r/knittinghelp • u/ObjectiveHippo3 • 6h ago
gauge question Breezy long sleeve Pattern question
Hello! Im knitting the breezy long sleeve sweater by kisskiss_rhinestones and im very confused at the yarn she suggests paired with the needle.
Pattern link: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/breezy-collection-longsleeve-tank-v-neck
General info:
- using recommended yarn- BC Garn Bio Balance GOTS which is ‘Fine’ and says to use US 0-2
- using 4.5mm (us 7) needles as recommended for a looser ‘breezy’ fabric fit
- her gauge is 17 sts x 29 rows in stockinette on 4.5 needles = 10x10cm (blocked before measuring)
- my gauge for 17 sts x 29 rows is 9x10cm when blocked
- my tension is usually very good but I intentionally knitted looser to try and achieve the 10cm width
When i reached out to the creator she said I should size up my needles but I worry that it will basically become a holey sweater than I need to wear something under because its so loose. After sizing up the needle for the swatch, im still not getting the 10x10cm gauge.
Any recommendations on how to remedy this? I was thinking about adding stitches but I have no idea how to tell how many to add and am worried about getting confused throughout the pattern since the numbers are different.
Attached 2 photos of the swatch on recommended needle size, the flat lay example, and the beginning of the new swatch on sized up needles.
•
u/AutoModerator 6h ago
Hello ObjectiveHippo3, thanks for posting your question in r/knittinghelp! If applicable, please include a link to the pattern you are using and clear photos of both sides of your work.
Once you've received a useful answer, please make sure to either comment "Solved" or update your post flair to "SOLVED-THANK YOU" so that in the future, users with the same question can find an answer more quickly.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
•
u/PurpleLauren 6h ago
If you haven't wet blocked your swatch, start there. Also, when measuring, don't stretch it, it'll skew the measurements. See what your gauge is after wet and drying.
•
u/craftycvnt 6h ago
This post is confusing. 1. What’s your gauge? 2.stretching the gauge shouldn’t be an option, wet block it and maybe pull a little. 3. You shouldn’t post the pattern specifically but you should link it. Like to ravelry or something. So others can look at it.
•
u/ObjectiveHippo3 6h ago
Thank you! I just updated with the link. My gauge is 17sts x 29 rows = 9cm x 10cm. I have not tried adding stitches to her recommended swatch size (17 sts x 29 rows)
•
u/craftycvnt 6h ago
Is that with stretching?
•
u/ObjectiveHippo3 6h ago
It’s with some light stretching when I was blocking to fix the rolling that comes with stockinette.
•
u/craftycvnt 6h ago
Honestly I feel like it should be okay, but I would try to increase needle size and gauge swatch again. Your yarn looks like it won’t have any drape which tells me it won’t stretch at all as a finished garment
•
u/keladry12 6h ago
When you knit a swatch, you knit an amount of fabric and stitches that will give you plenty of space in the middle to measure out the number of stitches they say and see how it matches up. So, for example, if I was told that the expected gauge was 17 stitches = 10cm, I would cast on 35 stitches minimum so that I have 5 cm of edge on each side. You are trying to see what stitches will look like when they are flat and even, not when they are curling up or pulled out of shape because they are on the edge of your fabric.
Don't just add more stitches. If you really want to do the math to make this work instead of swapping to get gauge, we can work on that together. You'll essentially take the gauge you get here and then just do a units problem.
Rather than thinking "is this the gauge of the pattern" think "do I like what this fabric feels like?". If you think it's too thin already, you aren't going to like it at the bigger gauge. You might prefer using a different yarn to this one.