Row Guage Question

[BinkyKat]

Soon I will post a pic of a blankie I started last summer, frogged , then reknit. It was my first project upon discovering the wonderful world of knitting. I think my brain is further ahead than my hands at this stage, but at any rate, I finished my first item knowing more now than I did then. It's a simple Suss Cousins pattern of a garter stitch blanket with a fuzzy single crochet trim. I'll recheck and post the dimensions from the pattern when I do the pic. What my dilemma is, how does one compensate for row guage? My first try, sans swatch, resulted in a blanky shaped like Montana. This one is nice and i swatched, made needle adjustments (amazing what a difference a mm can make!) and checked my gauge as I went along-and I was able to keep on target. However, this time, though my stitch guage was fine, it's 6 inches shorter than suggested . Now I remember, finished size should be 30 x 28 and my measurements are 30 x 22. And that is with adding on the left over yarn from the hat I made to go with it. Since I bought the yarn last year, I just decided it will be a slightly rectangular "thumb sucking" smaller blankie for my nephew. My guess is simply knitting until the length is right is the best remedy? Your input/opinions are very much appreciated!

[Ingrid]

Generally, patterns will tell you how long each section should be. When I knit a sweater, for example, the directions ususally say how long to knit to underarm. I generally like them longer, so I add however many inches I need.

I guess in my viewpoint, anyway, and I'm a little lax about this stuff, width gauge is more important since you can't adjust for that as you complete a pattern. If you find your length is not what the directions say it should be, you can always add more to it, or subtract if you find it too long. Of course for a blanket or scarf, it doesn't make any difference, you just keep going until it's as long as you want it.

So much depends on the yarn and stitch pattern, though, so each thing is individual.