both legs at once. It seems to take about the same amount of time as 2 circular needles but I am not positive.

Two Items Completed

I finished Florence's Capris

And the choco rainbow longies

Instant gratification

I need some instant gratification with these miles and miles of inseams I am knitting. I am going to knit a newborn soaker for something fast to do.

Legs

Last night I had to join a new skein and the pattern was off. So I had to pull one leg off of the needles, add a life line, rip back, line up the yarn, knit to even with the other leg and then put both back on the same needles. It took about an hour.

Customs in the works and instock

I have three more customs that are in the works. I have a pair of longies for YYMN from Road2healthy in bulky yarn. I have a trade for yarn from the Hyena Cart Swap for Babycakies and I have a trade for 3 pairs of longies and a soaker for Earthbabydiapers. I will cast on the Earthbabydiapers longies after I am done with my stocking items for Serenity Tree.

I need to frog back the leg of the choco rainbow longies and add about 2 more rows. I have about 3 inches done on the Thorny Rose inseam and I cast on the Seaweed waistband last night. I still need to finish Angela's sweater. I will probably bust out the Thorny Rose longies after I finish the capris and then work a few rows of the sweater. I found the perfect button for the sweater at my mom's.

Florence's custom

The capris are going really well. I am liking the colors in these yarns. I expect to be done tonight.

My dip into crochet

I have been dabbling in crochet because there are such cute cuff options available. I know how to do a simple chain. I was able to add some crochet lace to these capris which I am particularly proud of. The drawstring was crochet as well.

Recent YYMN

Here are two recent customs that I finished. I love both of these yarns.

Tomboy Longies

I finished these this week. Size medium, waist 18", hip 20", rise 17", inseam 9".

My poor Hubby's nose

For about the last 6 months Steve hasn't been able to breathe out of his nose AT ALL. It has been so miserable for him. He went to the ENT today and it turns out his entire sinus cavity is full of polyps. He has decided to have surgery when I get back from California on the 29th. There is a risk of bleeding with the surgery but the biggest issue is they go up in there and scrape out his sinus' for 2 hours so he will be in big time pain. Poor guy. At least he will be able to breathe. He will be out of work for 2 weeks but thank goodness he has a job with vacation and sick pay!

Things that sell things that don't

It has been a good couple of days for the store. My collaboration with Saysumthing sold right away. My charity items are selling for Tiffani with Mudpie diapers. Things in my store haven't been selling though. I wonder if that is just coincidence or if the other stores are the reason things are selling?

I am almost done with my first pair of capris. They are turning out really pretty. I hope they will measure properly when they are done.

Testing a pattern

This is my first attempt testing a pattern. So far it isn't as hard as I would think or maybe I am just more skilled than I thought I was. Trying to do a short row with a wrap and I am the kind of person who really needs pictures so I found this blog

We will see how well I do later today.

Contest for Free Bum Genius 3.0

The pocket diaper is my favorite diaper and the Bum Genius is my favorite pocket diaper. So easy to use which is nice when changing a wiggly monkey like my youngest. You can enter a contest to win some free here
http://blog.thenatureschild.com/2008/06/beat-heat-summer-contest.html

Custom Done!

I finished my first ever custom today. I had issues with the yarn supplier but in the end I really liked the yarn. My customer was so kind and understanding to the issues and she was great to work with. It is way past my bedtime!

Here is a picture of her shorties:

Collab with SaySumthing

I am doing my first official collaboration. Here is a picture of what I knit:


I am going to have it paired with Carolyn's shirt color red size 2T that says "cloth diaper for a clean planet" I am so excited!

Yarn

So who knew buying yarn was my favorite pastime? Steve says I need to stop and wait for it to catch up with me. But gosh how can I stop? This is what is in the mail to me right now:

3IG
6 oz Adara
6 oz Ciara
4 oz Elsbeth

Laines Magnifiques
10 oz Atticus
10 oz Seaweed

Spiffy Knits
10 oz Tomboy

In about 6 weeks I will be getting:
Western Sky Knits
From Kim 10 oz Choco Rainbow
From Heather 10 oz Innocence and 10 oz Thorny Rose

30 year mark

I am going to be 30 soon. I normally am not one to make any sort of clamor about birthdays. This one is weird to me. Within the last year I have really reconstructed my life. I abandoned a major career, offloaded a lot of debt, started a small online business and in the middle of this I am raising two kids. I talk to people my age and they seem so much older, so much more advanced in what they want to do with this thing called life. I guess that is where I have always been different. I am not a planner in a sense. I kind of allow this cosmic element to push me down the path and then I figure out what to do from there. When I was still working at "The Bank" people would always tell me; you need a 5 year plan, you need goals, you need a road map of your life. You know what? No I don't. I am done with stress and what is coming around the next corner. For the first time in a long time I am just enjoying life for what it is. My mom has this saying on her wall about not walking where there is a path but making your own path. My first thought is well what if you get lost? I think I was lost for awhile. I am going to stay on the road for a bit and see where it goes.