Take time to check your gauge

Time and yarn.  That's what it takes for swatches to check gauge (or tension, as some people say.)

Gauge is the measure of how you and your yarn and your needles are working together.

• How many stitches per inch?
• How many rows per inch?
• Are your results matching what the pattern is expecting?
• If not, will you be able to adjust the needle size or find a sweater size that will work using the gauge you have knit?

Big surprises and maybe unwelcome ones, if you are unable to make adjustments described in that last item in the list above.  Thus the Knitting Proverb:  To save time, take the time to check your gauge.  I'd insert "heartache and disappointment" in there, too.

I keep trying.

You probably can't see it.  It's 3x3 ribbing; k3,p3.
Will wait for it to dry and set and then measure.
The entire sweater is a ribbed one, with a boat neck.  Simple.
As long as the gauge matches.

This one didn't work out at all.  I used the yarn weight and needle
prescribed, but you can clearly see -- I think -- that the rows are
scrunched.  What are supposed to be diamonds, look like
boats, curved at the bottom, with the line of their
sails curved at the top point down.

Still trying for that 1942 cardigan inspiration item.

From top to bottom:  US2 (2.75 mm); Addi 2(2.5mm),
something between a 3 and a 4 (more than 3.5mm and less
than 4.0 mm)

Three swatches, three different needle sizes.  Still not sure which will be the choice.

Everyone who's known me for any length of time knows my favorite expression:  It's not supposed to be this hard.  I thought needles had been standardized.  Guess not.

So I've taken the time to check my gauge.  Stay tuned.

PS  This process will surely save me the heartache of a sweater too small or too large, but yes, it's taken quite a bit of time.

Thuh Key

Knitters know this as an unforgivable truth:  The Key to knitting to size is gauge.  The number of stitches in each inch of each row and the number of rows in each inch of fabric creation dictate the final size (and fit) of the garment.

Lots of other variables, of course.  This IS life, after all.   You might knit with different tension one day versus another -- due to temperature or stress.  Your yarn might behave differently due to the weather, as in moisture content.

But it is a knitting truth that you must measure the gauge before you start the garment.  Here's the way it worked for me.

Two swatches, a ruler, a calculator and a place to
record the results.

Two swatches, using two different size needles.  The US3 yielded only 6 stitches to the inch; the US2 produced a finer fabric and almost 8 st to the inch.

Tiny needles either way.


Size US 3 above the pencil.

Size US2 below the pencil.

What difference does it make?









Two needles, same yarn, different 'fabric,' which means different feel, different texture, different look, and different drape.

The difference that shows most dramatically in pictures
is the difference in the ribbing.  On the left, two repeats
yields one inch+ of ribbing, with big holes and not
enuf definition.
Now look between the 1 and the 2 on the ruler.  Smaller
needles yield 'tighter' stitches and a 2 ribbing repeat of perhaps
3/4 of an inch.

And it makes a big major huge can-be-regrettable difference in the final size of the garment.  I won't bore you with the math.  And just in case you want to use the I am not good with math excuse, every book out there (well practically every one) tells you how to make the adjustments.

The gauge is the key and lest you forget, your finished garment will remind  you the first time you wear it.  It will either have sleeves that are too short or it will begin at your knees when you planned a nice plain cardi to sit at your waist.

Open the door --