Y is for

Y is for yarn over, y stitch, yo yo, yarn tree, yarn bombing, yarn bowls, and yarn cakes.

A Yarn Over (sometimes written YOH for yarn over hook) is the process of moving the yarn into place. There is a yarn over in all stitches. Sometimes it is before making the stitch as well in the making of the stitch. Some stitches do not require a yarn over before inserting the hook into the previous row (like single crochet) and some do (like double crochet, half double and triple crochet).

I found this neat video by Forever Bliss Crochet demonstrating yarn over and also yarn under and why using one or the other makes a difference in your work.

The Y Stitch

International symbol of the Y Stitch:

Instructions:
1) Yarn over twice, insert hook into top two loops of stitch (unless otherwise specified), yo, pull through stitch (4 lps on hk)
2) (Yarn over, pull through 2 lps) 3 times (triple crochet made)
3) Chain 2 or 3, yo, insert hook in center of triple crochet, yo and pull through
4) (Yarn over and pull through 2 loops) twice.

Video Demonstration

A YO-YO is 16 dc worked into the ring with no chains between them. It makes a small circle. To see if I have enough worsted weight yarn, I wrap worsted weight yarn loosely around a 12″ ruler 8 times (in other words 8 12″ lengths or 8 feet, that means front and back of the ruler – once around – is 2 lengths). Don’t stretch it. Just loosely wind around the length of the ruler. This will to some degree depend on the yarn. That is about 96-98″. I usually hold an inch or two at the top so it doesn’t slip out of my fingers.

You can also make a DOUBLE YO-YO which is 2 rounds, 16 dc on the first round, and 2 dc in each stitch on the second round for a total of 32 dc on that round. To see if I have enough worsted weight yarn, I wrap yarn loosely around a 12″ ruler 20 times.

You can also make a TRIPLE YO-YO which is 3 rounds. There are two ways to make these. One uses 12, 24, 36 stitches. That would be 12 in ring, 2 in each st, then increase in every other stitch to get 36. The other is made the same, continuing the basic yo-yo. It starts with 16 dc in ring, then 2 in each, then increase in every other stitch – 16, 32, 48. If you are making for a charity, all the circles need to be the same so ask the person joining what she accepts. To see if I have enough worsted weight yarn, I wrap yarn loosely around a 12″ ruler 28 times. Don’t stretch it. Just loosely wind around the length of the ruler. This will to some degree depend on the yarn.

I have a YouTube playlist which includes all three.

A Yarn Tree is a post or pole with smaller posts (removable or unremovable) on which you can place yarn. Here is a picture of my yarn tree before adding yarn and then filled with yarn. My son-in-law made mine as a Christmas gift. What a guy!

Yarn Bombing is not what it sounds like. No bombs are used in the process of yarn bombing. It is the term used when you wrap yarn around something which would not ordinarily be covered with yarn – like a tree, statue, or mailbox – usually in public.

If you want to participate in yarn bombing it is a good idea to get permission from whoever owns or is in charge of the object you want to cover. In many public places, it is considered graffiti and is illegal. You probably don’t want to be crocheting in jail. On the other hand, if it’s your own property, it’s probably fine. (Not to be taken as legal advice.)

Yarn bombing can be done in crochet or knitting and is considered by many a decorative form of street art. Other terms for yarn bombing might be yarn storming, guerrilla knitting, kniffiti, urban knitting, or graffiti knitting.

Yarn Bowls are very popular now. They are small bowls in which you can place the skein of yarn you are currently using. The purpose is to keep it from bouncing all over the room, getting dirty and generally causing mayhem. There are many different kinds of yarn bowls and they can be made in just about any material. I have three wooden bowls and I recently purchased two small bins from Thirty-One which I am loving. See post on that.

Ceramic yarn bowls can be beautiful but break if dropped (personal experience). Wooden bowls are nice but some are not wide enough or deep enough to be as useful as they could be – I use a couple of mine to hold bits like needles and extra hooks. A ball of yarn just jumps out or doesn’t fit. The best bowls, in my view, are those that are deep with a wide top. I am loving my Thirty-One bins which are perfect for the new yarn cakes. Sometimes the yarn does get caught on the snap loop but I haven’t found it to be a big problem.

You can look at all the different yarn bowls available at Etsy, on Ebay, and many yarn stores such as Knit Picks. You can make one yourself. I even saw a yarn bowl with a place for a hook, which I thought was an excellent idea!

Yarn Cakes are the current craze. Every manufacturer is trying them. These skeins have several different colors but are not like variegated skeins where each color appears for a short spurt and in a particular order and then repeats. In yarn cakes, there are yards of one color then it changes to another, sometimes very different, color (like pink to purple). You don’t have to finish off one to start the other. They just flow into one another.

What this means is that depending on what you are making, your abrupt color change may come in the middle of a row or round. This doesn’t bother some people and it bothers other people a lot. I’m not a fan of the abrupt change in the middle of the row. That said when making a scarf, for example, the change comes after many inches of work so the number of tails to sew in is still reduced even if you cut the yarn at the change.

Here are a few scarves I’ve mad with yarn cakes. Most often I cut the yarn at the color change.

I sometimes wish they would have asked me what colors they should put together but for the most part they’ve done a pretty good job. I really like the pink and purple together in the Bernat Pop Violet Vision. The problem I had with that yarn was that there was sometimes a color change for just a couple of stitches – like a purple bit in my pink yarn. That was annoying to me but in all other respects I enjoyed the yarn and have bought many skeins and made many items with it.

I’ve marked a few of the color changes with arrows. Unless you’re looking closely at the afghan, it probably wouldn’t be a big issue. The young lady who received this afghan loved it.

That’s all for Y.

In honor of Sue Grafton who wrote the alphabet mystery books, I’m going to stop at Y in my crochet alphabet blog posts. She passed away before she could write Z. And that has nothing to do with the fact that I couldn’t think of a Z word that has to do with crochet. LOL

Happy Crocheting!

Sandie