Gauge issues?

redheadrachel · 07-14-2007, 07:09 PM

Hey everyone! I've started my first sweater and I did a gauge swatch (my first gauge swatch, too). It was supposed to be 14 stithces for 4", but my 14 stitches were like 3.5" inches. I did another swatch with size 11 needles and it was the correct size, so I started making the sweater with 11s. Now that I've done about three inches of the back piece of the sweater (two inches of ribbing and one of stockinette) I checked my gauge, and 4" equals about 17 stitches. That's pretty far off...

Do you think I should keep going (like, will blocking fix it?) or go back all the way down to 10s, or go to 10.5s?

Is it unusual for a gauge swatch to be so off from the real knit item? It kind of defeated the purpose of doing a swatch at all!

Thanks :D

kemp · 07-15-2007, 12:40 AM

yep, that's the problem with swatches...they lie

As to frogging, it depends on how you want it to fit. Take the cast on and divide it by your spi of 4.25...how many inches do you get? How many is it off from what it should be for the size you want? Can you live with that? Think it will still look good etc?

You may also want to wet and block your swatch to get an idea of how much if any it will stretch to help you decide.

redheadrachel · 07-15-2007, 12:52 AM

It was a cast on of 85. I'm thinking maybe 10.5 would be better, but will it make enough of a difference to be worth ripping out the whole thing? I don't want the sweater to be huge, but I also don't want it to be too small!

suzeeq · 07-15-2007, 01:11 AM

Try a swatch with the 10.5s, only CO 20 sts instead of 14 and measure the middle 4" to see how many sts you have. The edge stitches can be a little different size than a st in the middle and is one reason why you can `get gauge' with a swatch that's only the sts/4". Anyway, I think the 10.5s will work out okay - there's a lot of difference between them and 11s.

cam90066 · 07-15-2007, 03:46 AM

Something to think about. When gauging, knit for a while to find your rhythm. Many tend to knit tighter when first sitting down and then relax, and sts get looser, over time. Recall reading that you should knit for about 15 mins before resuming a project to ensure uniform tension. (Personally I've not done that BUT I do tend to get a tad looser the longer I knit.)

cam