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Needle Material Can Affect Gauge, Too

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knit darling needle gauge chartI’m really interested in this bit of knitting geekery from Knit Darling, which is about knitting needle materials and how different needles — even those labeled as being the same size — can give you different gauge results.

She knit up swatches of the same number of stitches and rows on four different kinds of needles, using the same kind of yarn. After blocking, she measured them and extrapolated what size sweater you would get if you knit to that gauge for 200 stitches.

She discovered a difference of as much as two inches between two different kinds of needles (with carbon needles coming out the smallest and resin the biggest in her test).

The takeaway here is that different needles perform differently, even when they’re labeled the same size. So if you don’t already do so, make sure you knit your swatch and your project with the exact same needles, not just the same size. Also knit circular swatches for projects that will be worked in the round; she found a sweater knit with the same number of stitches would be 1.5 inches narrower worked in the round rather than flat. Which just goes to show that knitting is a lot more precise than we usually give it credit for.

[Photo via Knit Darling.]

Comments

  1. This is a very necessary thing to know. I have been designing & making a blanket for a charity & decided to use different techniques as in modular block (no sewing), a Motif & mitered corners (more no sew). After knitting the motif it was buckled & even with blocking wouldn’t sit flat. I have now discovered that my purl stitch row was larger than my knit rows. Upon some research I discovered this is not uncommon. I now know that I have to use a smaller needle for a purl row, especially when combining garter & stocking stitch in the one piece. I might add that the needle that eventually gave me the right tension was 2 needle sizes less than the knit row needle. I have also found out that I knit a lot more loosely when using a circular needle. Yes knitting really is a technical past time.

Have you read?

Knit a Log Cabin Blanket with All Your Scraps

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn. 

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small. 

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches. 

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come. 

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you. 

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?). 

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry. 

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns. 

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]