My On the Horizon buttoned cowl is celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary from being first published (in November 2014!). To celebrate, I revamped the pattern layout a bit and also created a new tips page here on my website with tutorials to help you make your own On the Horizon. I love this accessory because it’s super versatile – it’s part scarf, part cowl and there’s multiple ways to wear it. Below are a couple of photos from my very first version:
And here’s another version, showing the multiple ways it can be worn:
It uses worsted-weight yarn and in most of the more recent samples of it I used Berroco’s Ultra Wool. Besides it’s versatility, the other thing I love about it is that it can be a great project for leftover yarn. Although you need around 380 yards for the main color (so 2 skeins in most 100 gram worsted-weight yarns), you only need approx. 60 yards for each of the 3 contrasting colors used in the ridges. And so those contrasting color ridges are a great opportunity to use up leftover yarn. If this intrigues you, then check out FAQ’s below about using leftover yarn for this project.
FAQ’s about using leftover yarn for On the Horizon
Question #1: I have a ball of worsted-weight yarn leftover, but how do I know how many yards are in it?
If you know what the yarn is (i.e, you know the brand, such as “Malabrigo Rios” or “Berroco Vintage”), then figuring out the yardage you have in a leftover ball isn’t as hard as you may think! But you’ll need just a couple of supplies in order to figure it out. Here are the steps involved:
- Step 1: Write down how many grams and yards are in a full skein of your particular yarn. If you don’t have the label anymore, you can look it up online.
- Step 2: Using a kitchen or postage scale, weigh your leftover ball of yarn to get its weight in grams.
- Step 3: Do this calculation: Take the amount of grams of this leftover ball and multiple it by the total number of yards typically in 1 skein of that yarn brand. Then take that number and divide it by the total number of grams typically in 1 skein of that yarn brand. This number is then your approximate number of yards of your leftover ball.
The image below provides an example of this:
Note: you can learn more about the different ways that weighing yarn can be helpful in this blog post.
Question #2: What if I don’t have 60 yards in my leftover yarn?
If you perform the above calculation and it looks like you are shy of the approximate 60 yards you’ll need, then you have a couple of options. One important thing that can be helpful as you think about these options is that each garter ridge will need approximately 12 yards.
- If you have more leftover yarn than just 3 colors, then you can just add more colors. So for example, add a 4th section and in each of the 4 sections only work 3 garter ridges total (instead of 5).
- Just remember that in total, if you want the width to be similar as the pattern, that you need a total of 180 yards of contrasting colors. In the pattern I divided that up in 3 sections (that’s why it’s 60 yards for each color) but you can divide that up in how many colors and sections you want. And so long as you don’t have more than 16 ridges worked total, then you’ll still have enough main color.
Question #3: What if I don’t know if my leftover yarn is worsted-weight?
If you have leftover yarn that no longer as a label and you have no memory of what it once was, there is one technique you can try. It’s measuring the “WPI”, which stands for “Wraps Per Inch”. I don’t have my own tutorial about this yet, but here’s a great one I can refer to you from Noble Knits that I think explains it quite well: https://youtu.be/WTkQ3BfexuY?si=SWeH-Ed2g5j-FkmM
I hope this information has been helpful and has inspired you to want to dig into your leftovers and transform them into a beautiful, fun to wear accessory! To purchase the pattern here on my website, click here. Or click here for the Ravelry page.