COMPAGNIE M. KNITTING PATTERN QUOKKA SWEATER FOR KIDS: YARN SELECTION GUIDE

ChoosingyouryarnWhenselectingyouryarn,it’simportanttochooseonethatissuitablefortheQuokkapattern.

§ Therearenotsomanydetailsinthispattern,whichmeansthatyoucanselectyarnforneedles3–10.Youcanalsoselectsmallerneedles,butitwilljusttakemoretimetofinishyourproject.Don’tuseyarnforbiggerneedles(size11ormore).Inthiscasetheraglandetailofthesweaterwillnotturnoutwell.

§ Don’tuselargeneedlesforsmallersizes,astheraglanwillbecometoodominant.§ Youcanusedifferenttypesofyarnforthispattern,aslongasit’snottoohairy,itwill

workoutfine.HINT:Youcanalsocombineseveralyarns.Sinceyouareworkingwithacustomfitpattern,youhavenumerousoptions.So,besuretomakeitcreative!YourgaugeLookatyouryarnlabeltoknowwhatneedlesizewouldbebesttouse.Ifthelabelmentions2differentneedlesizes:

§ Whenyouknitinalooseway:choosethesmallestneedlesize.§ Whenyouknitinatightway:choosethelargestneedlesize.

Knityourswatchinstockinettestitch.Besuretomakeyourswatchlargeenough.Forexample:whenthelabelindicates14stichesby24rowswillgivea10cmx10cmgauge,thenIadviseyoutocastonmorestitches.Thus,evenwhenyouknittightly,youwillstillbeabletomeasurea10cmwidth.Whenyourgaugeis10cmhigh,youcanofcoursestopknitting.Areyounotsatisfiedwithyourgaugebecauseit’stoolooseortootight?Ifso,youcanadjustyourneedlesizeandstartalloveragain.Thisisreallyimportant.Looseknitwearwillnotworkwiththekangaroopocket.Areyousatisfiedwiththeresult?Thenit’stimetomeasureyourgaugeaccurately.

§ Countthenumberofstitchesyouneedtoobtaina10cmwidth.Don’tmeasurejustbelowyourneedlebutinthemiddleofyourswatch.

§ Countthenumberofrowsyouneedtoobtain10cminheight.HINT:Youcanalsoworkwithhalfstitches.So12,5by16stitchesisaperfectresulttoo.

© CompagnieM.2017.Allrightsreserved.

2

Important:Don’tskipthisstep!Ifyoustartknittingwithoutdeterminingyourgaugefirst(basedonthelabelinfo),Ican’tguaranteethefitofthefinalsweater.Worstcasescenario,itwillnotfitatall!

CAN I USE MY YARN FOR THIS PROJECT? Forthissweaterwithraglansleevesit’simportantthatyoucalculatethegaugeratio(widthdividedbyheight).Toobtainagoodfit,theresultofthiscalculationshouldbeinacertain‘zone’.Whyisthissoimportant?Everyyarnisdifferentwhichmeansthatnotonlythewidthandtheheightofthegaugechangesbutalsothegaugeratiocanbeverydifferent.Forexample:withsize10needlesyoucanhavea10by12gaugeorwithadifferentyarnitcanevenbe12by16.The’10by12’gaugehasrelative‘lowstitches’whicharealmostsquareshaped.Thestitchesofthe’12by16’gaugearehigher,morerectangularshaped.(FYI:I’mtalkingabouttheshapeoftheseparatestitches,nottheshapeofthegauge.)CalculatethegaugeratioandevaluateyouryarnTocalculatethegaugeratio,dividethenumberofstitchesbythenumberofrows.Example1:the10by12gauge,givesa0.83ratio.Example2:the12by16gauge,givesa0.75ratio.Whenthisratioisinbetween0.68and0.78youcanuseyouryarnforthisproject.Ifyourratioissmallerorlarger,thenIwouldadviseyoutoselectdifferentyarn.InfluenceoftheneedlesizeThegaugeratiodependsinthefirstplaceonthetypeofyarnyouchoose.Boththinandthickyarncangiveagoodorpoorresult.Whenyourselectedyarnifsjustoutsidethegaugeratio,youcantryasmallerorbiggerneedlesize.Itdoesslightlyinfluencetheresult.Butofcourseyouhavetomakesurethatyourgaugedoesn’tbecometoolooseortootight.Inthiscase,youhavetochoosedifferentyarn.Whyisthissoimportant?Becausethisisaraglansweaterwithevendecreases,thegaugeratiowillhaveaninfluenceonthegeneralfit.Whenthegaugeratioissmallerorlargerthanrecommended,thenecklinewillturnouttoowideortoonarrow.Important:Takeyourtimeforthisstep!Ifyouskipthisratiocalculation,Ican’tguaranteethefitofthesweater.Tipswhenbuyingyarn:Ontheyarnlabelyoucanfindthegauge.Beforeyoubuyyouryarn,Iadviseyoutocalculatethegaugeratiowiththisstandardnumberofstichesandrows.Thisisnotaguaranteethatthefinalgaugeratiowillbeintherightzone,butitgivesagoodindication.Tobesure,youalwaysneedtoknityourowngaugeswatchfirst.Doyouhavequestionsorsuggestions?marte@compagnie-m.com