I want to start making my own intarsia designs and when I look for knitter’s graph paper on line I see 2:3 ratio and 4:3 ratio. Can some one explain that? Other than ratio, is all knitter’s graph paper the same? Thanks!
The ratio is all about how many stitches comparing to how many rows you need for knitting a perfect square. Usually the stitch height is less than the stitch width.
So before buying the graph paper, knit a swatch piece and calculate your ratio and then buy paper with (almost) the same ratio. Personally I never buy graph paper, instead I change the ratio of the cells in a spreadsheet (LibreOffice Calc, MS Excel or similar) to perfectly match my knitting and then I do my pattern in the computer by coloring the cells.
There are also several sites that will let you print out graph paper according to whatever gauge you need.
For example:
http://www.theknittingsite.com/knitting-graph-paper/
1 Like
Well now I’m thoroughly confused. A perfect square? I see from pictures that the little sections on the paper are rectangular because a knitted stitch is a bit wider than it is high. That I understand. I thought I understood the meaning of the word ratio but not in this context. I haven’t made a final decision about which motif I’ll use or which yarn or needle so I need to do that before I can knit a square swatch. Ugh! I may do some experiments before I buy paper. But I’m determined to figure this out. Thanks!