Gauge problems

[Sarahc409]

Hello everyone. I'm having some kind of gauge problem I've never experienced before. I made the mistake of showing the "Guayavera Shirt" featured in the Knit1 Summer 07 issue to hubby and now this is what he wants me to knit for him instead of a sweater. I've been good about checking gauge in the past but for some reason I just cannot get it this time. I have the required yarn and I've tried going up three needles sizes and it still keeps coming up too small. The gauge is looking looser but when I measure I'm still not getting it. Could it be my needles? I am using the Boye interchangeble set. Or perhaps is it the yarn (it's linen and sort of stiff) What do I do now? Hubby is already set on this shirt (and not to mention I paid a lot of money for this tricky yarn.) Yikes!

[Jan in CA]

Is the yarn the one they recommend for the pattern? If not, maybe it's a whole different weight and therefore gauge?

[DorothyDot]

Very occasionally, the person who creates the pattern will have their own issues with gauge. This is one of the major reasons most patterns suggest you knit a gauge swatch before tackling the main pattern.

Sounds like you got hold of a real doozie there. Guess you'll just have to do what it takes to get the pattern's gauge. Or - if you have enough experience - maybe you could just look at the picture itself and come up with your own pattern.

Dot

[Sarahc409]

Jan, yes, i have the recommended yarn (and it was very pricey!) I even went to my lys and the lady there could not help me. She even looked in the yarn book for this specific yarn and made sure there was no yarn cofusion and sure enough I had the correct yarn. She agrees with me that I had gone up way to many needles for me to get a nice fabric and I keep getting this very loose knit and it's still coming up too small. She even called the yarn distributor for Knit1 magazine and the lady there said that other people have complained but that there is nothing wrong as far as she's concerned.

Dorothy, I am not that confortable at changing the pattern. The other problem is the pattern only comes in one size "med/large". Hubby is a large which means I will need to add a few stiches here and there to make it even bigger. Can anyone advise me on this? I will make a separate post asking this very question.

Thank you to those who responded

Sarah

[wandersfar]

If you're not averse to doing a little math, you might be able to fudge it with the gauge you're at now.

Calculate the quotient of your gauge divided by the pattern's gauge:
your sts/inch
pattern's sts/inch

Then multiply every number of sts given in the pattern by that number, rounding up when you get a remainder (since the pattern's written for medium/large and your husband's a large).

Tada, you have a converted pattern. Vertical gauge isn't as important as horizontal gauge, just knit for however many inches the pattern tells you in each part and it should work out. (Or, you could do another proportion of your vertical gauge/pattern's vertical gauge and calculate what you should multiply the rows by in the same way you figured out the horizontal gauge.)


Here's an example. Say my gauge is 10sts/inch and the suggested gauge is 5sts/inch. 10/5 = 2, so I should multiply the number of sts in the pattern by 2. It tells me to cast-on 50 sts? I cast-on 100 sts. I have to decrease 2sts at the beginning and end of every row every inch or so? I decrease 4sts at the beginning and end, yadda yadda yadda. It's a rough conversion, but it should still give you a good approximation of the original pattern.

[Sarahc409]

WF you are a genious! thanks I will follow your instructions and keep my fingers crossed.

S

[wandersfar]

Glad I was able to help! Let me know how it works out. (I'm doing the same thing for the tank top I'm knitting now. )