Oh my gauge!
Wow. I went down two needle sizes for Elann's yarn Sonata. The yarn band calls for size 6, the pattern calls for size 6... and when I did a swatch (thankfully!) in the round on my usual bamboos I had 4.25-4.5 inches instead of 4! And when I tried it on size 5 needles, it was pretty much the same! Only when I went down to size 4 (and that was some kind of Addi-like needle, ie, metalic, that my mom gave me a few years back) - size 4, people! - could I get gauge!
If this means I'm not such a tight knitter anymore, that's good. But I didn't think I'd become so loose that I'd need to go down so far in my needle sizes. I'd like to be smack dab in the middle, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not just me, that it's also the yarn. I feel like my tension is much looser with cotton yarns, as well as with thinner yarns, than with thicker wooly yarns.
Well, let's just hope the swatching worked and I stay on gauge for Soleil, because it appears that gauge is very important for that pattern.
3 comments:
I often wonder who the heck test knits yarn to get a recommended gauge, because I can never, ever get the recommended gauge. It must be the yarn or the test knitter, because I don't think we are the problem!
Weird! Gauge always drives me nuts. Some people seem to regularly go down two needle sizes but I'm usually right in the middle.
I always go down two needle sizes and for crochet, i have to go down three sizes.
I got some more of my order from the WEBS sale, and I can't start the lovely summer cardigan that I wanted to knit..... because my arm will be on vacation for at least the long weekend due to my nerve troubles....
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