March 27, 2007
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On Gauge
Gauge is the bane of many knitters. Projects that you think will be perfect end up all wrong, because you knit more loosely or tightly than the designer, or you substitute a yarn and it knits up completely different. Many things have been written on gauge. The funniest are in books, so go to your local library, check out Knitting Rules!, turn to page 78, and start reading. (Or really, just buy it. It’s worth it. Buy all her other books too, while you’re at it. You won’t regret it.)
Here’s today’s gauge lesson. I knit two scarves using the same pattern, light blue for mom, teal for me (I know, you’re shocked at my color choice…). The yarns are very similar in weight, though the light blue (Encore Colorspun) is a tad heavier than the teal (Cascade 220). The biggest difference was the needle size: US9 for mom’s, US8 for mine. Because of the difference, I ended up adding one more vertical ‘rib’ to mine. I used almost the same length of yarn for each. One rib + one size smaller needle = big difference!
Here they are, both folded in half. Notice that they are essentially the same width, but waaaay different lengths.
Here’s a closeup, sorry the quality is not fab, I was in a hurry.
I actually like the short length of mine because it’s more for accessorizing than warmth, and perfectly cute in length.
Moral of the story: gauge matters. Don’t ignore it. Especially if you’re knitting something that needs to fit.
