arisaig cardigan from knitty - ribbing gauge question

syndactylus · 02-05-2007, 01:56 AM

hi,
me again...

now I am trying to knit the arisaig sweater from knitty http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTarisaig.html and am getting frustrated with the ribbing.

the way it is now on the needles, the ribbing is a couple inches narrower than it says it should be for my size, but it could fit by not stretching it so much and I really don't want to start over again. (this is the third time and I don't want to ruin the yarn, too.) also, when I checked the gauge on the lace part it seemed like the top section would end up too big if I went up to the next larger size.

so I'm wondering - is the ribbing supposed to stretch during blocking, or can I knit 2 sections of ribbing for the sides after and somehow mush them in somewhere, or do I really need to just start over and hope the top somehow doesn't come out 3 sizes too big?
or maybe there is some other way to do it? I hope so!

& hope that makes sense to someone.

thanks!

knitqueen · 02-05-2007, 07:13 AM

The gauge for this pattern is listed for the lace pattern only - not for the ribbing. So make sure that you swatch in the lace pattern and get the proper needle size in order for that to match the pattern gauge, and the ribbing will be fine. Ribbing pulls in a lot, and it's especially hard to tell with it still on your needles. And like you said, once blocked the ribbing will stretch out a bit. You just don't want the top, lacy part to end up too big.

The pattern lists 2 needle sizes, one for the ribbing and a size larger for the rest. So if you have to change the needle size in order to get gauge for the lace, just change the needle size for the ribbing as well. For example if it takes a size 4 needle to get gauge for the lace, use a size 3 for the ribbing.

syndactylus · 02-05-2007, 01:51 PM

is the lace pattern supposed to be smaller than the actual gauge until I stretch it out too or is that part about after blocking just an expression or whatever?

by any certain amount?

thank you, I was getting so confused!

mwedzi · 02-05-2007, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by syndactylus

is the lace pattern supposed to be smaller than the actual gauge until I stretch it out too or is that part about after blocking just an expression or whatever?

by any certain amount?

thank you, I was getting so confused!

I just looked at the pattern and it says the gauge is for the lace pattern after blocking. So you would have to block the lace first to see if you get gauge.

syndactylus · 02-07-2007, 02:36 PM

the only one that comes out smaller is with size 0 needles, leaving me with no needles to do the rib in.
(it's supposed to be on needles one size smaller than the lace.)

should I buy lace needles before I even bother, or do you think it would be ok to knit it all on 0?

has anyone else made this?

knitqueen · 02-07-2007, 04:47 PM

I'm not sure what you mean by 'comes out smaller'

. ALL that matters is that you can get the right gauge for the lace stitch pattern. After that, if size 0 is what it takes to get the proper gauge then just do the whole thing with a 0.

What yarn are you using??

syndactylus · 02-07-2007, 05:36 PM

I meant, before blocking the swatches I knit with size 2 & with size 1 they were already bigger than they were supposed to be after, so I didn't block them at all.
I didn't block the 0 one yet because I didn't want to waste the yarn in case I need it all - there is no more of this color where I got it.

I'm using matchmaker 4 ply. maybe I need to learn to knit tighter somehow?

--

thanks, I will just use the 0. I had brain mush earlier...