FAQs

What is self-striping yarn?

Self-striping yarn is specially dyed to create stripes or patterns of different colours that appear as you knit or crochet. There are no extra ends to weave, just let the yarn do the work for you! 

The magic of self-striping yarn lies in the way it is dyed. With careful planning ahead of time, specific lengths of the yarn are dyed in different colours.

Self-striping yarn is one type of self-patterning yarn, but we also dye yarn with gradients, or other patterns. 

What is different about Gauge's yarn?

Traditional self-striping yarn is intended for socks, and with relatively narrow stripes, and a regular repeating pattern. 

At Gauge, we create stripes for so many occasions! In addition to traditional sock yarn, we have sock yarn with no repeats, yarn for hats, and yarn dyed specifically to create even stripes on shawls or sweaters.

What yarn do you use?

Please see here for a list of our yarn bases. 

 

What yarn should I use for socks?

Our classic (or Round Trip) yarn is created with socks in mind. Many skeins, like the Autumn Socks (below), have two matching halves plus a section of solid colour that can be used for the heels. 

Fingering weight skeins available in 115 g and 170 g skeins. 115 g is enough for a pair of medium socks,  while 170 g is enough for a pair of XL socks or knee-socks.

 

What. is best for hats or scarves?

Some of our colourways are designed for larger items like hats, cowls or scarves. They'll often be labeled as "One Way Trip" because the colour progression doesn't repeat (as opposed to Round Trip which has two matching halves).

The Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda (below) is a particular favourite pattern and uses one 115 g / 4 oz skein of yarn. 

 

What yarn should I use for shawls? 

We have SHAWL yarn dyed specifically for triangular shawls. Since the last rows on a shawl take much more yarn than the first ones, there is a “top” and “bottom” to the yarn. The "top" typically begins with shorter sections of colour; search for the colourway name on our website to see images of a knitted sample. If knitting a triangular shawl that is worked from the bottom up, simply start with the “bottom” of the yarn for the long cast-on edge.

We have a free shawl pattern available here that gives more tips on working with this yarn.

Fingering weight skeins available in 115 g and 170 g skeins. 115 g is just enough for a shawlette, while 170 g will make a more generous shawl. The Autumn shawl below was a special kit using a two 115 g skeins. 

 

What about baby sweaters?

We have a handful of colourways that are designed specifically for wee little sweaters. There is a section of rainbow stripes at the yoke, and the rest of the skein is a solid colour. 

Any top-down raglan baby sweater pattern will work. We like Flax Light by Tin Can Knits. The photo below shows a Flax Light that has been modified to be a cardigan.