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Gauge Tension


I consider knitting my zen time. I am at peace, I am involved and yet very meditative. That is, until I was working on this shawl for a friend with a yarn that I almost detest. It has a high acrylic content and was taking forever to knit up so I was losing my patience and gobs of time. Needless to say, I was less then please this would be the time I should learn the importance of reading directions but also the golden rule of knitting - check your gauge.

I knit sweaters and hats and scarves and all sorts of things but never FOR someone in particular. So far at least. So gauge hasn't matter too much. Even this shawl wouldn't have proven too much of a problem except that the project was born out of the need to make something with a scant few skeins of a yarn picked up at a yard sale.  It has a very earthy tone that my friend liked, and the bulky weight of it lends itself well to the idea of being something warm and cozy for fall and winter. I backed into the pattern through Ravelry.com based on the grams of yarn I had and the weight. 4 skeins at 100g each. We narrowed it down to four choices and my friend chose the Paton's Allure Shawl.

knit on 10 1/2 needles - almost like a rug!


I started knitting the pattern almost a week or two ago. It is taking FOREVER. Row by row I was struggling to keep track of which was a decrease row versus a knit row so it was already clear that I wasn't paying enough attention to the directions.  It wasn't until I mentioned it to another knitter yesterday that something much more important came to light.

I was almost starting my third skein and I hadn't even come to the mid-way point of the pattern. As I said before, this was a problem since I only have 4 skeins of yarn and am unable to get more. So, what to do.. first thing I did was begin to complain. A co-worker nonchalantly said, maybe use a larger size needle and you'll get more out of the yarn. Then I started to panic. Start over? No way!

Instead, I returned to the pattern... 10 1/2 needles, check. 350g of yarn, check, and then I saw that pesky gauge/tension section. It read that the correct tension should be 9 sts to 4 in. Hm. I measured and I was getting 4- 41/2 sts to the inch. What the !?!? Sure enough, on the yarn I was using, you have to use size 15 needles to get a gauge of  9 sts to 4 in.  Indeed, I did have to start over. Indeed I did have to tear out all the hours of work I'd gruelingly put into this shawl already. I was miserable (which is an understatement.)

After having to buy new needles (which aren't long enough but were my only option.,) I am back on track. So, no longer tense, with the right tension and gauge, I am back on track. *sigh*


Correctly knit on 15 needles - much better!

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