I was hoping someone could help me. I’m a fairly inexperienced knitter, trying out a sweater that a friend recommended to me (I’ve knit sweaters before so I’m not totally new to it). Anyway, I was supposed to knit up a swatch and when I did I discovered that the width was fine (8 stitches should measure two inches and they did) but the length was off. I knit 11 rows (should be 2 inches) and it came out to 2 1/2 inches. Do I worry about this? What can I do? Should I reduce the number of rows, and if so, how do I account for the arm holes?
I would so appreciate any help or advice that you might have.
It is best to make your gauge swatch much larger than the suggested gauge measurements. So if your pattern says that your gauge should be measured over 2"x2" you should make your swatch at least twice as big as that so you can measure the stitches in the middle of the swatch and avoid the edges in your measuring. This will give a more accurate measurement.
If after doing that your measurements are not right, you’ll have to change your needle size.
[b]If you have too many stitches per inch you will have to go up in needle size.
If you have too few stitches per inch you will have to go down in needle size.[/b]
I would say that row gauge is not always as critical as stitch gauge. Many patterns tell you to knit a certain length and so it doesn’t really matter how many rows you have to an inch as long as you get the right length.
However, there are patterns written by the row assuming that you are getting the correct gauge. There you have no room to play – if you don’t have the right row gauge your pattern will be off.
It’s not unusual for the row gauge of your finished piece to be different from your swatch because the weight of the sweater will cause the rows to lengthen – because of this, you will ultimately end up with fewer rows per inch in the FO than in your swatch. Since patterns usually give row gauge based on the finished piece, a good way to estimate your final row gauge is to hold your swatch upright, and add a little weight to the bottom of it. Hanging a ball of yarn from the bottom seems to be the commonly suggested method of weighing your swatch down, but I find it’s a little awkward. Just use whatever’s handy.