How it works:
You send us your yarn, we (Bill) will crank it into a tube and send it back. This listing is for a single skein of yarn into a tube. If you would like multiple skeins cranked, please adjust the quantity in your cart.
Yarns should be fingering or sport weight yarns and contain at least 75% wool.
We need the following info from you: Please leave a note in the comments when you check out, and make sure I can contact you via email for any questions or issues that arise.
- How many stitches in your tube - 54, 64 or 72?
- Approximate gauge or tube circumference? We can generally do 6-9 stitches per inch (or almost 10 spi on 72 stitches for fingering weight only). (see note below)
- Crank the whole skein, or leave some in reserve? It takes about 20-25 g to knit heels, toes, and cuffs. You could likely get two pairs of socks from a 115g tube if you use contrasting yarn for heels, toes, and cuffs.
Regarding gauge and tube circumference: Since you will be adding hand knitting to the tube, we suggest matching the cranked gauge to your hand knit gauge. You can measure your gauge by counting the number of stitches in one inch on a recently knit sock. Your gauge and the number of stitches will determine the circumference of your tube.
Example: 64 stitches at 8 stitches per inch (spi) = 64/8 = 8 inch tube circumference
72 stitches at 9 spi also equals 8 inch tube.
A general guide:
- 7 inch tube - women's small
- 8 inch tube - women's medium/ men's small
- 9 inch tube - women's large/ men's medium
For more info on gauge, see this blog post. and also THIS ONE.
Upon your order, we will be emailing info for you to ship your yarn (including our mailing address). LOOK FOR THIS EMAIL WITHIN 48 HOURS OF YOUR ORDER. If you do not receive it, please contact us at knitspinbill@gmail.com. Please understand that we are not responsible for your yarn until it reaches our house, so we suggest you get tracking information when sending it. This product listing includes a shipping charge that is calculated at checkout. This is the based upon the number of tubes ordered and covers the cost of shipping your completed tubes back to you.
Please allow 2 weeks from the time we receive your yarn for us to ship it back to you. Make sure you include a good email address and phone number that we can use to contact you!
Our recommendations!
The tightness of the fabric really depends upon the yarn.
As a rule of thumb, the 64 stitch tube tops out at 9.5 stitches per inch with fingering weight yarns. The 72 stitch cylinder can go a little over 10 stitches per inch. With heavier sport weight yarns, the maximum SPI that we can achieve is reduced by about 10-15%.
Below 8 stitches per inch, the fabric tends to be quite loose and floppy, a bit lacy. In my opinion, the nicest fabrics all end up being in the 8-9 spi range, no matter the yarn base.
Sport weight yarns are the only yarn we'd recommend at 7 spi and do very well on the 54 stitch cylinder.
We will gladly take our time and work with you to make sure you're happy with the tube we crank for you! Happy knitting!
It is your responsibility to send us your yarn and no refunds will be issued if you fail to do so. OUR REFUND POLICY APPLIES (we are charged a fee for issuing a refund, which we cannot recover.)