baby bonnet

gayatrij · 02-09-2010, 12:40 AM

I was making a baby bonnet from the following link:

http://www.allcrafts.net/f.php?url=w...e.com/kp3.html

The instructions say to use a 10.5 needle and worsted weight yarn. I used Bernat Softee baby yarn (double stranded) which is a Sport DK to make my baby sweater and was looking to use the same yarn double stranded to make a matching bonnet. I used needle size 7 to make the sweater. If I use the same needle size 7 to make the bonnet will it be too small?? Or should I use my yarn double stranded with a size 10.5 needle to make the bonnet??

Thxx

MerigoldinWA · 02-09-2010, 07:01 AM

Were the gauges given for the sweater you did and the bonnet the same?

I looked at the bonnet pattern. It looks pretty simple. One thing I might try in a case like this is to make the item following the directions but with the yarn and needles I wanted to use. See what size it turns out and with the things I learned from making the bonnet figure out how I would have to change it to make it the size I wanted. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to make this bigger. It is pretty basic.

Size 10.5 needles seem pretty big to me for worsted yarn. Have you tried making a swatch and see what it takes to get the gauge they give?

I haven't been much help I don't think but I'm trying.

suzeeq · 02-09-2010, 03:22 PM

I use 10�s with worsted and while it's looser than a lot of people like, it makes a nice fabric that's not see through.

So gayatrij, just experiment, try the worsted on both sizes, or experiment with a size in between or with the yarn doubled. That's the only way to know how it's going to come out.

gayatrij · 02-09-2010, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by MerigoldinWA

Were the gauges given for the sweater you did and the bonnet the same?

I looked at the bonnet pattern. It looks pretty simple. One thing I might try in a case like this is to make the item following the directions but with the yarn and needles I wanted to use. See what size it turns out and with the things I learned from making the bonnet figure out how I would have to change it to make it the size I wanted. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to make this bigger. It is pretty basic.

Size 10.5 needles seem pretty big to me for worsted yarn. Have you tried making a swatch and see what it takes to get the gauge they give?

I haven't been much help I don't think but I'm trying.

For the sweater the gauge that was given with size 10.5 needles was 15sts/20 rows= 4"/10 cm and asked to use double stranded DK/Sport weight yarn. This is the link to the pattern:

http://wishingiwasknitting.blogspot....t-sweater.html

The original size made a sweater for a 6 month old. So I took size 7 and double stranded Sport DK yarn to make a newborn size and it turned out great. This was my first sweater project.

I am really new to knitting and also to gauging. Im not sure I really know how to check for my gauge.
For instance if a gauge is given as 15sts/20 rows= 4"/10 cm, am I supposed to cast on 15 stitches and do 20 knit rows and then check to see if it measures 4" on all sides ??

Thx for all the help....

MerigoldinWA · 02-09-2010, 08:01 PM

If it says the gauge is 15 sts = some amount I would cast on 19 stitches. I like to have a couple on each side over the ones that need to be measured because the edge stitches get distorted and don't give an accurate gauge.

As far as the row gauge goes, what you say is right. 20 rows should = 4 inches in that direction. But row gauge is usually not that important and it is pretty hard to control. If you get st gauge and row gauge is off if you try to fix it you'll mess up the st gauge.

You can usually work to a certain length and just ignore row gauge. In some patterns everything is given in rows instead of inches but you can figure out mathematically how to adjust it in most cases. Use the gauge they give to figure out how long they are making something and then using your own gauge figure out how many rows you'll need to get that length. Sometimes it is more complex if the pattern is very dependent on having a certain number of rows, like for a complicated cable pattern with lots of rows.

gayatrij · 02-09-2010, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by MerigoldinWA

If it says the gauge is 15 sts = some amount I would cast on 19 stitches. I like to have a couple on each side over the ones that need to be measured because the edge stitches get distorted and don't give an accurate gauge.

As far as the row gauge goes, what you say is right. 20 rows should = 4 inches in that direction. But row gauge is usually not that important and it is pretty hard to control. If you get st gauge and row gauge is off if you try to fix it you'll mess up the st gauge.

You can usually work to a certain length and just ignore row gauge. In some patterns everything is given in rows instead of inches but you can figure out mathematically how to adjust it in most cases. Use the gauge they give to figure out how long they are making something and then using your own gauge figure out how many rows you'll need to get that length. Sometimes it is more complex if the pattern is very dependent on having a certain number of rows, like for a complicated cable pattern with lots of rows.

how do I measure stitch gauge? is it the length of the stitches on the needle that i am supposed to measure? Lets say 15sts/20 rows= 4"/10 cm. so when i cast on 15 sts should this measure 4 in for me to see my stitch gauge?

MerigoldinWA · 02-09-2010, 08:43 PM

You should make the swatch 4 inches long over the 19 stitches. Then it is a good idea to take it off the needles and lay the swatch on a hard, flat surface, but yes, you are measuring the stitches as they sit on the needles, in other words from side to side on the swatch. You want the middle 15 stitches (excluding the 2 on each side) to measure 4 inches to be on gauge.

If it doesn't measure that much, say it is 3 1/2" you need to try again with larger needles. If it measures more than 4", say 4 1/4" you should try one size smaller needles and actually you should make another gauge swatch. (But in truth I don't always, if it is not close to being right and I think I should be right on with one size different.)

gayatrij · 02-09-2010, 08:50 PM

Thx for the help !!!!!!!!!!!

suzeeq · 02-10-2010, 01:29 AM

Quote:

how do I measure stitch gauge? is it the length of the stitches on the needle that i am supposed to measure? Lets say 15sts/20 rows= 4"/10 cm. so when i cast on 15 sts should this measure 4 in for me to see my stitch gauge?

You should cast on about 20 sts and measure across the piece - this way <--------> . Just don't include the edge sts in the 4".