I am knitting a top down toddler cardigan in seed stitch with raglan sleeves. I miss read the directions and only ordered three of the six balls of yarn needed. I was able to get three more balls of the same color but in a different dye lot. What is the best way to combine the two dye lots? I was thinking of making subtle stripes alternating the two dye lots. So far I have finished up to the raglan sleeve divide in the first dye lot. That is 50 rows. I will then knit another 83 rows (about 9inches) and 10 rows for the bottom in garter stitch. I can add a few rows if needed (in twos). My granddaughter is tall. What size stripe do you think would make it look like intentional stripes not a big mistake?
Maybe I’ll get lucky and the two dye lots will look the same.
Thank you,
Gloria
I’ve never had to do that, but i read that alternating the dye lots every 2 rows is about right.
Yes I’ve seen on here that mixing the dye lots as you’ve described is the way to go.
In addition, as you heave worked the top section I the first lot alone, I would do the top of the sleeves in the same way, you may be able to ork to roughly the same place in the first dye lot, that way there won’t be a striped sleeve top at the raglan edge. Hope that makes sense.
I’m just finishing a top in 2 colours which I was gifted and I had no say in the colours or number of balls I had. I worked most of the body then put it onto waste yarn to save whilst I worked the sleeves as I didn’t want to end up with the wrong amount of each colour for the sleeves and wanted it to look considered and balanced in the colour distribution. Neither did I want to end up with short sleeves.
You might do the same, put the body on hold, work the sleeves (1st lot at the top and striped lots for the rest), and then use the remainder yarn to stripe the 2 lots together for the body. This also means you know how much yarn you have left for the body length if you do want to extend it (I’m doing the same, adding length now I know I don’t need to reserve any for the sleeves).
Hope this helps.
This happened to me too! I was knitting in the round and overlapped the two dye-lots every row. I also hoped for a bit of colour bleeding in the block! However, although it doesn’t look bad, the stripes are still visible.
If your sweater is mostly stocking stitch, I would suggest adding a thin stripe or two in a completely contrasting colour or a monochrome contrast to break up the two dye lots. This would hide any subtle colours differences which would not be obvious. It would also buy you a bit more metreage. Your post suggests that you’re halfway through your yarn by the sleeve divide - I wonder if you’ll need more than the three extra balls to complete your size? There are lots of patterns on Ravelry that have a few narrow stripes of contrast colour around the upper body, to good effect!
Thank you everybody for your suggestions. The new yarn arrived yesterday and it appears to be an identical match. I took my original swatch and added another four or five rows in the new yarn and I cannot see the dividing line. It probably helps that the pattern is a seed stitch so you don’t have a straight stockinette line. I think I will bring in the new yarn at the end of the ball and see if it looks like a match. Thankful for small miracles. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.