Thursday, November 16, 2006

Help!

Ok, so this is more than slightly embaressing. After about 27 years of knitting I've never bothered to do a guage swatch before (ever - I know, I know it's bad! Also kind of explains some weird shaped things I've made over the years), but for my red sweater, I really wanted to make sure it's a good fit etc. so I set to work doing my swatch. On 4mm needles I'm supposed to get 24 stitches x 30 rows = 4". Instead what I've got is a swatch that is 4 1/2". What do I do now? And once I determine what needles to go up to, how do I know what to use for the other size? The pattern called for 3.25mm and 4mm. Please help! (and be gentle with me... I feel silly enough about the no guage thing already!) Thanks, Sarah

6 comments:

Sara said...

Hi...let's see if I'm any help...

First, go up a size in needles until you get 24 stitches for 4" - I'd try for 12 in 2" - I don't worry about the rows - cause I'm going to knit to the length I want..just the stitches.

You'd also end up going up a bit on the smaller needle...

Am I being clear????

prairiegirl said...

Very much so! Thanks Sara! I had no idea where to start! On the bright side, my rather large swatch would make a perfect cell phone case!!

Hanging my head in "knitting faux pas" shame,
Sarah :)

Kelly said...

There's a great article from Knitty, at: http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring03/FEATswatchout.html
that I found really helpful when learning about swatching. That might help you solve the problem.

Chris said...

I mostly knit a swatch that is bigger too, because the sides of your swatch won't measure the same as the inside...make sense?

prairiegirl said...

Thanks for all the tips! The article was a great help. I think my little swatching experience today has really shown me the necessity of the swatch. I was always just too anxious to get going on the projects. BAD BAD BAD. I am now reformed! (I think anyways!)

Sarah

Linda said...

Hi Sarah,
my gauge rarely matches the pattern gauge, so I usually just change the pattern to match my gauge...this is a LOT easier than it sounds!! I use this online conversion for pretty much every pattern I make...that way I can use any yarn I like, instead of being restricted to the yarn in the pattern.
I hope this helps :-)