Hi! I’m starting my first knitting project on my own (outside of classes).:woohoo: I’m trying to knit a sweater for our 8 year old son for Christmas. The gauge calls for 11 sts in 4". The yarn I really want to use is knitting at 14 sts in 4". Should I move to a larger needle or should I use the directions for a larger size sweater? Thanks in advance!
If you move to a larger needle, your fabric might be too flimsy. Try it, and if you don’t like it, then you can work a different size. I’ve done it with kids’ sweaters and it tends to work out since they’re not as fussy about fit. And they grow. :teehee:
Will moving to a larger size that suits my gauge affect the armholes (size and placement) or do I need to combine the pattern from the two sizes?
If you use a larger needle and get the gauge of the pattern, you won’t have to change anything–you’ll be knitting the pattern exactly the same way the designer did, whatever the needle size.
Sorry, I didn’t explain myself very well. If I stay with the size 11 needles and move to a larger pattern size will it affect the armholes? Please excuse my ignorance - I’m really nervous about getting this right.
Everything should be in proportion if you go for the larger size, but you may want to measure things as you go to make sure the armholes are too deep for the person wearing it. Nothing’s written in stone.
The only thing that will be affected by knitting a larger size is the length, especially armholes. So you can follow the sts for the larger one, but use the length measurements for the size you would normally use.