Gauge Question

How-to Questions
1

I’m not new to knitting, but I am new to knitting to gauge. I am about to start knitting a cardigan, and need it to have a proper fit, so I am forced to start knitting according to gauge.

The cardigan calls for a yarn knit on #10 needles with a gauge of 16sts/18 rows=4 inches in St. The yarn I have on hand has a gauge of 17sts/23 rows=4 inches on #8 needles. My question is if I use #10 needles instead of #8 needles on the yarn I have, will the gauge be equivalent to the pattern gauge? Should I just bite the bullet and knit a block to check the gauge, or worse, will I have to buy new yarn that has the correct gauge.

Are there any sites out there that can work out gauge using different needle sizes than recommendeed for the weight of the yarn? I looked but couldn’t find any.

Much Thanks

2

Short answer: yes. You have to knit a gage swatch.

Here’s the problem. Different people knit at different tensions. Just because the yarn says you’ll get 17 st/4inches with size 8 needles doesn’t mean that you’ll get that gage. You might get 20 st/4inches if you’re a tight knitter. you won’t know until you knit up a swatch to find out.

3

And even if your gauge is a little different, you can still knit the pattern if you want to use that yarn. You may have to do it in a different size, but we can help you with that. :wink:

sue