Hi! I’m knitting the Winters Pullover by Ozetta in De Rerum Natura’s Cyrano and my row gauge is much larger than the pattern’s.
The pattern’s gauge after blocking is:
15 sts and 23 rows = 4 x 4"
My gauge after blocking is:
6 mm needles (recommended size): 15.5 sts, 23 rows
6.5 mm needles: 15 sts, 21.5 rows
My row gauge shrunk by about half a stitch after blocking.
I much prefer the fabric created by the 6.5 mm needles, and that’s the one that matches the stitch gauge. But I worry about having a larger row gauge for a drop-shoulder pattern, as I don’t want the shoulders to be too far down, and I want to have enough stitches to pick up for the arms.
After shaping the shoulders with German short rows, the pattern says to knit stockinette for 42 more rows until the back measures approx. 13.25 inches. I’ve only knit 18 rows and my work already measures 10.25 inches, so knitting a full 42 rows will make it far too large, even accounting for the post-block shrinkage, I think. I’m supposed to eventually pick up 84 sts (2 out of every 3 rows) for the sleeves (so half from the back that I’m now knitting, half from the front). On the Ravelry page, some users noted they picked up fewer stitches for the sleeves because of their larger row gauge. But at this rate, I think I’ll only have 66 stitches total to pick up (33 on front and back).
Should I be knitting to the row or inch measurements? Or something halfway in between, to account for the row shrinkage after blocking?
And does anyone have any advice on how to proceed or how to modify the pattern to fit to my larger row gauge? And help would be greatly appreciated!
The drop of the shoulder is going to depend on the stitch gauge. You can work to the given length measurement of the back and you should be fine.
When you go to pick up sts you can pick up more frequently than 2 out of every 3 rows because your rows are so far apart.
What brand and name of yarn are you using? That seems like quite a change in row gauge.
Thank you, this is really helpful! You’re right–I visualized the drop shoulder wrong, so I’m glad that will be determined by the stitch gauge! If I only have, say, 66 stitches to pick up for the arms instead of 84, do you think the arm circumference will still be OK?
Since you have the length in the body, you should be able to pick up close to 84sts. It doesn’t have to be precisely 84 but you can get close. Mark off the armhole opening in quarters and pick up sts in each quarter without crowding or spacing out too much.
If it doesn’t look right you can always rip out the picked up sts and adjust.
Hello
Maybe check the maths with your row gauge again.
It could be that I am getting overly confused trying to work in inches when I am a cm person on knitting patterns, however…
When I work in a different gauge to the pattern I work out what the length would be in the pattern gauge, and how to keep the length the same in my gauge.
Based on the pattern gauge 42 rows produces about 7.3 inches
Based on your row gauge 7.3 inches is about 39 rows.
This means you’re knitting would only be about 3 rows fewer, which is not so dramatic (even 6 rows when adding front to back for the armhole, at 2 sts to 3 rows that’s only 4 stitches short of the pick up aim which, as salmonmac said can be picked up more frequently than 2 out of 3, it would only be 2 sts front and 2 sts back that you would need to “squeeze” in).
Two stitches (or 4 across the full armhole) isn’t such a dramatic amount to find space for whereas the difference between 66 and 84 is substantial. You definitely need the 84 or very close to it to get sleeve circumference/width correct, you don’t want to have a narrow sleeve.
I’m not really sure how your 18 rows has already measured to 10.25 inches, if there is a miscalculation, or if the fabric row gauge changes significantly after blocking, but you need to work the up number of rows which will produce 13.25 inches after blocking, not 13.25 inches on the needles. I hope that makes sense.
Did you jot down the pre-block gauge? I sometimes do this because if something changes significantly in the blocking I remind myself during the knitting that the knitting will look the wrong size until after I have washed it. Even if you didn’t, it might be worth considering how you want to approach this 13.25 inches - measuring a preblocked fabric or working the number of rows you know you need to acheive this measurement after blocking.
Almost as a side point, if there is a modified drop with some number of bound off stitches under arm, these can be picked up 1 to 1 very neatly as it is stitch to stitch rather than stitch to row in that short section.
Thank you! This is helpful! My row gauge pre-blocking was 21 rows, so it shrunk post block.
It’s the 18 rows past the German short row shaping that’s already 10.25 inches, so not quite so bad. My German short row section is about 1 inch longer than the pattern says it should be, so the stockinette section that follows will be accordingly shorter. That, and there are actually more rows in the front than the back of the sweater, so I will be able to get much more than 66 rows I feared I’d be stuck with for the arms. I think I’ve figured out all the calculations! Thanks again for your help!