Friday, January 30, 2009

HELP gauge

I need a tutorial on how to do the gauge. I got 10.5 dpn bamboo needles. It says 13.5 sts and 20 rounds. So I cast on 13 stitches and then I'm like Huh? What is a half stitch? I've never knitted with these dpn either. Do I need to use all five needles? Do you increase your stitches as you go on to the next round? What the heck? I'm lost.

6 comments:

Kate said...

Domino is closed!?! Stop payment on my subscription!

Nina said...

i think it's too late.

Lory said...

You need to knit a piece that is LARGER than the bit you want to measure. Then you lay it flat, and put a ruler on it to see how many stitches fall within 4 inches. I suggest you cast on 32 stitches and divide them between four DPNs (That's 8 stiches on each needle). Make a good-sized tube, about 4 inches long. When you've done that we'll go on to the next step.

Nina said...

Ok, cool! I'll try that.

Lory said...

WAIT! I found another suggestion. Using this method you would only have to cast on about 18-20 stitches, which would save time and yarn. You would probably want to use a circular needle because a DPN might be too small. Anyway, you decide which you want to do.

"Your gauge is probably different when working in the round than when working flat. This is because people usually purl at a different tension than they knit. For this reason, you cannot use a gauge swatch that was knit "flat" (back and forth with knit and purl rows) on a circular item where you'll only be knitting.

"Thankfully, there is a trick to working a gauge swatch for knitting in the round. You knit a flat stockinette sample using all the knit stitch by doing the following: *knit a row; slide the work to the other end of the circular needle or DPN; leaving a long strand of yarn in back. Repeat from *. The end of the row will be loose and messy, so add enough stitches to your swatch to accommodate this."

Nina said...

ok that sounds easy. I'll try that and post a picture