Does gauge matter?

Answer: It depends on what one is knitting!

I have not knitted a garment for myself in a very long time. I know I knit to a loose tension (gauge) but this might be a little too loose!

I got 18.5 stitches to 10cm, the pattern calls for 24 stitches.

If I had just gone ahead and knitted this cardigan, the first time I washed it I would have a cardigan for a silverback gorilla! The yarn is 50% cotton/acrylic blend so the actual yarn shouldn't stretch too much (don't worry, I'll do a test wash before committing to a whole cardigan) but a difference of 5.5 stitches over 10cm will be a massive difference on my XL frame!

Obviously my retirement from paid work and being an empty-nester combined with a renewing of my commitment to my God (resulting in a revived spiritual life) has made me very relaxed indeed!

Posted from the Blogger app on my iPad using a photo taken with the iPad

on gauge swatches

Someone, somewhere, at some time, worked out that before a knitter starts a project, he/she would be advised to knit a "tension square", the name Australians use for a "gauge swatch".

Most commercial patterns, especially those for articles where size matters, strongly recommend taking the time to knit a tension square.

As a knitting tutor, I wholeheartedly agree. Why spend hours knitting something only to find that after all that "work", the article is the wrong size!

Why then, did I spend five days knitting exclusively on my stealth project only to decide on Day 6 that it was too big? Because, as usual, I was in too much of a hurry to get started on my latest Great Idea. I had all the confidence of a New Project and the fumes of Pure Wool Yarn urging me to just get knitting! I did take the time to prepare a chart for my Great Idea. I knitted and ripped and knitted and ripped; sometimes it felt like I was taking two steps forward and one step back.

But, folks, it wasn't worth it. Late on Day 5 I weighed my yarn. I had 98g left of a 200g ball. What I had knitted was close to the right length I had hoped it to be at this point. At bed time I lay my knitting on the footstool. It was one of the first things I saw on Day 6. And I had to admit, it was just too wide! I wanted something narrower and much longer than I was going to be able to knit with the number of stitches I had!

And so I frogged. This is not the first time I have said it - a gauge swatch is Really. Important. (especially when designing your own knitting) *sigh*

why tension [gauge] is important

In the week after DD's wedding, WM and I had a lovely holiday at Bundeena. In the evenings I knitted. I made one solitary Waving Lace Sock.

I was very happy with the sock and it was a perfect fit so I soon cast on for the second sock. But...

The yarn on the second sock pooled.

I stopped knitting. I put the second sock in the knitting basket and it slowly made its way to the bottom of the basket. Finally, after several months, I admitted that I couldn't live with the pooling and ripped the sock out. But...

I had already sewed in the ends of the first sock [so much enthusiasm] and I had done such a good job that I couldn't unpick those sewn in ends! Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I had about ten minutes to spare before I needed to leave for an appointment. I took that beautiful sock out into sun and unpicked the cast on edge. Now I could see the point in the colour repeats at which I had started and I cast on again for the second sock. I knitted and knitted and the yarn didn't pool. The sock was coming along beautifully. I turned the heel on the second day and on the third day I reached the toe [I was away on holidays at my parents' place]. But...

Something didn't seem quite right. I measured and looked and measured and looked some more. Then I laid the sock-in-progress on top of the finished sock. That didn't tell me anything so I laid the finished sock on top of the sock-in-progress. The second sock was about 1.5cm longer in the leg and definitely wider around the foot.

"That can't be," I thought. "I am knitting on the smallest needles I own [2.25mm] - how can it be so much bigger?" So...

I checked my tension/gauge over the stocking stitch at the toe and, dear readers, it was true. My gauge for the first sock was 10 stitches to the inch and the new sock was eight stitches to the inch! That equates to a seven inch diameter for the first sock and and nine inch diameter for the second sock! I had not tried on the second sock during its knitting. The weather had turned cold and I was wearing socks and shoes. I didn't want to take them off to try on the sock. I'm the same knitter using the same yarn on the same needles to the same pattern - of course it would be right! But...

It wasn't right of course. I had obviously been very stressed in the week after The Wedding to be knitting so tightly! So, both socks are in the knitting basket while I decide what to do? Should I buy some smaller needles and try to get the same gauge as perfect sock #1 or should I rip them both out and knit them both at the same time so that my gauge is the same for both socks?

The moral of the story, dear readers, is check your gauge. It is not always the same!!