At Norfolk Yarn, the two most common things we hear, are both linked.
No 1. “I want to knit this pattern, but I can’t find the yarn it uses”.
No 2. “I have perfect tension”.
Of these two statements, the second is key. First of all, let’s get rid of the notion “perfect tension”. You know the little piece of information every pattern contains - it usually comes under the tools you need to use. It will say either ‘Tension’ OR ‘Gauge’. That’s your blueprint, and you should really look at that before looking at the size of needles the pattern is saying you need.
Now, I will bet that you skip over that bit? I know I do - or I used to. And knitting that little tension square - come on, be honest. How many times have you knitted that square?!
The tension is the blueprint, because that’s the size of the stitches the designer made. Their finished sample, and there will have been more than one of those, will have been measured and measured - because unless the knitter had the SAME tension as the pattern says, the finished garment will NOT end up with the same measurements you thought you would get when you chose the size you wanted to knit.
So, you look at the needles the pattern required - knit your tension square in (for this argument, the yarn specified in the pattern), and your tension square doesn’t contain the same number of stitches across the 10cm row the pattern has stated. For example, the pattern has asked for 22 stitches across a 10cm width- and you’ve counted and re counted, but you’ve still come up with 25.
That means, your tension is tighter than the designers. So, what do you do? Try going up a needle size. Do that tension square again and re measure.
What if your count has produced 20 stitches? Well, your tension is looser than the designers, so do your tension square again using a smaller size set of needles.
For some reason, no one (and I include myself in this) likes doing tension squares. I think it’s because we’ve decided on a project, we’ve just invested a lump sum of money on some squishy loveliness, and we just want to get going and get it finished and wear it! But taking the time out to correctly work out what size needles you need to get the tension that the pattern asks for, will end up saving you a lot of money and frustration as well as result in a garment you will wear with pride.
OK - so now let’s look at No 1. Because of course some people think they can’t get that perfect tension, because they’ve not been able to find the exact yarn the designer has written.
Well, now you know that it’s the size of your gauge/tension/stitches, that’s key - your knitting world opens up. To begin with, you can start by looking at the band or label that every ball or skein of yarn has.
That little grid I’ve circled off in red. That’s where you start looking. As you can see, the grid there says that ball of yarn (I took this from a ball of Rowan Felted Tweed, a DK yarn) will knit to 22 - 24 stitches across a 10cm width. Why’s it given a range?! Well, let’s look to the left to the purple circle. (Pink is one of my favourite colours and purple is Becky’s, so I’ve tried to be equitable in my illustrations). There, the label clearly shows a couple of needle choices to gain that tension. SO if those numbers look similar to the sizes and gauge your pattern is asking for, you’ve got a starting point. BUT - remember to do your tension square, because your tension might mean you still need to go one size below or above those given on the label. That tiny increment in size (at this weight of wool we are talking about is 1/4 of a cm difference. And that may well make a huge difference across the mass of a Medium size adult jumper. HOWEVER, if you need to jump across a range of needle sizes, for example a 6mm needle instead of 3.5mm needle, then that yarn is not going to work for your project. As always, go back to the tension/gauge square.
I know this sounds confusing, and I know the vast majority of us shy away from anything that contains numbers (or you seem to)! But after a couple of projects it will become 2nd nature, and really doesn’t take much time. Like riding a bike, the practice will soon mean you can figure it all out quite quickly.
In this pic, the jumper was made by one of our customers, Caroline, knitted using Rowan Alpaca Classic. The pattern came from Rowan Loves, which gave a choice of yarns; Felted Tweed, or Kidsilk Haze (knitted single strand) OR Kidsilk Haze using TWO strands (effectively doubling the width of the first Kidsilk Haze choice). BUT - Caroline had a stash of the Alpaca Classic she’d bought for a project she no longer wanted to make. After looking at the tension and needle sizes, and knitting a tension square, she realised she could substitute all the pattern’s suggested yarns for the one she had a stash of - and look - perfect. Caroline came to us a couple of years ago as a new knitter - and now with bags of confidence (she’s completed a lot of projects in those two years), she’s able to confidently substitute her yarn and create a garment that fits.
This is Navelli - a really popular pattern on Ravelry by Caitlin Hunter of Boyland Knits. (A joyous knit - I thoroughly recommend it). Now, her pattern calls for a yarn I’ve never heard of - and believe me I’ve heard of lots. But a quick look at the Gauge/Tension, showed she used a 4ply yarn.
So, my Navelli is made using a mixture of Dragonfly Dyes 4ply (or you will often see in American patterns the term ‘fingering weight’ which is American for 4ply). I used the unique speckled effect of some Belle Laine, but the black was knitted with Masham. So although they were two completely different yarns in terms of their yarn base, they were both 4ply.
My error was I forgot my tension changes when doing a Fairisle design! My tension gets tighter. So I should have gone up a needle size for the Fairisle design part of the jumper. But I didn’t. I still like it, but it’s not ended up with same loose fit the designer had in mind.
I loved that pattern so much I will do it again. And I will remember to go up a needle size.
There is a fantastic website called Yarn Sub which is a useful one if you want a bit of extra help substituting a yarn - unfortunately it doesn’t have EVERY yarn on it’s database - but it’s a good starting point and personally I find it quite a fascinating read - but that might just be me.
Finally, just to throw a little spanner into all that you’ve just read. Maybe whatever you’re knitting doesn’t absolutely have to fit, or end up the same measurements as the pattern you’re using.
This is a lovely shawl pattern (Bwbach - The Faery Wings Collection), from Fyberspates, where the pattern calls for Fyberpsates Faery Wings, a 4ply yarn. Well Becky and I happened to have a ball each of Noro Akari which is technically a Worsted/Light Aran yarn… On the basis that a shawl doesn’t need to FIT - we used our balls to knit up that pattern. It was lush - Love it. And its a combination I’ve recommended to customers over and over again.
The Bwbach shawl knitted in Noro Akari.
Bwbach knitted in the original Faery Wings. Photo courtesy of Fyberspates.
Well, that was a bit of a read - but hopefully it’s given you some useful information and will help you go further in exploring your knitting adventure.
Boo