First, I'm pulling a Jared on Frost Flowers and Leaves.
Second, I'm finally knitting the mate to the lovely Tyrolean stocking that Leslie knit for me back in October. Just one problem, though.
Not sure if it's evident from this picture, but although I'm matching Leslie's stitch gauge quite closely (on US3s), my row gauge is pretty off. I'm at the beginning of the 11th central cable chevronny thing, and the leg is at least an inch longer than it is at the correspoding point on Leslie's sock.
What would you do? Keep going and hope I can fudge the length difference in blocking? (I hate this idea, myself, but I'll consider all options...) Keep going and leave out half a repeat or so? Reknit on 2s and block aggressively to combat the inevitable stitch gauge difference? Something else I haven't thought of?? I have the feeling that stitch gauge is more flexible than row gauge. Am I wrong?
My thanks in advance for you knitterly knowledge, dear internet friends, and may you all have lovely President's Day weekends.
19 comments:
I'm with you on that stitch & row/round gauge issue - matching stitch gauge isn't too hard, but it's unusual for the row gauge to be identical knitter to knitter. And vice versa. I've found that sometimes changing the needles helps - bamboo versus metal, dpns versus magic loop, etc. Good luck! I have a mate-less sock from Elinor for this very reason...
Great idea Frost Flowers!
I hope you figure the row/gauge issue. I just lucked out with being able to match Grumperina's - even though we were on totally different needles!
Hmmm... I'm not sure what you should do.
If you leave it up to blocking, you'll have to re-do it every time you wash the socks, and that'll probably be a major drag, resulting in you not wanting to wear them.
I think the best option is leaving out a repeat. I don't think it will be noticeable when you wear them. But not ideal either... They're really beautiful no matter what.
Love the colour and pattern of the blue shawl.
I agree with Nicole, leaving out a repeat seems like a good idea if you don't want to leave it up to blocking.
Hooray for heavy-weight lace!
I'm going to go with a couple other people here and recommend leaving out a repeat in order to make both your socks the same length.
I'd go with leaving out a repeat. Blocking it to make them the same size would bother me--as you wear hadknit socks they stretch, and they'll stretch differently, plus you will have to reblock them with each wash. I say embrace the fact that they're hadknit with love by two different people and will inevitably have some differences. Whatever you do, good luck!
shit. just send it to me. i will knit the mate.
and i am so serious on this!! really, i so mean it.
send it back to me.
please!!!!!
Not quite sure what to do! They are sure are fab socks though. I think I would probably just knit another repeat... Good luck!
Any chance that the row gauge changed when the sock was blocked? You could check with Leslie and see what her experience was like.
Lovely blues, though!
Blocking will be stressful, and is not guaranteed. I think that adjusting the pattern repeats is a better bet. Good luck! They look great so far.
I often have row gauge match issues. If it were me, I would probably try to get the length to match even if it meant skipping a repeat or two, and then hope that no one would notice after blocking. (and that it wouldn't bug the crap out of me)
Take entirely different yarn and two sets of needles of different sizes, and swatch that pattern on both needle sizes, to see what makes a difference. In my experience, stitch gauge is yarn-determined and row gauge is needle-determined (but I'm a tight knitter).
Also put yours on a string and try it on; compare how tight the original sock is and how tight yours is. There is only so much space for loops of yarn to crowd together, but vertical length can vary a lot - until you try them on and the vertical yarn lets the stitches stretch sideways several inches.
I think I'd leave out a repeat or whatever you need to make it the same length if all else fails....it won't be noticeable with a pattern like that.
I would go with Leslie's option! Funny. I would try Kathy's suggestion of trying different needles. I think I might try that with my sock (my row gauge is off too).
I would leave out a pattern repeat!
Good Luck!
Ack, I have no good advice re: row gauge! You might throw in some scrap yarn to hold your stitches and block what you've got done so far, just to see how it compares to the mate.
From my understanding, if you stretch a knit vertically, it's horizontal gauge shrinks, and vice versa. So I would try on smaller needles, then give some tugs to see if you can get both gauges to match at the same time. Good luck! :)
love your hat you did fair isle on! It's going to go in my future projects. I had to tell you that your dog looks almost identical to mine except yours is all black! Too cute.
I can't wait to see how your Frost Flowers is turning out. I love the color you chose.
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