Hi everyone, good to be here…my name is Rosie and I am from Norfolk England…
I saw this website and thought someone could help me…
I have always knitted shawls for my grand children, always used the same pattern until my hubby decided I did not need it any more… :doh:
I have a beautiful pattern which is 2 ply and i find it difficult to work with…is there any way I can convert this 4 ply…do I adjust amount of stitches etc…if so does any body know how much?
The main piece in 2 ply with 3 and 3 quarter needles I have to cast on 327 stitches
And what does the tension for the 4 ply you want to use say?
You can have a fat two ply or a thin two ply. The plies are just the number of strands twisted around each other.
Gauge is the number you need to look for for substitutions. The 2 ply you have is a fingering weight. You could knit two strands together, if it’s too thin the way it is, and see what the gauge is, and once you know how many stitches per inch you get, you can multiply that by the number of inches you want your garment to be.
Hi, I dont know tension for 4 ply…thats what I am saying…I only have this beautiful 2 ply pattern and the 2 ply yarn here in England is very thin…I cannot work with it…its far to fine…
I love the shawl pattern and would love to knit it in 4 ply
Before you can knit it in 4 ply, you need to knit a swatch in 4 ply so you’ll know what your stitches per inch, or cm, will be. Once you have that number, you can move on to determine how many stitches you’ll need to get the same width as the one made in 2 ply.
Since you already have 2 ply yarn (I’ve made sweaters with the jumper weight and it is very thin) you might want to use it doubled and see what you get with that.
I am quite new to knitting…when you knit the inch swatch are your sts meant to be spread apart, close together?..What I mean is it could vary to say… 14, 15, sts if not close together…lol…do you know what i mean?
To knit a swatch, cast on enough stitches so the width of the knitting is about 5 inches. Knit for a few inches and then measure, with a ruler, how many stitches you get across 4 inches. If you really want to do it right, and for a poncho I don’t think it’s critical, you can measure in three places and divide by three.
You can also knit the swatch 5 inches long to get row gauge, but again, I don’t think it’s necessary since you’ll knit for length rather than number of rows.
When you measure, just lay it flat and smooth it a bit. Try to have it be at the tension the finished garment will be.
As I said the 2 ply pattern i have never tried so their gauge 30 sts to 10 cm is an average guide…so perhaps this is because I knit loose or tighter perhaps? I don’t know, I am very new to knitting only ever knitted three baby shawls…
That sounds right for 2-ply jumper weight yarn. If you double the yarn, you should be able to get about 4-5 stitches per inch. You should also use larger needles with the doubled yarn.
If you want, there are other patterns, all free, at www.knittingpatterncentral.com . You might be able to find a pattern that you like at a gauge that matches your swatch. Otherwise, once you know your gauge, we can figure out how to get the width you want.
Ok, thanks for the information…I will try tomorrow as I am England and its 12- 15am :rollseyes:
I am trying another baby shawl, have only knitted shawls…and as you say its square, so hopefully I can sort something…
Will let you know how I get on…
I am quite new to knitting…when you knit the inch swatch are your sts meant to be spread apart, close together?..What I mean is it could vary to say… 14, 15, sts if not close together…lol…do you know what i mean?