I have some beautiful chenille yarn that I would like to use to make my Mother a small wrap/shawl. She’s 81 and sits around the house a lot because she has Alzheimer’s and isn’t able to do much. Anyway, I a lot of yarn, so I need to know the minimum width and length I can make this wrap. She’s a small woman so it shouldn’t take much to wrap around her; however, the smallest size I’ve seen on the knitting sites is 16" x 60". I just don’t have quite that much yarn–I have about enough to make a 13" x 60". PLEASE give me your ideas so I can get this done by Christmas. Am I just going to have to forget it?
Take a pattern with stitches you like and just cut down the number of CO sts to make it narrower. Lace patterns stretch out the yarn because they’re stretchier than garter or stockinette stitch. Another thing is to do a top down shawl which seems to use less yarn. You use needles about 3-4 sizes larger than normal for the yarn (which you would do anyway for a shawl) which would make a larger size with less stitches. So you may be able to get a bigger one than you think by using larger needles.
Suzeeq,
I’m going to use size 19 needles and a garter stitch. I’m judging how far my yarn will go from a scarf I made of the same yarn. I need to know how wide it needs to be to even be feasible for her. I’ve seen some 14" wide which would give me a little more length. In other words, I’m trying to come up with a minimum width and length that will be usable for the wrap.
If you can weigh your yarn, or have some way of telling how much is a quarter or half of it, you can start it for a width of 14" and knit that portion of it, then measure the length and see how long it’s going to turn out.
Can you find something around your home which is about 14 inches wide, and wrap it around yourself to see how it feels to you? even a folded towel or sheet might give you a feel for it.
Thanks so much–what a great idea!!!