Knitting

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It’s all about Gauge

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In this post of 2/19 [tag]Marnie Maclean [/tag]writes about gauge. Not important you say? Well, would you build a house that needs to be 20 blocks wide, but not determine the width of the block? Do you buy shoes without trying them on first? If you don’t knit a gauge swatch, you have no idea how your yarn works with your needles or how big or small the needles make the stitches. [tag]Knitting[/tag] is a time consuming hobby and you would like to have a project that turns out like your pattern shows. If you don’t “play” with your yarn and needles first, you will be disappointed in the outcome.

Another article by [tag]Mary Smith[/tag] explains even more the reasons that gauge is important. Mary also explains why needle size is not as important as gauge. Knitting is about gauge and tension. Different people knit with different tension and this can also affect your [tag]gauge[/tag]. You may need to go up or down in needle size to obtain the necessary gauge for your pattern.

The next article about gauge written by [tag]Jenna Wilson[/tag] explains in depth about the tension of your gauge and how gravity affects your knit stitches. This article explains that your knit swatch is not square because knit stitches are not square. The article also address the fact that because gauge isn’t permanent and can even change with wear, simply whipping up a gauge swatch and measuring it straight off the needles won’t prevent unwelcome surprises. Even steam- or wet-blocking your[tag] swatch[/tag] on a flat surface will not guarantee that the finished fabric will keep your measured dimensions.

All these articles agree that swatch knitting is extremely important, not only to the sizing of the finished product, but also to the care and wearing of the product.

Isn’t your knitted project worth the little extra time swatching takes?

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Comments

  1. Yes, gauge is very important if you want to have the finished object sized the way you want.

    I remember hearing a lady say she never swatches. Another lady said “I bet you give everything you make away.”

  2. Hi Nancy, thanks for stopping by. I have always knit to gauge on the recommended size needles, but I learned early on that swatching is about more than stitches per inch,(Big Grin). Love your Blog!

Have you read?

Chick Knitting Patterns

Recently I shared a  collection of Easter egg knitting patterns, and as we all know chicks are what comes out of eggs, so it’s only right to share some chick knitting patterns too. Chicks are perfect for spring decor even when it’s not Easter time, and they are so cute and fun to knit, too.

This fluffy chick from Sincerely Louise can also be worked in less fuzzy yarn if you’d rather. It’s worked flat and seamed so it’s a good one for newer knitters who might not be comfortable working little projects in the round. You can grab the pattern on Etsy.

This little chick from Fluff and Fuzz on Etsy looks like it’s still wearing part of its shell! There’s also an option without the white details, and you can knit these little hats as well. They’re worked in DK weight yarn. (She also has a super cute tiny egg shaped chick in a half shell that’s a free pattern on Ravelry.)

If you want ta chick that’s even more in an egg, this egg-shaped chick from Purl Soho may be what you’re looking for. It’s worked in super fine yarn so you can make a bunch of chicks with a skein or two of yarn, or use leftovers to change up the colors.

Alan Dart has a cute pattern that includes two halves of a broken egg and a chick that fits inside. It calls for DK weight yarn.

The spring chick pattern from Barbara Prime is a sweet little bird shape that you could make as other birds worked in different colors. The pattern doesn’t specify yarn weight, so use whatever yellow (or other color you like) yarn you have on hand to make birds of different sizes.

Make a cute, fuzzy, felted chick with the Chick Wobblers pattern from Cindy Pilon (available on Ravelry). These little chicks come in two sizes and have an “internal wobbler” so when you try to tip them over they wobble back up.

Check out this White fluffy Easter Chick knitting pattern over on our Sister site Craftbits.com Fluffy Easter Chick Knitting Pattern.

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