Gauge mistake

#1

I’m making a baby blanket for my nephew. This is my 3rd project where the first two said that gauge wasn’t critical. Now on my 3rd project, I didn’t think about measuring the gauge until I’m getting close to the halfway mark. No way am I going to start over now…

So the pattern is start with 5 stitches, knit first row then each row knit 3 yo knit til end until you get to 126 stitches then you start to decrease. Its supposed to be 36’ inches square in the end. Guage is supposed to be 9 sts and 18 rows but mine is 14-15 sts and 12 rows.

I currently have 110 sts and it’s 21 inches wide. I’m thinking the best thing to do to continue w/o redoing it is to keep following the same pattern until I get to being 36 inches long then start the decreasing pattern.

Am I right with this or should I throw in the towel and start over?

#2

Does this blanket have to actually fit something?? As long as it isn’t something that someone is going to wear, where the sleeves will be too long or something–or that 36" is extremely important for some reason, I’d personally just continue as you have been going, and let it be the size it is when you finish.

#3

You actually measure the size of a diagonal knit from the CO up one of the sides, don’t know if you’re doing that. But a smaller blanket can work well for a carseat or carrier - doesn’t have to be a 36" square.

#4

You actually measure the size of a diagonal knit from the CO up one of the sides, don’t know if you’re doing it that way. But a smaller blanket can work well for a carseat or carrier - so it doesn’t have to be a 36" square.

#5

That’s what I would do. The fabric may be a little tighter because of the smaller gauge, but it shouldn’t be a problem.

Or you can finish it as the pattern is written and then decide if you like the size. If it seems too small, add a border.

#6

Good. You guys are basically telling me the same things that I was thinking. Maybe I am learning something with this. Just found an line of errors in it that I have no idea how to fix or describe. Kinda like I skipped 6 or 7 stitches inside a row but the rows about and below it look fine. Maybe I had the yarn in front or something odd. I think we’ll call it a natural defect of the manufacturer. I don’t think a 2 week old will notice the difference. Well 3 week old by the time that I finish it. :smiley:

#7

Hi! :waving:

When I made blankets for my godson’s baby, his sister’s baby and our great-grandson, they did have some “manufacturer’s defects” in them, for sure! But the parents (and babies) LOVED them, probably because they were made with love. I was relatively new to knitting at that time (had just picked it up after many years of crocheting) so I got to make some mistakes and learn from them.

Later, I was working on an afghan pattern that was very difficult to frog because of the complexity of the pattern and I made a mistake about 8 inches below where I was when I noticed the mistake (a cable twisted the wrong way)! Since it stuck out like a sore thumb I frogged back and fixed it but it was a real knitting trauma!

Not long after that I saw instructions, in several books, about correcting mistakes (even big ones!) without having to unravel. Amy might even have a video on it, I’m not sure. But there is a relatively easy way to fix mistaken stitches without having to frog, and it’s a great learning experience.

Hope this helps!

Ruthie :clink:

#8

Thank you. I’ve tried correcting a stitch early on in the blanket and got frustrated trying to do it with the video on the site. It keep looking like a purl stitch instead of a knit stitch. Ended up taking the entire thing apart and starting over. Only had 20-30 rows then though.

I’m planning a hat next and WILL do the gauge beforehand and thinking about making a couple mistakes on purpose in the gauge to try and fix them so I can get practice. I’m new to knitting and plan to learn crocheting too cause I’m finding patterns in both that I’d love to make. So far with crocheting though I’ve barely got the chain stitch down. :smiley: