I had a pattern picked out for my DK weight yarn, but my darling dd saw me browsing and wants another dress instead.
The sundress she wants (this one) calls for worsted weight. If I want to go ahead and use my DK weight, should I just knit it for the bigger size to compensate? Or just get the specified gauge with bigger needles? I worry that it would make the fabric too loose if I do that.
Cute pattern!
I have done what you are talking about with adjusting size for gauge, and it has worked for me. The pattern looks pretty straightforward, so it might work. I would definitely do a swatch though, and see what you get for inches with their suggested stitches, and decide about size from there. When I did it, I used a bulky when the pattern called for a worsted - I did a size smaller than I wanted, and it seems fine. And keep measuring as you go - you might be able to adjust as you go along.
Or you could use it as an excuse for more yarn!:teehee:
I was thinking about other yarn for this one…but I have a very stubborn 4-year-old. She’s very decided that she wants that dress with that yarn LOL
You can recalc your gauge and st counts using this little program…when site finishes updating. Pretty straight forward…just plug in old gauge, new gauge and Refresh. It’ll provide your new figures. If you need shaping revised, use that feature but make sure to select if one side (such as neckline) or two (sleeves). Nice thing is it allows you to use the yarn and ndl combo you want.
I’ve used it many times when designing and it’s worked well.
cam
Your link doesn’t work, and I’d loooove to bookmark it. Sounds great!
Wenda–do you have enough yarn to double it?
Ingrid, I looked at that site’s main page, and it says they’re doing work on it, so some pages might be down.
Wenda, this pattern looks really easy to modify. Do a gauge swatch to figure out how many stitches you need for the chest circumference, and cast that many on and knit the rib like the pattern calls using the normal needle size for the yarn you have. Then, just switch to a needle a few sizes larger for the stockinette body. I’d think the increases they use would work, but I’d measure every few inches to make sure, and fudge it around if necessary. Then for the straps, pick up, instead of eight, enough to make them as wide as you want, and you can still use the same directions for them. Just make sure to pick them up along the top so that there’s enough room in between, and make them longer than the original pattern.
That’s an idea…and I could maybe order more if I don’t :teehee:
I think I’ll just try putzing around with it as I knit. I’ve got some great suggestions to work with and we’ll see what happens.
The freebie program I ref’d in previous post is still on site but the URL was slightly changed. You can find it here.
HTH,
cam
OMG I downloaded the program and it works. This is going to be a lifesaver. I just bought some baby patterns that are made with fingering weight yarn, but I prefer to use dk weight or sport weight. This is awesome. Thank you, thank you…
bonnie,
Glad that’ll work for you. For something so simple, it really does alleviate the need for calc’ing those changes by hand (which sometimes means lots of trial and error). I esp like the ‘Shaping’ option when redoing sleeves (I have long arms) or when changing a v-neck slope.
cam