What am I doing wrong?

#1

I bought a pattern for a woman’s jacket made with DeAire yarn. Here’s a link on Ravelry for it:

I’m using 2 strands of Caron’s One Pounder yarn together as a substitute and did get the gauge of 9 sts for 4 in. Anyway, the size I’m making is the 3rd one (42) and the pattern is worked all in one piece until the underarms. The instructions state that for this pattern, I’m supposed to cast on 133 sts and start the bottom ribbing around the whole thing (fronts and back together).

BUT, according to the gauge, 133 sts would equal around 60 inches!!! This is NOT anywhere close to 42". Am I doing something wrong? Or is my math “off”?? When I started this on circular needles I held up to myself after I’d knit a few inches past the ribbing and saw that it was HUGE! Again, NOT just an inch or 2 off but waaaaay over.

THANKS for any help you can give!!!
knitcindy

#2

If there’s a schematic with the pattern, see if the sweater narrows toward the waist and chest. Also, see if there are decreases further along in the pattern to shape the sides. Perhaps the wider measurement is just at the hips since this sweater/jacket is long?
Although the 3rd size is for 42" chest, the finished sweater size is 46" (but this still isn’t close to the ~60" that the cast on will give you). If the pattern doesn’t decrease stitches, you could try making a smaller size.

#3

The gauge for the ribbing is 3 stitches per inch. That comes to about 44 inches (it’s different since it pulls in). It is possible that your ribbing doesn’t pull in as much because of the difference in the yarns. One is single merino and one is double acrylic. So I’d check the gauge on your ribbing to see if your getting 12 stitches per 4 inches to make sure.

Also, the [I]finished[/I] size is 46 inches, made to fit a [I]chest size[/I] of 42. So it’s going to be bigger all around.

#4

The 42" is the chest size, and it may well be much larger around at the hips since it’s a longish coat. It’s probably meant to be about 48" at the bust, see how many sts are there, just below the underarm. The fronts overlap quite a bit, maybe 3-4" so it’s going to be at least 6" more than your bust and maybe as much as 10" so it’s pretty large overall. If you think it’s going to be way too large at the hips you could CO for a smaller size, not do as many decreases just enough to match the body sts for the 42" size.

#5

Thanks so much everyone for all your advice/tips!! I am going to try this again, doing the following:

Following the instructions for the smallest size!
Casting on for the ribbing using size 13 needles (instead of 15 like the pattern says to)

Hopefully that will help with the sizing! I’ll let you know how it works out!!

Thanks again,
knitcindy

#6

Okay, but going down in both needle size and number of stitches might not work out that well; it could be too small. This is supposed to be pretty roomy so check your gauge and your total width measurement as you go along. You might not need to do any decreases to get a bust size you want. The width is deceptive because it looks like there’s a pretty big overlap in front. Though now that I look at it again, the front bands are picked up afterward instead of knit with the body, so you can adjust their length as well.