Bulking Up Color Change Yarn

Long color change yarns are a delight to work with, but they do present a challenge for loom knitters who work with larger gauge looms. Very few of these yarns are made in bulky weights. The photo above shows JoJoland Rhythm which is a worsted weight yarn. But many of these lovely yarns are fingering weight. Doubling or tripling the strands is not an option, because the color changes are different in each skein. So what to do if you want a heavier yarn? 
My solution up to now has been to run a solid color yarn along side the color change yarn. This was not a perfect option, because the while the weight of the yarn was increased, the colors were washed out. This second photo shows an example of a Zauberball yarn doubled with a cream solid.

A better option is to use a technique of "weaving" your yarn as you loom with it. This technique is often called "Navajo Knitting" or "Navajo Plying", after a yarn spinning technique. The idea is to loosely weave your yarn into a big chain, which triples the thickness, and creates a bulky weight yarn. This is an excellent option for long color change yarns, because it preserves the clarity of the color changes. It does, however, shorten the length of the color changes, a problem to solve another day. Here is a link to an article describing the technique of "Navajo Knitting".

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Copyright 2012 by Renee Van Hoy, Invisible Loom. All rights reserved.