Sigh.

I just can’t win.

So, you already know that I constantly have trouble with my gauge, that it’s always loose, always different from the pattern, and constantly forcing me to use needles 3 or 4 sizes smaller than the pattern calls for, or thinner yarn, or using the counts for smaller sizes … or all of the above, all at once?

And that, even with all these precautions, and with my carefully measuring gauge swatches, washing them, remeasuring them, I still have problems?

Like, for example, the body of my sweater, now that I’ve reached the underarm, when it should be 14.75″ long is, in fact, closer to 17″?

And that, further, even when I’m smart and start knitting a sweater with something smaller like, say, a sleeve, I still have issues?

Because, um, yeah … do you see the problem here? The row gauge–helpfully compared using the color-pattern–is completely different from the sleeve to the body of the sweater. Even though I’m using exactly the same needles.

I mean EXACTLY the same needles–I used the Magic Loop method on the sleeves, and am literally using the same needle, same length, for the body as I used for the sleeves.

The only thing I can figure is that the weight of the sweater pulled the body’s row gauge out of whack. My stitch gauge is (miraculously) the same on both the sleeve and the sweater–22 stitches over 4″, and width-wise, the sweater still seems like it will fit.

I suppose it’s not a terrible thing if it turns out to be longer … but it WOULD be nice if the armholes and such fit properly. I mean, it would be such a refreshing change.

Maybe I should just give up knitting altogether?

Yes, that was a joke. Well, 98% of it, anyway. It’s frustrating, though. I am a reasonably smart person. I don’t blindly follow patterns, but prefer to actually think about what’s going on. I can do “gauge-math” as well as the next person and can modify things to suit my own, quirky gauge … or, at least, I can to a point. Obviously there’s a certain point where it doesn’t matter what I do, things are going to come out squirrely.

WHY is my row gauge different on the sweater than on the sleeve? Other than the possible weight issue, I have no idea. Which means I don’t know what I could do to fix it (if I could fix it). I’m certainly not going to tear out this sweater. Not only do I hate frogging, but I REALLY hate frogging Fair Isle. I had to pull out two rows last week and it took me a full hour just to get everything correctly on the needles again.

This completely frustrates me, though. I mean, really, really frustrates me. HOW can I make sure my gauge doesn’t change mid-project? WHAT can I do to make this problem stop? I’ve even tried switching my knitting style to the Combined Knitting technique because that’s supposed to be more consistent between knits and purls. And yet, still, I end up with screwy gauge that isn’t consistent. It’s not that I’m not an experienced knitter, after all. It’s not that I don’t know what I’m doing. And sometimes my gauge is actually correct … and other times it’s so far off it’s not ony not in the same ballpark, it’s practically a completely different sport. And yet the way I hold the yarn and the needles is the same. So … what makes the difference?

So, right now, I’m disgusted at this sweater for daring to be so far off from the measurements it should have. (It’s easier to blame the sweater, right?)

And I’m discouraged because I don’t know how to fix this, or how to prevent it. I don’t mean for this specific sweater, but for ALL of them. It’s just frustrating and discouraging, and really, nothing more to say.

Here’s a contest for you to go enter, though–my friend Julie is giving away a slew of things, all for a rhyme and a song…. At least that’s SOME good news today…

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning // 12 Comments »