Monday, November 24, 2008

Sylvi is kicking my butt.

While happily knitting away on the first sleeve chez Purple Purl, I happened to ask what happened if you didn't get row gauge. Just as a discussion point. I never measure row gauge. I figure if you get stitch gauge (or something resembling it) you'll be fine.

However, when it was revealed that I will probably run out of yarn if my gauge is whacked, I thought I'd give it a quick measure. I must be close, right> I'm using the right needles on the yarn specifically called for in the pattern. OK, so maybe I knit a little tightly, I was trying no to do so this time. Just to check.

Oh horror.

OK, stitch gauge is supposed to be 3 st/inch. I was getting about 3.5 maybe 4, but I could sure block that puppy into submission. Row gauge is supposed to be 4 rows per inch. I was getting… 7. Not even freaking close.

I took it home, washed the entire gauge swatch (that's the sleeve for the people who don't know how I feel about swatching) and blocked the living bejesus out of it. I practically had my foot on the ironing board for leverage yanking it into submission when I realized this was not a good sign. And yes, I surrendered. OK, I left it on the ironing board to dry in case she has a change of heart, but in my mind I have accepted the fact I will have to pull out my miles of seed stitch and start again. (Shall I mention the fact that my sleeve, which I had been patiently knitting and was not quite at the 10" mark was measuring at LEAST 12"? Definite issues there. How the hell are you supposed to measure something that grows so much? Yank the snot out of it each time? Sigh. Knitting things that fit is a novelty for me.)

I shall go up a needle size, because that's what Sylvi wants. And since Sylvi is such a lovely beautiful creature, getting gauge should be a good thing, right? It won't created a flimsy, holey garment that the wind just whistles through, will it?

No. Sylvi wouldn't do that to me.

Oh, and on a more comical note, are these supposed to look like this? I mean, I get the felting thing and all, but these are ridiculously huge.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHA
AHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
HAHHHHHHHH COME ON!
those slippers cannot be right. HAHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHH oh god im laughing so hard.