[mojo11]

Actually you can get the same gauge on the same needle with different weights of yarn. I used double stranded lace weight on size 9s and got the same gauge as worsted on 9s. The thin yarn just makes a thinner fabric. Try it sometime - take some thin yarn and your size 9s and see if you get the same gauge as the doubled worsted (which would be a super super bulky so no wonder the sts were tight with 9s, needed an 11 or 13 for that weight).

I wouldn't get the same gauge now as I did then regardless. I've finally managed to teach myself how NOT to garrotte the needle... most of the time at least. But anyway.

What I was really getting at was Jan was using US 7s and worsted yarn and I was US 9 and bulky yarn and we were getting about the same number of stitches and probably working on about the same size hat. For Wendy (who's a very relaxed knitter) to match my gauge she'd have to drop at least 2, maybe 3 needle sizes from what I use given the same yarn. (And it used to be more like four sizes!)

I've also had at least one occasion where two yarns that were only slightly different (Plymouth Select and Cascade 220) gave me just enough difference in gauge that the same pattern fit in one yarn and not the other. And this wasn't just on the same size needles, it was the same actual needles. The Plymouth was springier and slightly thicker, and fit perfectly. The Cascade was just slightly thinner and came out too big. Not by much, but enough that we had to do some fidgie-widginess to draw it in a little. The lesson learned: Take Time To Save Time; ALWAYS Check Gauge! Maybe Mercury was in retrograde or something so it was a one-off, but...