gauge

Measuring gauge …

Ok, so hopefully now you fully understand the difference between tension and gauge. If you’re knitting from a pattern, it’s important that you make sure you have the right gauge so the particular pattern that you’re making will come out the size you want. Let’s look at exactly how we go about measuring our gauge. Most patterns will give you a gauge swatch over 4″ or 10 cm. Here’s the first little trick … 4″ = 10.16 cm. Now that might not seem like much, but you have to remember that as the size of the project grows, this […]

Tension vs Gauge

I think two of the most misused terms in knitting are tension and gauge. I’ll try and explain the difference. Tension is defined as the state of being stretched, or mental or emotional strain. Basically, the amount of force being applied to a thing. Gauge is defined as the thickness, size, or capacity of something, especially as a standard measure, in particular, or an object used to measure this quantity. As a verb, it is the act of measuring the previous. Now these things are completely different, yet knitters seem to interchange them as if they were the same […]

Pullover or Cardigan?

Hmmm … I’ve gotta get a move on! I’m a little behind in my sweater challenge, mostly because I couldn’t make up my mind. Cardigan or pullover? I’ve decided to go with a cardigan for a few reasons. The first is that it will give me the chance to steek! I love steeking and I’ll also be able to show you how to do it in a few weeks when I’m at that part of the sweater! Another reason is that I think this yarn lends itself to a cardigan – there’s just something about it that says this […]

Willow Yarn Review

While I was in Chicago for Vogue Knitting Live (VKL), I met some amazing people. One of them was Claudia from Zealana. If you haven’t heard of this company, you need to follow this link and check them out! ZEALANA. Chances are one or more of their yarns will inspire you and is available at your Local Yarn Store (LYS). I went into a brief description of the company, it’s yarns, and the role opossums play in their development in a previous post. In this one, I’d like to review one of their yarns – Willow. Surprisingly, unlike most […]

It’s Magic! … Thanks Judy …

There are lots of ways to cast-on stitches for toe-up socks. You can do a conventional twin-tail or long tail cast-on and then graft them together, or a figure 8 cast-on, or even a provisional cast-on. Sometime ago, an ingenious knitter developed the technique I like to use the most when casting on for toe-up socks (and other things as well). It’s called Judy’s Magic Cast-on and it was developed by Judy Becker. Judy used to blog but hasn’t for awhile, but you can still find her on Ravelry (JudyBecker) and Twitter @JudyBecker. You can still check out her […]