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Another Way to Perfect Your Gauge

August 9, 2017 by Sarah White

an easy way to get gaugeI know, I know, knitting gauge swatches and getting gauge is a drag, but it’s totally worth it for projects that you really want to fit.

There are lots of tips and tricks you can try to get the right gauge, but a simple thing you can try if you aren’t quite getting the gauge you need with the needles the pattern calls for is to try using a needle of a different material.

The Noble Knits blog has a post all about why this can be helpful, which you should definitely check out if you’re having trouble getting gauge.

Incidentally, changing your needle type — switching from wood to metal or vice-versa — can also be helpful if you’re trying to get the right row gauge.

Do you have any tricks for getting gauge that have helped you? I’d love to hear them.

[Photo: Noble Knits.]

Next Pattern:

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  • Go Your Own Way with the Knit Free Cowl Knitting Pattern
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Comments

  1. Cindy S says

    August 10, 2017 at 12:46 pm

    I don’t have a tip, but like the tip about using a different needle if your swatch is really close, but not a whole size different. It makes sense the metal might have a smaller gauge.

  2. pauline fisher says

    August 14, 2017 at 5:50 pm

    I actually tested this out back in 2014 and my results were quite an eye opener, the results are here on Ravelry
    http://www.ravelry.com/projects/comnurse/gauge-and-needle-types

  3. Diane Hoffman says

    May 19, 2020 at 8:01 am

    Don’t think of the swatch as a chore – think of it as a play-date with the yarn (potentially a new friend). Use different sizes and see what makes the best “feeling” fabric.

Have you read?

Embellish Your Knit Dishcloth with Flowers

One great thing to knit when the weather is warm (or honestly any other time) is dishcloths and washcloths. They are fun and easy projects and a great way to play with new skills. Pretty washcloths make cleaning a tiny bit more fun, and they’re great to have on hand as a quick addition to a store-bought gift. 

The Daisy Delight Dishcloth from Yarnspirations is a fun one for using leftover bits of green in your cotton yarn stash. What looks like the bottom in the picture is actually the left side as you knit it, and each little color section is worked with its own ball of yarn, intarsia style. 

That’s a little fiddly for a washcloth, but the effect is cute, and it’s a simple way to learn the basics of intarsia knitting (as well as reading a chart) if you don’t already have those skills. 

One the knitting is done, you add the flowers with a bit of lazy daisy embroidery, which is really easy to do even if you’re not that into embroidery. You could also potentially add flowers in duplicate stitch if you’d rather. 

This may be the most work you’ve put into a dishcloth, but isn’t it adorable? It would be fun to use as a hand towel through the spring and summer, and if you already have some leftover green yarn from other projects it should be pretty easy to do. 

You could also take this same concept and make it different colors. All dark green stems with stars on top might be reminiscent of Christmas trees, or brown with daisy stitch on top in different colors could be trees in the fall. 

However you stitch it, this looks like a fun little project for knitters who are comfortable with intarsia and reading charts or who are ready to try those skills. 

You can grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations. 

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

Book Review – Dishcloths for Special Days [Knitting]

Book Review – Holiday Knit Dishcloths

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