In this week’s shop update, I’ll be offering 50g skeins of the ready to ship colorways. Before making the decision to offer 50g skeins, I decided to think through what I would want to make with them and which patterns are out there that would be a good fit. Here’s what I’ve come up with.
50g skeins on the Sock base.
Socks
I think socks are the answer to pretty much any yarn-y question. Especially one that sounds like “what should I make with this skein of yarn I bought that time?” There are a million sock patterns out there, besides many knitters adopting some combination of heels, toes and cuffs to make their own. Now, personally, I can get away with a 50g skein of yarn and make socks for me or my husband. I have generally small feet and my husband likes short socks (which is good considering he has Mens size 13 feet).
What if you use more than 50g? Here’s what I’ve come up with.
Red Robin Socks in The Gourd Place and What the Fork
- Buy a set and use a contrast for the heel, cuff and toe! All of my colorways come in any size skein, which means you can buy exactly how much you need in addition to the 50g skein to make your perfect pair of socks.
- Check out some awesome colorwork socks and combine 2 50g skeins into 1 awesome pair of socks. Here are some of my pattern recommendations (please check the pattern recommendation to make sure it will work with your size).
- 2 Color socks by Joji Locatelli – I actually plan to cast these on myself soon!
- Echoes by Liz Harris
- Selbu Socks by Skeindeer – these have been in my favorites for a very long time.
Colorwork Mittens
I’ve knit a few pairs of colorwork mittens out of two 50g balls with leftovers. Again, small hands, but I think you can make it work with many patterns.
- Lotus Mittens by Heather Desserud – I made a pair of these and I love them!
- Koha Mitts by Francoise Danoy (Aroha Knits)
- Any of Skeindeer’s patterns
Baby Knits
Fast patterns and low yardage! There’s really nothing better than baby knits.
Hats
For adult patterns, I do think colorwork is another great option here. I especially love brioche as well.
- Shiftalong by Andrea Mowry – this would be great with a tonal and a fun variegated yarn.
- Miki Hat by Angela Tong
- Columbine by Alla Saenko – I’ve knit this hat! It was my first brioche project and I wear the hat a lot!
- Ice Time Hat by Jennifer Lassonde
These are just some of many patterns you can use or combine to make some really amazing projects. Let me know how you use your 50g skeins.
There are some colorwork sweaters where it would be nice to have just 50g of the contrast color(s) with more of the MC. For example, I got a kit for the Zweig sweater which came with a whole skein of the CC, and I used less than 50g, even with adding some additional colorwork sessions – I really wish that had come with a 50g skein, because Ifeel like I overpaid!
You are absolutely right! I should have added contrast colors for sweaters. I wholeheartedly agree with what you said, which was a major driver for me to operate my hand dyed yarn business as I do and offer skeins in all sizes. So much better than overbuying!