crocheting off a cone of Peaches 'n' Creme

[karenj]

I just bought my first large cone of peaches and creme cotton yarn. Any tips about how to crochet directly off the cone? I almos have to stand directly over it to pull smoothly. Finally I made a small center-pull ball, still connected to the cone, and I keep adding to it when it runs out.

 

Any tips - I hate to cut the yarn, but it is tough to bring that cone from room to room, much less on a trip out of the house.

[Momcrochets]

I love working with cones!

If I'm working off a cone with a larger project, I keep it in my little project tote (one of them) and sit it right at my feet, with the cone very close to me. Sometimes the first couple rounds like to catch at the bottom, but before long they behave themselves, and come off very smoothly. SOO much better than pull-skeins...these behave themselves right to the end of the yarn! Even sitting on the sofa, if the cone is close to my feet, it behaves quite nicely.

HTH

[paperdoll]

My husband made me a platform to set the thread on and a steel rod that has a hook on the end it comes up about 1 1/2 foot. I set the cone on it and loop the yarn over the hook and that brings the yarn straight up from the cone.. it works great.

[Selune]

I use the holder from Herrschners.

[Yarnluver]

Veering off the subject a little, this may sound "crazy" but I've been wanting to buy a cone of ww cotton for a while but don't have any project big enough to give me the excuse to get it. Since you ladies seem to be working on such projects would you be so kind to suggest uses/patterns? Thanks!

[The_Virginia_Hooker]

I'll tilt the cone on the side, and use it that way.

[Ninn]

I use my cotton for kitchen accessories. Dish cloths, towel toppers, etc. I've made place mats, market bags, pot holders, and even some lacy curtains from cotton. I'll have to search the link, but there are even patterns out there to make washable swiffer pads and swiffer duster substitutes! (brilliant, if you ask me)

 

Right now, I've got a full box of pot holders, dish cloths, a dish sponge, 2 placemats and 2 napkin rings and 2 towel toppers, all inside a market bag. Nice Christmas gift, yes?

[Momcrochets]

I've made covers for rice bags, the dischclothes, swiffer "cloths" etc (which all can come from small balls, but if you want a set, the cones are VERY handy!), they also come in handy for the market bags. I've also wound hanks off the spools of white--during the summer--to dye. I have used other cones from www.elmore-pisgah.com ...they are an awesome company, btw, great customer service...for garments. (but not the WW peaches and creme--THAT would be one HEAVY sweater ) TampaDoll makes those great C'ville totes, the cones would come in handy for something like that, too.

HTH

Edited November 15, 2008 by Momcrochets

[Craw]

I've made tote bags from cones and right now one of my WIPs is a rather large beach mat. I place the cone at my feet and the only trouble I seem to have is the cat seeing the string flying around and grabbing it.

[codymikki]

The cotton is great for summertime baby blankets.

[Lisaizme]

When I use a cone, I take my stand alone paper towel holder and put the cone on the shorter rod. Works for me. If I didn't have one of those, I'd probably buy one of those holders like in an earlier post.

[Sylviaf]

I wanted my husband to make me holder and then we figured out that I could just buy a paper towel stand to use. I picked up a pretty wooden stand from Walmart and it works pretty well, although I don't have the hook to thread it through. At least the yarn doesn't tip over or roll on the floor to be attacked by a cat.

[Selune]

Veering off the subject a little, this may sound "crazy" but I've been wanting to buy a cone of ww cotton for a while but don't have any project big enough to give me the excuse to get it. Since you ladies seem to be working on such projects would you be so kind to suggest uses/patterns? Thanks!

 

Oh, I'm a potholder nut. I have one pattern (from 101 easy scrap crochet projects) that I do over and over and over again. Everybody gets potholders around me.

[LI Roe]

I have been working off cones of yarn that someone donated to our volunteer group years ago. Just started using them and sometimes they just do what they want. I believe these were really designed to use in knitting machines (I am strictly crocheting with them) and they are six very thin strands in different shades to each cone. Most look very varigated. I use a strand of either regular worsted or sport yarn and get a fabulous tweedy type look. Most of the time I unwind a few feet, work on that, then unwind more and so on and so on. Will now try the suggestions given. Sometimes they have been on their side only because they fell over.

 

Glad to hear the suggestions. Thanks.

 

LI Roe

[Yarnluver]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions, I forgot to subscribe to this thread and just remembered to come around here. I've already made potholders and towel toppers out of the balls but would like to try making something bigger, a set of placemats or a tote bag sound good. I also forgot that the sites for Lily Sugar 'n Creme and Coats & Clarks have patterns for ww cotton so I'm sure I can find plenty of uses for a cone.

[Tampa Doll]

I use mostly cones when I crochet with the cotton. I find it is much better, than the hanks. I use either the holder from Herrschners or a stand alone paper towel holder. The only problem, I find, is that the DH has to cut part of the tip off, to place the cone all the way down.

 

I use mine for the totes I make and also for the dolls I make.

 

 

 

Big project, or small project, I love the cones.

