Banging head against wall
Remind me again why I find knitting relaxing?- I tinked back row 53 of the MS3. So I should now have the correct number of stitches and should be able to concentrate and get it done right. Right? Wrong. The correct number of stitches is 53. I have...49. Defeat. I can fake it through one or two dropped YOs, but 4? Remember how I said I definietly wasn't going to frog the whole thing? I'm going to frog the whole thing.
- I swatched for the Campanula socks with the luscious new yarn. Target= 8st/in. 2.75mm(US2) needles = 7.5st/in. 2.25mm(US1) needles= 8.5 st/in. I did find a place that sells 2.5mm needles, but decided I would go ahead and try them with the 2.75s since my feet are very wide and I don't like my socks to be terribly snug. Since they're toe ups (bless you, Ramona), I can try on regularly to make sure I like they way they fit. I am mentally prepared to frog them if necessary.
- I cast on my preferred toe for the Campanula socks. I have now done this toe 7 times for various socks, so I am very familiar with the construction. It calls for a provisional CO, knitting 4 rows in stst, removing the provisional CO, picking up the stitches and continuing on your merry way in the round. It really couldn't be simpler. Unless you knit 4 rows of garter stitch. Then your toe looks, well, ugly and stupid. More ripping. Of course, I didn't lose hope that it would get over looking ugly and stupid until I'd knit about 20 rows.
I am terrified to even think about working on my lacey tunic or my Ring Cycle socks. I think tonight I'm just going to work on Katja. I'm past all the fancy increases and i-cord and picking up and casting on so it's just straight stocking stitch with the occasional row of garter (meaning if I eff this up too, it won't be quite so obvious. I hope.). If I can't get it right enough to look good, I'll just be in the corner crying quietly into my sock yarn.
posted by Laura Y. @ 6:08 PM
4 Comments:
I will put my knitting problems here.
Okay, I finished the swatch.
My gauge (or hand?) is either 4.75 or 5, depending (and depending on whether I am counting right), but 5 makes sense, since that's about where I thought it was.
So why was this thing so tremendous? The circumference that we figured out today was 8.9". I just loosely measured my wrist, and my wrist is about 6.5/7 inches.
So (let me know if you think I have the hang of this yet) - I should probably reduce the pattern repeat by about an inch, to make the thing smaller. So, instead of casting on 49, I need to cast on about an inch less. And, for me, an inch is about 5 stitches. So, that's 44. But, since we need multiples of 7, I should probably cast on 42.
Did I get that right?
- Erica, of course.
Okay, I was thinking more about it.
If I take my gauge (or hand?) of 4.75 and multiply it by the circumference, I get 42.275. So, if I cast on 42, then I would make this thing the correct way, and get that 8.9 giant gauntlet (maybe I DID knit it right the first time, its just that the pattern is tremendous).
So, If I want to make it smaller, I should reduce what the overall circum. is. Maybe only cast on 35?
Terminology first (since you asked): gauge is how many stitches per inch; hand is how the fabric feels. Hand is pretty subjective. I may think that a particular yarn knitted at a particular gauge has a very loose or drapey hand while you may feel that it's a perfectly sturdy fabric.
Now, I suspect that yes, there are a lot of problems with the pattern as written (note to other readers: this is NOT a pattern I wrote). First, did you measure the giant gauntlet to confirm that it is indeed the 8.9" called for by the original pattern (just lay it flat, measure, and multiply by two, in case you're having another Day of Issues)? If it is larger than that, you can try it with the 42, or if you're sure you want it to be a very snug fit, you can try the 35.
Or you can decide to hell with it and make a pattern that we know is properly written, like Fetching over at Knitty.
I don't know how big the Gauntlet of Doom is. I just spent my entire subway ride ripping everything out.
I am going to try 35. See what happens.
Next up: One of your patterns. Frank has requested the "I'm a big head" hat.
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