Is DK even a thing in Canada? I haven’t been able to find any but everything I have looked up indicates the yarn weight to be 3- with that in mind, how come my swatch is so small when I use 4 mm needles- 22 stitches should be roughly 10 cm, and mine is like 2.5! I am frustrated by this because a bigger needle will make my projects have big holes. I don’t know what to do because I would like to use this beautiful yarn, that I thought would work
Yarn Weight
I’m not in Canada so can’t speak from experience but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen references from Canadian knitters and crocheters who use dk weight yarn. What yarn do you have? I’d expect that gauge with fingering weight yarn.
Curiosity got the better of me. I did a search and it seems dk yarn is a thing in Canada. https://www.yarncanada.ca/categories/yarn/weight-types/dk.html
I doubt you have got this wrong, but just in case, are you definitely using 4mm and not a US size 4 needle?
US size 4 is 3.5mm.
Even so, I’m not sure how it can be only a quarter the size you are expecting, it’s a very big difference.
What is the name of your yarn? Does the yarn give a stitch and row gauge in addition to the large classification, #3?
I think of those classifications like clothes sizes that come in S, M and L. Each of these designations covers a range of actual measurements. You’re yarn although nominally a #3 may be at the small end of the range from 21-24sts/10cm, maybe closer to 24sts/10cm.
The yarn shows 4 inches is 22 stitches on a 4 mm- but that is impossible! I am sending a note to Loops and Threads. The yarn is Loops and Threads Baby Delight. I have done it twice just to make sure and 22 stitches on a 4 mm is only 2.5 inches! I would need 31 stitches to make gauge
I decided to try again, 10 cm is 4 inches- my pattern shows 22 stitches and 30 rows.I did 15 rows and have 5 cm, so I made GAUGE!!! Who knows what I was doing wrong before, but whatever!
Melanie that’s great news you made gauge on the row count… is it also 10cm to 22 stitches on the stitch count though? Often in clothes the length/rows is measured in cm rather than number of rows so if you’re a bit out on the rows it’s less important as you can knit something a few more rows to get length. But the width is determined by stitch number so this is more important for clothes.
I might be a bit off- according to the yarn, a 10x10 cm swatch is supposed to be 22 stitches and 28 rows- I have 22 stitches which are about 8 cm across and 30 rows to be 10 cm. (This is weird to me, so how can I correct this?)
22 stitches to 8cm rather than 22 stitches to 10cm is still a big difference in clothes sizes. If for instance the cast on is 88 stitches you could expect the top to end up 4cm narrower than you want.
Is the swatch with 4mm needles? Have you tried 4.5mm?
This gauge thing is going to be the death of me! Maybe I will have to try 4.5- thanks for the advice
I’m Canadian too! And to be honest I can’t recall ever seeing a DK myself either! But then again, I didn’t have a pattern that called for DK either!! And a lady said you can get it in Canada!! So, I guess you can! I’ve never seen it in stores around here though!! Best of luck
Are you by any chance using the yarn singly when in fact it should be used double?
No- just one strand is required