Sunday, September 16, 2007

Silver Lining

Well, as usual, my gauge is completely bizarre, and true to form, my row-gauge is way, way off. I've got the ribbing and 47 rows done and the sweater is about 8.5" long . . . meaning I'm getting about 25 rows to 4" rather than the 32 called for in the pattern.

This isn't exactly a PROBLEM, per se, but it is definitely something that needs addressing. As in, obviously, I'm going to need to rework some thing. Like, say, the entire layout/chart of the sweater. And the sleeve, too.

On the plus side, it means the sweater's going to be done that much sooner, huh? I mean, a 23" sweater at 8 rows to an inch is 184 rows. But at only 6.25 rows to an inch, that's 144 rows, which means the whole thing will go faster.

Well, at least, it will once I've recalculated all the shaping on my handy-dandy excel chart....

And, no matter what the gauge, it sure is pretty . . .

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Deb, not to rain on your silver lining.....but if your row gauge is that much off, it means that your stitches are taller right? So if you are getting the oorrect stitch gauge, but they are taller stitches, these taller stitches will stretch out sideways and your sweater MAY stretch out when washed. I hate to ask, did you do a gauge swatch?

I used to have problems with my fair isle sweaters "growing" after they were knit -- it was my row gauge.......I learned the hard way.

--Deb said...

I DID do a gauge swatch, and washed it, too, and for whatever reason, my gauge on the sweater is actually looser than it was on my swatch, which was still looser than the one in the pattern. Heaven only knows why, but when I say I'm a "loose" knitter, I'm a really, really loose knitter. I'm knitting according to the counts given for the smallest size, even though I need a 36" sweater. And still, if anything, the sweater is still coming out big . . . and this is on size 1 needles, nonetheless.

(Heck, even when I make socks, I use size 0 needles and I still only need 44 stitches per sock.)

Basically, at this point, it's a complete mystery as to whether this is going to fit when it's done, though I'm going to recalculate as needed to get the length correct. Short of frogging the whole thing, I'm willing to do what I need to to make it work! The calculator is coming out soon....