Hi! I’m coming back to knitting after a 30 year break. I have done a couple projects but still have many questions along the way. Today, I am starting a seed stitch cowl. The pattern calls for bulky yarn and size 13 needles. I found a beautiful super bulky that I want to use. I started with the size 13 needles but my gauge was off a bit. I dropped to size 11 and it’s much closer. Here are my questions…
Is the gauge all that critical? This cowl is very long and can be doubled.
If I use the size 11 needles will that make the cowl too bulky?
Thanks so much for your help!
Is gauge all that critical? On a cowl, I’d say close is close enough. If you work a swatch and like the fabric done with your yarn and whatever size needles you used, then figure out how many stitches you need to obtain the size you want and cast on that many. Seed stitch is simple enough that adjusting the number of stitches used should be pretty easy. My concern with going with smaller needles to make gauge is that the fabric you create would be too stiff. I just encountered this very problem making socks, I was past the heel turn when I realized it just wasn’t working out the way I wanted it to and ripped it all out and started over with larger needles. HTH
Thank you! I’m excited to be knitting again! :woot: It was my concern as well that it would be too stiff. Thanks so much for your suggestion. I will use the bigger needles and figure the stitches from there. Now, if I can get it finished by Christmas, I’ll be really proud of myself!!
Any time you run into a question or problems, this is [I]the[/I] place to ask. This one was pretty easy but we have some real experts that can answer just about anything. We also love pictures. If you’d like to post one (or more) please do.
