Gauge Is NOT A Four Letter Word – New Article From Creative Knitting Magazine!

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Nicole says
August 13, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Okay, I read the article and totally agree. Gauge is very important … BUT … I still struggle with it. For example, I counted the stitches in all 3 of there swatches and did not see how they came up wit the numbers they did. Two of the swatches had the required 5 stitches that they said did not have them … when I counted them they did.
I just still don’t understand HOW to actually COUNT the stitches.
Kristen says
August 16, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Hi Nicole,
You’re right, gauge can be tricky. And, I agree with you that it’s difficult to count the stitches in the swatches they’ve shown in the article. I think part of the challenge is that it’s hard to accurately count the knit stitch (aka the Vs) and get a good count looking at a website photo. Plus, I don’t think that the pictures are very good in swatches #2 and #3. The gauge counter looks a little crooked in the photo, so I’m sure that in person the gauge would have been more obvious. That being said…
If you’re having problems with your own gauge I have a couple of suggestions. First, I find it easier to count over 1″, rather than 2″ like they’ve outlined in the article. Second, if the gauge on the first swatch is “questionable”, then do 2 more swatches. Just like in the article, you would knit one swatch in the recommended needle size, one swatch with a larger needle and one swatch with a smaller needle. Once you have all 3 swatches to test and compare to each other it may be easier for you to determine which swatch has the correct gauge for you.
Good luck and happy knitting!

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Stitch a Scarf with Dreamy Waves

As I write this, it’s probably time to start thinking about winter knitting if you haven’t already. And it’s definitely time to think about gift knitting if you have any of that you plan to do for the holidays.

The Dreamy Waves Scarf from Knit Picks, designed by Stacey Winklepleck, would be a great project to go in either category.

It uses two different multicolored yarns and a simple repeating wave pattern to make a project that looks a lot more complicated and dramatic than it is. The gradient look happens naturally just by switching which yarn you’re knitting with.

This pattern uses worsted weight yarn so it’s a pretty quick project even though a scarf is large and this one is pretty wide. It measures 8.5 inches (21.5 cm) wide and 63 inches or 120 cm long. Of course you can make it longer or shorter as you like. As written it takes one ball of each color so it’s a pretty economical project, too.

It’s rated for intermediate knitters but if you know how to do various increases and decreases you’ll be all set. The pattern uses knit 2 together, make 1 left and right, centered double decrease and slip slip knit. All of the stitches are explained in a glossary in the pattern so even if you haven’t done all of them it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.

The pattern also includes tons of options for different colorways in yarn that Knit Picks sells, so you can see how different combinations knit up before you buy the yarn. That’s such a great idea!

Of course if you already have two multicolored yarns with long color runs on hand, you can absolutely use them, too. It might also be fun, but would give you a totally different look, to use a solid color and a bunch of scraps or one multicolored yarn to see how the different colors play together. So many options!

You can grab this free pattern and check out all the color options at Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

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