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

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Creative Knitting is a wonderful magazine. Not only are the patterns varied, but the articles are good too.

This latest issue includes an article about how important gauge is.

“Like any creative endeavor, knitting is rife with the potential for individual choices. Colors, yarns and styles abound. We can follow a pattern exactly, alter bits and pieces according to our personal preference, or design our own garments. But there is one thing that none of us can challenge: Gauge determines size.”

Click HERE to read the rest of the article, and then sign up for their FREE newsletter!

Comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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!

Have you read?

Classic Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use. 

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make. 

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!). 

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn. 

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart. 

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern. 

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.