Hi everyone,
This is a long detailed question…sorry in advance.
Whilst I was traveling for 3 months I ran out of wool and bought some locally in Spain so it’s a Spanish brand and a well known one called Katia.
I just picked up two balls of a limited edition yarn called Katia Brahma. It says on the label that is a 150g (5oz) ball, 810m (885yds). It also says the recommended needle size is 4-5mm or crochet hook 2.5-3mm. What it doesn’t say anywhere on the label is the type of yarn it is. Is it Sock, Fingering, 4 ply, Lace, Aran etc…???
It has 3plys, it is much thinner than the Aran and DK yarn that I have. When I look up how much meterage (or yardage) I need to knit a sweater I can’t find any help. All the charts I look up say that for 4-5mm needles you would use Double Knit, Light Worsted 3.75mm - 4.5mm needles or Worsted, Afghan, Aran 4.5mm - 5.5mm needles. But this yarn is so much thinner than those listed for that needle size. Why is the recommendation to use a 4-5mm needle? Can someone help me to figure out this stuff because even with chart recommendations I am at a loss.
I’m new to knitting (not crochet), I knitted up some of it, I did a long tail cast on method of using 3.5 x the width of my project. On the cable needles it looked the right size but I made a mistake I couldn’t correct so decided to frog it a few rows. After I frogged it (essentially off my cables/needles) the project was way wider than what I wanted, by at least double and it stretched a lot further than that also. So the 3.5 x long tail cast on didn’t work. Usually in crochet, I crochet a foundation row the width I need, one side of a baggy jumper and it works out to be approx 20 inches across. This did not work at all for knitting. The 3.5 x long tail cast did measure up to approx 20 inches but like I said above when it was frogged it was at least twice as wide.
I’m not following any pattern, I am just doing a simple drop shoulder rectangle sweater in either garter stitch or stockinette with a 2x2 ribbing.
My question is:
What kind of yarn is this? Lace? Sock?
Why did it end up being twice as wide as I needed?
How do I figure out how many stitches are needed the cast on?
Why isn’t the 3.5 x long tail cast on working?
There’s a lot here I know and I apologise for the length of post but if someone could help with at least some of it I can still muddle through as I look at this as practice. I already figured I should take away at least a third to half of the cast on stitches. Yes I ended up frogging all of it.
Interesting yarn. The little square in the upper right in your first photo gives you the gauge for the yarn (20sts/4inches and 25rows/4inches), presumably knit on a needle in the range given to the left of the square. That’s even better information than classifying the yarn as lace, DK or aran which are a range of gauges. The Ravelry page also lists it as 20sts/10cm or 4 inches, a worsted weight yarn. Oddly, the Ravelry page also classifies the yarn as light fingering? but that’s where a good size swatch will help.
Did you knit enough rows to measure about 4 inches in height? The width at and near the cast on isn’t a true representative of gauge. You might try a small swatch on about 30sts and knit for about 4inches then measure across the middle 4inches to check gauge.
It’s also important to feel the fabric and see if you like it. If it feels too loose and stretchy in a good sized swatch, go down a needle size or two and see if that knit fabric is more to your liking.
Thank you. Admittedly I didn’t swatch, I never have with any crochet sweaters and they’ve always been fine. It is something I need to start doing though. My mum has been knitting clothes for over 70 yrs and has never swathched either LOL and been fine.
I had more than enough to put my swatch gauge over but I didn’t think to but it’s been frogged now (so I can start over) so I can’t gauge what I did do.
The stitches felt too loose for my liking. I may have to put it aside for now as the smallest needles I have are 4mm. I feel like I need to go down a size and any smaller than a 4mm might be too difficult for me as I’m a beginner knitter (less than 2 months), although it would only the ribbing with a smaller needle at 3mm (except I hate ribbing LOL). At the moment I have only bought a few different needles to try in different sizes to see what I gel with the most, all interchangeables though as that’s all I can knit with. A needle longer than 20cm and I just can’t so the interchangeables are working really well for me. I have a KnitPro Karbonz 4mm, Addi Novel Click 4mm (square with notches), a KnitPro Cubics wood 5mm, a KnitPro Metal square 6mm, two KnitPro Symfonies in 7mm & 8mm. I like them all and can’t decide but I am leaning towards square ones. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and buy a set then I will have the smaller needles.
I wanted to make this sweater for my Mum for her 80th B’day as the yarn has turned out to not be my colors but I would need to be finished by Feb 28th, I don’t see that happening but I’m gonna give it my best. She’s been trying to get me to knit for decades and it finally clicked when she lent me a cable needle plus I started crocheting 4 years ago which helped. I think she’d be be chuffed that I knitted her something. I don’t think I will have enough yarn though (1600m) which is why I should probably stick with the 4 & 5mm needles.
I will swatch and see what happens.
Quick question though: If I swatch and it’s within the parameters, how do I know how many stitches I need to make the width correct? If I need 20" I have to divide by 4" (swatch) which is 5 then x 20 stitches and I get 100. So I would cast on 100 stitches. Is that right? But that’s only if the swatch is correct. I have to base the overall width on what my swatch turns out to be.
That swatch is 20 stitch across by 25 rows up? So I would need to see what falls inside that 4" square area and calculate from there. I get it, now I see why swatches are so important.
Swatches are time savers for sure. Yes, that’s the way to calculate the cast on stitch number. The swatch will tell you sts/inch and that times the width in inches that you would like gives the cast on stitch number.
That’s a resonable amount of yarn for a sweater assuming there aren’t cables or bobbles or other additions. If you don’t like the feel of the fabric however, it may not be right for this sweater. Maybe better for a lace project. There aren’t any projects using the yarn listed on Ravelry which would help and even the Katia site isn’t too forthcoming.
