Gauge possibilities

How-to Questions
1

I am gauge swatching for this sweater: http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/valpuri/valpuri.html

Help, please.

These are the instructions:

17 sts = 4”; 24 rows = 4” in St st on size 8 needles
62 sts = 10”; 24 rows = 4” in charted pat
TO SAVE TIME, TAKE TIME TO CHECK GAUGE

This sweater has you using a US6 needle for the ribbing with a change to a US8 for the body of the sweater. The gauge instructions are only for the larger needle.

Does that mean that whatever needle you need to get gauge for the body of the sweater that you just use 2 sizes smaller for the ribbing?

Also, if you get gauge in the stockinette stitch do you HAVE to check the pattern gauge? Could it really be that different?

Lastly, I’ve done swatches for the stockinette stitch gauge in sizes 8, 10 and 11 - with the result that I have too many stitches with the larger needles but I am getting row gauge. My size 11s result in 18 stitches over 4". I have yet to try the size 12 needles, but will do so, however, I’m wondering if it is possible that I knit so tightly that a pattern would call for size 8 needles and I need 12s? It seems outrageously different to me, but if that’s what it is, so it shall be. I’d just like your opinions.

Thanks in advance.

2

Yes you can go down 2 sts from the needle you match the gauge with. It won’t matter if you only go down one size though. Generally, if you do get gauge in the stockinette, you [I]should[/I] also get gauge in the st pattern. But not always, a lot depends on the stitch pattern. You can make a large swatch, do 3" or so of stockinette, then switch to the pattern st and do about 4-5". Then wash and dry the piece like you will the sweater.

You can just start on a sleeve and work several inches in it and call it your gauge swatch. You want to match the stitch gauge, you can adjust for a different row gauge by doing more rows or less. If you’re using a thinner yarn that in the pattern, that means you can keep going up in needle size, but still may not reach the right gauge. There are no US 12s, after 11, it jumps up to 13. And if you have worsted or heavy worsted, you should be getting something like 10 sts over 4". So maybe you’re using too thin a yarn. Are you sure you’re measuring the gauge correctly? CO about 30 sts and knit a couple rows, then go into stockinette stitch. Measure over 4" in the middle of the piece, the edge sts will curl under and aren’t always the same size as the ones in the center, so you don’t include them in measuring.

3

The yarn used in the pattern is discontinued so I tried to match as best I could. It was worsted weight and that’s what I’m using. I’m hoping this yarn will work. So even if I use a size 13 I still may not get the correct gauge stitches? I’m only one stitch off using an 11; I was hoping that a 13 would bring it up to snuff. But, if I do get stitch gauge with a 13 is it logical that I’m using a needle that is so much larger than the stated one? It seems like I should be using a chunky yarn with a 13.

That’s a good idea to use a sleeve as a swatch.

4

Go ahead and try the 13, it may work; it’s really unusual to have to double the needle size to get gauge. I had a look at the pattern, there’s not really much sleeve on this one, but it may do fine for a gauge swatch. Do one sleeve then check your gauge and also see how close it comes to the measurments in the schematic. You may have to do less rows though; when you get to the dec rows, instead of doing them every other row, throw in a WS rows dec too, about every 4th row. Unless you don’t mind if the sleeves are longer. What yarn [I]are[/I] you using, btw?

5

I looked at the pattern too. If it was me and it gives a St st gauge I would just use St st to do my swatch. Measuring gauge on cables, etc. is a very imprecise deal. How were they holding things, stretching a little or not etc.? This is supposed to be tight fitting with maybe a little negative ease and the cables will stretch a lot so I’d do the St st gauge and hope for the best. But… you need to make sure you get the St st gauge right. It sounds like your yarn may be quite different than the original. See if you can find out what the recommended gauge for the original yarn was and compare that with the recommended gauge for your yarn. Anything like close together? Also make sure that the fabric you are getting it pleasing to you. It is all right not to use the needle given, but if the yarn is way different your fabric may be wrong.

Don 't worry about row gauge, it gives the lengths in inches so you can work with that, but stitch gauge needs to be 17 sts=4 inches in St st.

