ok ill admit it…i never check my gauge
and my stuff never fits! Hahaha. So im trying to do it for the first time before i cast on for a balaclava for my dads xmas gift.
it calls for 11 stitches per 2". I keep coming up with 8 stitches. So am i to understand that I should try a smaller needle or the garment will be to big?
I know it’s a dumb question but i’ve never bothered with it before and i just want to make sure i get it right:)
Thans!
Gauge
You’re thinking in the right direction. You are getting 8 sts =2 inches and you need to be squeezing 11 stitches into that same amount of room so you need your stitches to be smaller. Are you using a yarn of the weight called for in the pattern? If your yarn is not compatible with the pattern you will have a hard time getting a fabric that is right and still get gauge. If your yarn is right, I would think you need needles 2 or more sizes smaller to get gauge. Be sure you make your swatch for gauge at least over 4 inches with a few stitches on the edges even over that, so it would be best to be at least 26 stitches wide and work it until it is about square, then measure the stitches away from the edge. The edge distorts a bit.
In reality I don’t always make a whole 4"square with each needle I try. I find that my (and YMMV)swatches don’t get smaller as I go but may get bigger. So if I start off and with 26 stitches and knit 5 or 6 rows and already it is too wide, I don’t need to waste my time going the whole 4", rip out now and try a smaller needle. But if it seems about right, I keep going the whole 4" to measure more precisely.
And if your yarn is likely to change when washed, you should do your measuring after the swatch has been washed and blocked as the garment will be. If it differs from the before washing gauge (measure before and after washing) use the needle that gave you gauge after blocking.
Gauge is a hard thing for me sometimes, but so necessary.
Thanks for all the info Merigold.
The wool im using should be the right wool but it’s very old and it’s a different brand than the pattern calls for so I have a feeling it’s a little wrong.
That being said, if I can get the gauge right regardless of wool or needle size it’ll be ok right?
You didn’t say anything about row gauge. Maybe that is a non-issue in this pattern because you can adjust any different in what is called for (if it gives row gauge) with what you get in your swatch by knitting to a certain length for different parts as given in the pattern.
Otherwise you are right it doesn’t matter what needle or yarn you use as long as you get gauge IF the fabric you are getting seems to meet the needs of the type of item you are making. IOW if you need something soft and drapey and you get gauge but it stands up on its own that isn’t working, but if it has softness and drape you’re good to go. 
Ok great! Now I just have to figure out the pattern I think i may have fudged it up!
http://www.knitting-crochet.com/winweahoo.html
This is the pattern. I finished the front bib and both the shoulders. I’m at the point where it wants me to cast on the 40 new stitches but I just don’t know what they mean! Am I joining in the round at this point? Then it asks me to duplicate the back bib as for the front. I don’t know what that means! I cast on 40 st and joined in the round last night but I just don’t think it looks right! And even if I wanted to plug along I have no idea what the next instruction means anyway.
Any advise Merigold? After all that work getting the gauge right (it took forever!!) I don’t want to give up on the poor thing now:)
Thanks for any help you may be able to give
Okay, we’ll get this figured out. 
Here are part of the instructions starting with where you put the stitches on a holder to work the shoulders (I show only your size):
Next Row: k across 56 sts, slip last 40 sts just worked on a stitch holder for front of neck, work across remaining 16 sts for shoulder. Work even over the last set of 16 sts for 1 inch, ending with a p Row. Break off.
Attach yarn and work across 16 sts of other shoulder for 1 inch ending with a k Row on same needle.
Cast on 40 sts for back of neck, work across 16 sts of first shoulder. There are 72 sts on needle.
Next Row: k6, p to last 6, sts, k6. Complete back to correspond with front of bib. Bind off.
So you were supposed to knit across (RS row) 56 stitches and place the last 40 of those on a holder, leaving 16 at the far right of the needle. Then work across the last 16 stitches and keep working them for one inch (keeping 6 sts in garter at the edge, like you were) and end with a purl row which leaves you at the inside neck edge. Cut the yarn, but leave those 16 live stitches on the needle. Now go to back to the 16 stitches on the other side of the holder and work them up one inch (keep the garter edge going) and stop when you have finished a knit row.
Now you are at the neck edge. Here is where you cast on the 40 stitches. You are not working in the round, you are leaving a “head” hole and going to go ahead and knit another bib part that will go down the back. Later you pick up stitches around the “head” hole and knit the neck stitches in the round, and then make the hood part.
When you finish the 1" on the second shoulder and stop at the inside edge of the piece, exchange the needles in your hands and using the stitches on what is now the left needle use either a knit cast on or a cable cast on (videos in the cast on section if you are not familiar with those), (I like the cable best 
), cast on 40 stitches, then go ahead and work across the last 16 stitches of the other shoulder. Now you are back to the 72 stitches you started with.
Now you come to:
Next Row: k6, p to last 6, sts, k6. Complete back to correspond with front of bib. Bind off.
So what you are going to do is to put the same “bib” part you already did, here “on the back”. You don’t have to do the shoulder part again just the bib. So you want to work in stockinette just like you did on the front with 6 stitches kept in garter stitch on each side until you have the same length of St st in the back as in the front. I’d measure and maybe count rows too, but don’t worry about it if you are not exact it won’t matter. Then you want to put 5 ridges of garter stitch at the end like you did to start off with and then bind off loosely.
Then you will follow the directions for getting all the stitches around the neck opening onto your needles for working in the round and make the neck and then the hood.
