I subscribe to a Knitting Newsletter by Email that has lots of tips and tricks and this particular subject came up the other week. Let me share it with you. Perhaps if you enjoy this article you might want to get a free subcription to her Knitting Daily Newsletter yourself. I HIGHLY recommend subscribing to Kathleen Cubley's very informative newsletter. It is free and so informative!! To Subscribe CLICK HERE
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Gauge and Yarn Substitution. by Kathleen Cubley. 11 June 2011. Knitting Daily.com
 | This shows what happens when you knit thinner and thicker yarns on the same size needles. Both yarns produce the same number of stitches per inch, or nearly so. The thin yarn makes slightly more rows per inch. In this swatch, knitted on size 7 needles, the orange (top) yarn, a handspun 3-ply, measures about 16 wraps per inch (which is lace weight). The teal (bottom) yarn is a 2-ply that measures about 8 wraps per inch (Aran weight). Both yarns knit up at a gauge of 4 1/2 stitches per inch. The section knitted from the thicker teal yarn has 6 rows per inch, while the orange section has 7 rows per inch. |
Gauge and Yarn Substitution. by Kathleen Cubley. 11 June 2011. Knitting Daily.com
I've been reading a lot about gauge lately because I want to knit something on my knitting machine, and gauge is different on the machine than it is on the needles. I came upon this great information in an unexpected resource: one of our new spinning eBooks. Rita Buchanan is a master spinner and teacher, so it's no surprise she has some good hints about gauge.
Here's part of her gauge article. To see the entire piece, check out A Closer Look, the new eBook by Rita Buchanan.
Handling a Knitted Fabric and Responding to How it Feels by Rita Buchanan
We're continually reminded of the importance of gauge. Virtually every published pattern specifies a required number of stitches per inch (some patterns also note rows per inch) and the directions always emphasize that you must match the specified gauge or your project will turn out too big or too small.
Although gauge certainly matters a lot, it's not the whole story. Here is a fundamental issue in knitting that is rarely acknowledged or discussed: Two knitted fabrics can have the same or similar gauge yet feel very different.
Pattern writers rarely talk about how a fabric should feel, because they don't have to. Instead, they tell you what yarn to use. If you knit with the particular yarn that they recommend and match the specified gauge, the fabric will feel right for the project.
However, when you vary from the directions by substituting another yarn, the matter of feel becomes important. You must apply some judgment—and some swatching—to make sure the substitute yarn yields appropriate results.
With a substitute yarn, it's not enough to match the specified gauge. You must also produce a fabric that feels right for the kind of project you're making. A dressy sweater, for instance, must feel different from work socks, even though both can be worked at a gauge of 5 stitches per inch. Fabric that feels substantial enough for work socks is too bulky and unyielding for a sweater, while a supple, drapey fabric you'd love in a dressy sweater won't hold up for work socks.
READ THE REST OF THIS INFORMATIVE ARTICLE CLICK HERE
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