If it was me I’d go down two sizes from my gauge needle for the edging, but I’d cast on on the gauge needle so it has plenty of give on the edge.

Good luck. Gauge can be tricky, but luckily your pattern gives the gauge in St st which is a help.

6

The gauge for the yarn in the pattern is the same as the pattern - 17 sts/4". That’s why I’d like to know the actual name of the yarn she’s using. Or if she’s measuring right. A worsted weight on size 11s should actually be something like 12 sts per inch, maybe 14 for a tight knitter.

7

First off - thank you for your help.

I am using Berocco Weekend which is

FIBER:
75% Acrylic, 25% Peruvian Cotton

HANK WEIGHT:
3.5 oz / 100 g

HANK LENGTH:
205 yds / 187 m

KNITTING GAUGE:
4.5 sts = 1"
18 sts & 26 rows = 4" (10cm)

NEEDLE SIZE:
7 (US) / 4.5 mm

The yarn the pattern called for is Berocco Bling Bling, which is discontinued:

FIBER:
60% Cotton, 38% Acrylic, 2% Aluminum

BALL WEIGHT:
1.75 oz / 50 g

BALL LENGTH:
92 yds / 85 m

GAUGE:
4.25 sts = 1"
17 sts & 24 rows = 4" (10cm)

NEEDLE SIZE:
8 (US) / 5 mm

I thought I was getting a comparable yarn as neither really said what “weight” the yarn was. The closest gauge I could find in yarns was the Weekend yarn. But, now that I’ve knit a bit of stockinette with size 13 needles, I believe I have the wrong weight yarn. I would need to use something a bit chunkier I think to get it to look the way I want. Bummer.

I assume that there’s no way to put the components I do have (Weekend and the pattern) to good use. On size 10 needles with this yarn I get a drape and feel that I like, but my stitch count is at 20 (row count is 24). I was going to make the sweater in medium.

Here is possibly a stupid question, but - since my stitch count is more than the pattern calls for, would it be possible to say, make the sweater in small instead of medium to account for a 3 stitch difference? I thought I might cast on for a sleeve with a size 8 in the small and move to a 10 for the patterned part and see what I get. I mean, the worst that could happen is that I have to frog it and find another pattern to go with the yarn. But, has this kind of jiggling with a pattern ever worked before?

8

Yes they are very similar, the Weekend may be slightly thinner, or compress more because there’s more acrylic, but you shouldn’t be getting such a small gauge on 10s and 11s, so there’s something odd here. You wouldn’t want thicker yarn really. How big a swatch did you make? And did you wash and dry it?

Yes you can make another size of the pattern. But use the 10s and determine your sts per inch with them. Then multiply that times the finished measurement for the medium and see if that’s close to the stitches used for the small.

9

I made an approximately 6"x6" swatch. No, I did not wash and dry it (bad me). But considering that it’s mostly acrylic and can be washed in the machine and dried flat I didn’t think that there would be much shrinkage. I am apparently a really tight knitter. And I thought I had combatted that years ago! C’est la vie!

I’m not sure I understand what you mean by “use the 10s and determine your sts per inch with them. Then multiply that times the finished measurement for the medium and see if that’s close to the stitches used for the small.”

I am getting 5 sts per inch (10 sts= 2", 20 sts = 4"). If I multiply 5 x 40 (the measurement for medium), I come up with 200. Do you mean that 200 sts to be the number of stitches used for the front and the back together? If so, a medium has a front and back cast on at 98 sts (196 total). A small is at 90 sts (180 total). 200/2 = 100 sts. So I am still closer to the medium than I am to the small. Right? I’m only off by 4 stitches.

10

Acrylic and blends usually relax and grow in the washer and dryer, not shrink. That may be what you need to do here. And right it sounds like you’re closer to the medium size anyway, so I wouldn’t sweat it so much. You seem to be closer than you think.

11

Thank you very much for all your advice. I’ll try it out and see what happens. I’ll wash and dry my swatch first, of course. Thanks again.