Edited November 24, 2008 by Tampa Doll

[Kimblee]

(I think I'd die without cotton cones... seriously, even if nothing else in my stash wants to be made into something, the cones are there for me.)

 

I make dish cloths, towel toppers, potholders and the occasional coaster. I wanna try a baby blanket though... I got "shades of spring" from peaches and cream, and I think its be a beautiful baby blanket.... I'm just too chicken to try it.

[theluckielizard]

I bought this yarn holder from ebay--> http://cgi.ebay.com/YARN-CROCHET-THREAD-AND-RIBBON-HOLDER-handcrafted_W0QQitemZ330290739843QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item330290739843&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

and also the cone holder attachement which is just an extra dowel that has two disks on it-a smaller disk that slides into the bottom of the cone and goes almost all the way up inside of the cone and a larger disk that is just on the inside of the bottom. It works better than anything I have ever used!

[karenj]

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. I am now trying to have the cone very sit close to me on the ground on my left (I'm a righty) and that is working well. The only problem I have now is that sometimes I like to crochet off both ends of the ball, if I don't want to break the thread and I need to do another small piece before I finish the main piece I am working on (I hate weaving in ends). I don't think it can be done with a cone, but if it can, I am sure some brilliant C'viller will tell me how.

From one cone, I made a giraffe for DD for Christmas and am now making a hooded baby blanket with little cat ears for a friend - a calico kitten blanket. I am about 2/3 done with the blanket, but I am getting sick of it (now I remember why I don't do big projects) and want to make the ears and attach them to encourage me with its cuteness. Ah well, I guess I msut power through. I do really like the way the varegated yarn is working up on the blanket, and wil post a pic when it is at fully cute status.

[Yarnluver]

Oh my goodness, that is SOOO cute! What a great job, I'm sure the blanket will be equally cute so please keep at it, I hope you'll share pics of that too.

[theluckielizard]

Your Giraffe is too adorable! I am sure your cat baby blanket will be equally as cute. Keep up the good work!

[photojenic]

We usually buy a spindle of CDs or DVDs for music/computer backups once a year or so. The leftover plastic spindle is perfect to hold a cone of yarn, or even a ball skein of yarn if you are working from the outside and kinda "puff" the skein open.

 

(It usually happens while I'm digging around for the end inside the skein. So I just pop the puffed skein onto the spindle and work from the outside. lol.....)

[Yarnluver]

That's a neat idea, my son buys those, I'll have to ask him if he has an empty one or to save me the next one. Thanks for sharing!

[Filly]

Hi a stupid question how many swiffers  can you get out of a cone? 

[Granny Square]

Not a stupid question at all, and welcome to the 'ville!

We all have different gauges, so if I made one and used x yards, it doesn't mean that if you crochet looser or tighter than I do, that you wouldn't need more or fewer yards.  Also there are like a zillion patterns for swiffer covers out there, in stitches from plain sc, to loop stitch, to bobbly stitches, and in styles that just cover the bottom with tie-ons, to ones with pockets or button flaps. One complex pattern could use several times the yardage of a simpler one.

So, find a pattern if you haven't already, and figure out the square inches of the cover you want to make.  Make a swatch at least 4" square in the stitch pattern and hook you will be using, mark the end of the yarn where you'd cut it off if you were done and needed to leave enough to weave in - but don't cut it off, just mark it with a safety pin, paperclip or something.  Unravel it.  Measure the yardage. A 4" square is 16 square inches.  Let's say you used 10 yards (totally making this up, don't use my numbers just the concept).  Divide 10 by 16, which is 0.625 yards per square inch.  Now, make a swiffer cover for real.  Measure it, and calculate the area in square inches (unless it is just 1 rectangle covering only the bottom, you will need to calculate the area of multiple rectangles and add them together to get the total area in inches.)

The bottom of a swiffer is roughly 10"x5", so 50 square inches for just the bottom (mine is, anyway, and I'm rounding up just a tad).  So you'd need 50 x .625 = 31.25 yards for the bottom using my bogus yardage per square inch.  Plus the yardage for pockets to go around the ends or whatever your pattern calls for, let's say half that number (so, half of 10" is 5", divided by 2 for a 2.5" pocket on each end...not sure if that sounds like enough but this is just hypothetical).  So, 31.25 yards for the bottom, plus 15.625 yards for the 2 pockets is 46.875 yards.  Plus however many yards to sew up, unless you start with an oval on 1 end to make pocket and bottom in 1 piece, then work flat across half the distance, then go back to working in the round at the end.  So about 50 yards for each swiffer.

A solid color Sugar n'cream cone is 706 yards, divided by 50 is about 14 swiffer covers with my bogus yardage numbers.  

In looking at Ravelry, for free swiffer cover patterns most claim to have used 0-150 yards, which is a category range to pick.  So I'm in the ballpark with my made up yardage, but if all of them really used closer to 150 yards, you'd only get 4-5 swiffers per cone.  Following the steps I outlined and using your real yardage numbers would give you a more accurate guess.