Does that make sense? Ask more if I was not clear.
I think you’re knitting flat for the whole thing. Only once you pick up sts for the neckband does it say to work in rounds.
cast on 40 stitches, then go ahead and work across the last 16 stitches of the other shoulder. Now you are back to the 72 stitches you started with.
It’s staring to become clearer but this is the part that I really don’t get. Even as you explain it above it sounds to me that if I cast on 40 st then work across the last 16 st of the other shoulder do you mean the first shoulder with the live stitches left on the needle? Because that would join it in the round and I think that’s wrong?
It’s just that if I cast on 40st [B]after[/B] I finish the 16 for the shoulder then Ill be at the end of the 40 stitches so wouldn’t I have to turn it and work back over that 40 and THEN work the 16 stiches on the shoulder?
I’m at work right now so I don’t have my stuff with me but Id love to print out this thread and take it home with me. It’s amazing how much help you can get when someone just talks it out with you! Please don’t get frustrated girls and guys, I know I can get it though my thick skull if you just keep trying!
I really look forward to hearing from you sooooon!!!
O! While your answering questions for me why on earth do you think they wouldn’t have recomended doing the first part of this with straights/ circs with some spare dpn’s and stitch holders? It’s a real squeze getting all those stitches on a little DPN and they don’t specify a length (maybe they should have)…don’t you think? Besides the point I guess. And the LEAST of my worries!
You can CO the 40 sts at the beg or end of a row, same thing. Then you’d work the new and old sts on the next row (or same row if you CO at beg).
But when I’m casting on those 40 should they be going over the stitches I have held on the stitch holder or should they be sort of off on there own on the far side of the shoulder piece? And wouldnt that make a big difference?
The answer is in here -
"Next Row: k across 56 sts, slip last 40 sts just worked on a stitch holder for front of neck, work across remaining 16 sts for shoulder. Work even over the last set of 16 sts for 1 inch, ending with a p Row. Break off.
Attach yarn and work across [COLOR=Red]16 sts of other shoulder[/COLOR] for 1 inch ending with a k Row on same needle."
You’re working on 56 sts, place 40 on a holder and work only on 16 sts, then stop. Go to the 16 sts on [I]the other shoulder[/I] for an inch, end with a knit row. Then CO 40 sts and you’ll have 56 sts total. It’s going to be sort of the reverse of the first shoulder.
It would have been better to tell you to knit this on a circular because as you say, one of the short dpns will not accommodate 72 stitches very well. This part is knit flat though. You are making a rectangle with a narrow rectangular slit in the middle of it that will be where you pick up stitches for the neck. I drew a picture of it, but DH isn’t home and I don’t know how to operate the scanner. If you still need it later I’ll get him to add it here.
You will have the front bib then 16 stitches on each side for the shoulders and in the center of them you will have 40 sts that you placed on the holder at the beginning of the shoulders. You work the shoulder at the left end (when looking at the RS) first, then go to the right shoulder and work those 16 sts for 1 inch. At the left edge of that shoulder (at the end of final knit row of that shoulder) cast on 40 and then knit on across the other shoulder as well so that you have 72 stitches again so that you can work a back bib after making the neck slit.
OMG I think I get it.
So I’m looking at the RS and ive cast on 40 st off of the innermost aspect of the shoulder then i STARTknitting the 16 stitches from the needle that was holding the stitches! So If i was using one long straight needle I would have all the stitches back on the needle. 16 original 40 new CO’s and 16 original!!!
Then I continue in pattern with the garter stitch border untill the back bib matches the front!!!
Then Ill end up binding off and picking up stitches around the neck hole and knitting up from there!!!
IS THAT RIGHT???
I can’t believe you drew a picture of it for me! If I don’t have it figured out then you’ll totally have to download it for me when hubby gets home. This was so nice of you gals to help me with!I think we’ve been working on it for a few hours now right? I can’t wait to hear if i have it right!
ooo no! If it’s taking this long to reply you must be writing to tell me im not getting it still!
The suspence is killing me!!!
I think you’ve got it right; my brain’s to tired now to make sense of the details, but it seems to be right in general. It’s dinnertime here in the West too…
:woot: I think you’ve got it. Sorry, not to get back to your right away, but sometimes I do other things besides check this forum. :lol: I’ve been knitting (surprise, surprise) and then DH and I watched a movie (The Golden Boys- very good)
You guys totally saved me! I went home last night and frogged back my mistake and started from there.
I don’t know why I couldn’t figure it out. It’s so simple now that you explained it to me.
I really thought I was going to have to tear the entire thing out and pretend like it never happened. That would have totally busted my fabulous knitting mood and set me way back on my xmas list.
Thank you both so much! I should include this two page thread with the Christmas gift so my Dad can see how much work we three put into this thing.
Thank you thank you thank you!
You’re welcome. It is our reward when you have success. 
I should include this two page thread with the Christmas gift so my Dad can see how much work we three put into this thing.
Good idea. And an idea that makes us feel appreciated. But he still wouldn’t get it. :lol: Take all the credit; you deserve it for your perseverance. 
on!
:roflhard: He totally wouldn’t get it. You’re right.
Thanks again, I added you and SuzeeQ to my friends on Ravelry. I loved your groups. I totally stole a few.
I’m having a little mini fight with my BF right now because he wants to go see some friends tonight and all I want to do is get back to work on that pattern!