knitting question: adjusting yarn gauge to existing pattern
December 8, 2014 5:48 AM   Subscribe

I found the perfect yarn and the perfect pattern to make a baby sweater. only problem? the gauge is kind of different between the pattern and the yarn i want to make, and i want to make this sweater in the actual size of the pattern. is there an online gauge calculator so i can plug my pattern into the computer and give it the new specs and it will spit me out a new number of stitches to cast on and new number of rows to knit? i am able to do this on my own using MATH but i prefer to let a computer do the work. thank you!

i have seen this post http://ask.metafilter.com/161875/All-About-Gauge and that was great. but i want a machine to use my brain for me. is this a thing that exists?
posted by andreapandrea to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (10 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I've seen something like this for things like basic raglan pullovers, where the pattern is extremely versatile and can handle a lot of variations in yarn and gauge.

But I've never seen a general calculator for this, because, for most patterns, the yarn you use matters. Not just for gauge reasons, but because the garment was intended to work in a certain way and you can't just sub in bulky merino on a pattern that calls for sock-weight alpaca and expect to get equally good results..

It would be more helpful to know what baby sweater you're knitting, what the recommended yarn is, and what yarn you're using.
posted by Sara C. at 6:11 AM on December 8, 2014


Best answer: I've seen calculators like this. You do have to swatch and put in a bunch of numbers.

I find row gauge such a fiddly thing, personally, that when knitting a sweater I tend focus more on stitch gauge and just knit to the right length. This can be tricky if there are decreases but on a baby sweater, not usually an issue!
posted by fanta_orange at 6:23 AM on December 8, 2014


The usual solution is to adjust the size of your needles so that the gauge matches. Is that not going to work for some reason?
posted by bq at 7:03 AM on December 8, 2014 [4 favorites]


When I did this last, I drew a schematic of the written pattern, calculating the various lengths and widths by the gauge, then worked backwards with the new gauge measurements to calculate rows and stitch counts. For a baby sweater, I would pick the size up or down nearish the new cast on (so if the original cast on was 40 stitches for a Small, at a gauge of 8st/inch, that's a 5-inch cast on, then my new yarn gives me 10st/inch - I'd want to cast on 5" x 10st = 50stitches, which if the pattern had a Medium at 52 stitches cast on would be close enough to the size for me to follow in my gauge.
posted by viggorlijah at 7:15 AM on December 8, 2014


So, I was the Ask Me poster in the linked question, and since that question, this is what I have learned:

GAUGE LIES!

I have been knitting for three years and except in rare cases, I hardly ever trust or calculate gauge. The last time I calculated gauge, it was done perfectly on blocked pieces. Even experienced knitters reviewed my work and agreed with my decisions for needle sizes, etc.. I then went on to knit something that turned out much, much bigger than intended and much, much bigger than the gauge swatch said it would.

So, what I do instead of gauge is look at the yarn I want to use and look at the needle recommended for the pattern. If the yarn I'm using is a dk weight and the pattern used a worsted weight, I will go down a needle size or two to get a similar draping effect and to get the same size as the pattern calls for, I will follow the pattern for a size or two larger. If the yarn the pattern used is a chunky weight, I will try double stranding a worsted weight yarn on the same size needles.

My point is -- every time I have done gauge, it has been a bald faced lie to the results -- so far off and useless in the end that I have found it to be a waste of time and waste of yarn over just using common sense and a willingness to play around a bit.
posted by zizzle at 7:41 AM on December 8, 2014


Do you have a wide discrepancy between pattern gauge and your actual gauge? Is the pattern for bulky yarn but you have a worsted weight yarn? These things matter.

1) if your yarn weight matches the one used in the pattern, try going up or down a few needle sizes to see if you can match gauge.

2) If your yarn weight differs from the one used in the pattern, I will strongly suggest you try finding another yarn or another pattern. You can fudge but the fudge will nearly always result in something going awry.

3) Instead of knitting a gauge swatch, try starting a sleeve or the body. With a baby-sized pattern that's as quick as doing a gauge swatch and less likely to lie.

Full disclosure: I work professionally as a knitwear designer, I am a tech editor and I have paid my dues on the teaching circuit & in yarn shops.
posted by kariebookish at 7:44 AM on December 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also, ravelry is invaluable for looking up a yarn and pattern together and seeing what other people used for needles and any other notes they may have used.

I quite often find there's a consensus on a pattern with a particular yarn in a particular needle for a particular size, and I will follow that consensus without doing a gauge swatch.
posted by zizzle at 8:14 AM on December 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Hi everyone,

Thanks for your feedback! The sweater is this one: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cruzin-pullover

which is supposed to be pretty easy. which is good. i'm sort of a newish knitter, i'm definitely extremely new to following crazy directions and changing the gauge.

i'm using a yarn called "fine merino superwash wool" which says it is 22 sts / 28 rows to 4" on 4.0mm needles (US size 6).

The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn which knits up at 21 stitches and 30 rows on US 6 needles. I feel like this is close enough that i can substitute the yarn.

It's also probably actually close enough that I don't need to do any actual changing of the gauge or make any substitutions for something for a 9 month old. but i thought i would check and see if there was a computer program for that.

Thanks so much for all your help!
posted by andreapandrea at 1:03 PM on December 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


Yes, that's definitely close enough to substitute. You should be able to get the right gauge by trying several different size needles.

(If not, Elizabeth Zimmermann says that the nice thing about babies is that their size varies. As long the sweater isn't super tiny, and you don't run out of yarn while knitting it, it'll fit the kid at some point.)
posted by BrashTech at 2:33 PM on December 8, 2014 [2 favorites]


I'm a local yarn store owner, and I do these sorts of conversions almost every day. If you have a friendly shop, I'd suggest going in and asking them to help you with the math and/or other tweaks for size conversion. Any given knitter only does this a limited number of times, but yarn shops do it literally all the time. If you didn't buy the yarn there, buy the yarn for your next project.

And while I'm sure zizzle's experience is valid in their particular case, I would NOT recommend ignoring gauge. Most knitters find gauge swatches invaluable (there are a lot of caveats, of course; I teach a whole class on getting gauge).
posted by rikschell at 5:52 PM on December 8, 2014


« Older My Google Calendar is Not My Own   |   Belief in North Korea's claims Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.