I was thinking of combining it with another thin yarn and doubling up. It could be a cheap 100% Acrylic yarn I guess. Just got to figure out what color I want to double it up with. Here is how it looked crocheted up:
It’s gorgeous worked up in crochet and would certainly work held together with another thin yarn. Acrylic works since this yarn is mostly acrylic. It would also do well by itself as a plain or lacy sweater.
Hi
The yarn you have looks fabulous,ous crocheted. It does look like it would suit a small lace pattern, not too open but with the shift of colours it would be lovely.
But I see you’d like stockinette stitch and I’m sure it’s going to look great in that too.
You mentioned not liking rib and not yet having the smaller size needlemfor the rib section, you could begin with 2 or 3 rows of garter to prevent the bottom rolling and mis out the rib altogether. Or go directly into stockinette and afterwards add a crocheted detail to the hem edge which would reduce roll.
I just wanted to say about the swatch, you will get much better, more helpful information from it if you do it bigger than the square on the ball band information. Cast on 30 or 40 stitches and make 30 or 40 rows. Then wet block or wash and dry to see how the fabric and gauge may change (I measure gauge before washing and again after as I like to see if it changed, if for instance it relaxes you can better judge what size to knit rather than knittjng a sweater then it stretches unexpectedly on first wash). The stockinette swatch will roll at all 4 edges so you really want to avoid measuring your gauge near the edges, having more than the 20 stutches means you can measure the centre part of the fabric. It really does help to work out how many stutches to cast on for the size you want.
I am jnot experienced with different yarns but I think the feel of this being thinner than dk but having a 4mm to 5mm needle recommendation which woukd be for dk or aran is due to the haze from the mohair to allow it to fuzz out. I very much doubt that’s a technical term!
I sometimes look at other patterns just to get size guides and armhole and neck shaping, sleeve size etc even if I am not using the yarn recommended but perhaps you already have a good idea of all this from your crochet knowledge and experience.
I have started a swatch with 40 stitches. I can’t afford to lose any yarn as I’m not sure I will have enough so I’m assuming I could still swatch & bind off without cutting the yarn, it already has a couple of knots and I don’t really want to add more. I can’t see why I wouldn’t be able wash and block that little section with it still joined to the ball.
I started off this sweater, after the ribbing, doing a simple garter stitch but I read that stockinette uses less yarn so I’m thinking of switching to that plus it’s easier for me to fix dropped stitches in stockinette rather than garter. Fixing dropped stitches in garter stitch was a right pain.
As for ribbing, I don’t mind doing it, I just don’t like the back and forth as I’m not great at purling unless doing it Portuguese style and I only use that technique when I have a lot of purling in one go. My ribbing actually came out fine when I started this project a few days ago, it was a shame I had to frog it all LOL.
I’m not following a pattern yet, I’m just going to do a simple drop shoulder rectangle style sweater. A little shaping at the neck as Mum doesn’t like a boat neck, she wants a round neck. Not sure whether to do balloon sleeves or shape those. We shall see in due course, I guess it all depends on how far each ball of yarn goes but I have an idea on how to incorporate another color if need be.
When I started Crochet I just made it up as I went along, all trial and error. Then I progressed to free simple patterns then I started buying them. I’m at the point now where I have bought a crochet dress pattern as I’m thinking of crocheting a dress for myself to wear at my nieces wedding in the USA this Sept. As for knitting I’m kind of at the “wing it & see what happens” phase (beginner learning but with basic construction knowledge from my crochet experience). I learn better when I have to correct mistakes even if it does take more time. I’m very much a visual and tactile learner rather than just reading a pattern and doing it all correctly from the start. Does that make sense? Plus I have to learn all new terminology ‘knitting vs crochet’ which isn’t easy so reading a pattern right now might be a bit too much. I can do a knit stitch and a purl stitch and that’s about it right now but it’s enough knowledge to knit a basic sweater LOL.
It’s great that you have the background in crochet. That’s sure to be an advantage when you start knitting this sweater. It all sounds like a good plan for the design.
Yes, stockinette is going to use less yarn than garter stitch so stockinette is a better choice if you’re concerned about having enough yarn.
I love the idea of crocheting a dress for a wedding. That’ll be unique and perfect for the occasion.
I haven’t washed and blocked it yet and my swatch came out to 19 stitches x 28 rows, could be 29 though.
So… under on stitches, over in rows.
What does that mean? Go down a needle size? Stay the same and not worry and adjust the length accordingly? Or wash and block then recount to get a better idea?
You can wash and block to see if there’s a difference. In general, the stitch gauge is going to be most important. For length, most patterns will specify inches rather than rows.
If you’re knitting a raglan or knitting a sweater sideways, you’ll have to factor in row gauge. Otherwise, pay more attention to stitch gauge.
After washing and blocking my count came to 21 stitches, 30 rows but in all honesty the rows are hard to count due to the type of yarn it is. I’m not going to worry about the row counts as it’s a drop sleeve anyway. It’s seems like I’m fine on stitch count. 1 under before washing and blocking and 1 over after but I may have stretched it too much. Anyway, I’m going to stick with what I’ve been doing and just work out how many stitches I need after going and measuring my mum properly. Thanks for everyone’s help, it’s really appreciated.
I forgot to share the finished sweater (modeled by me). My mum loves it and wears it a lot. I’m happy with how it turned out considering it was my first knitted sweater and with no pattern. I went with Irish Moss Stitch as it’s textured so hides the mistakes and the not so consistent tension . Thank you for all your help.
Thank you. Yes I am, I was a couple of months into knitting when I did this one, now I’m almost 1 year in. I’ve just posted another help post where I’m asking a question about fish tail lace in the Flax, that post has a couple of photos of me wearing my second sweater that I finished last week, Classic Flax Light.
. Thank you for all your help.
