What To Give a Knitter - Notions

Random modern knitting tools

Lantern Moon Silk Needle Case

Knitter's Notebook

Still stuck for the knitter on your gift list?  Or maybe looking for a stocking stuffer?  Well, I'm still discouraging Random Acts of Yarn (giving them random yarn just because they knit).  There is a good solution:  Notions.

Stitch and needle gauge

Rosewood Cable Needles

Notions are all the things you need as a knitter that aren't yarn or needles.  Most knitters use tape measures, needle gauges, very small scissors, cable needles, stitch holders, and more.  There are stitch counters, gauge finders, stitch markers, and mini crochet hooks for fixing errors.  There are buttons and clips.  There are needle cases, project bags, tapestry needles, point protectors...  Go into any yarn shop in your area and ask the staff to direct you to the "must have" notions. 

The thing with knitters is because they spend so much time doing a handcraft, they tend to really appreciate hand-crafted versions of all of their tools.  Most of us start out with mass produced pieces from a craft store, and then slowly upgrade our tools over the years.  Beautifully made tools make every minute of knitting more satisfying. 

Hardwood Crochet Hooks in varying sizes

Adjusting a Pattern So It Fits You

Teaching a class yesterday, I was told of one knitter's frustration at trying to find patterns for garments her size.  I sympathized.  As nice as it would be if patterns said something like, "Liz, this will fit you perfectly if you just use a US 6 needle," they never do.  "Do you swatch?" I asked.

"Well, not if it doesn't come in my size."

If the pattern is only off by a size or two, this doesn't have to be a problem.  Grab a calculator, and adjust the gauge so that the pattern works for you.  We're not changing the number of stitches, just the size of the stitches.  Let's do a mitten pattern.  The pattern makes a women's large mitten, 8.5 inches around at a gauge of 7 stitches to the inch, and the pattern is 60 stitches around on worsted yarn. 

What size do you want?  Measure around your palm with a measuring tape.  Add a quarter to a half an inch for a normal mitten.  What's the total?  If you wear a women's small mitten, probably 7.5 inches total around for the mitten.  So let's do the math. 

60 stitches divided by 7.5 inches = 8 stitches to the inch.  So we either need smaller needles or smaller yarn.  Which one?

Look up the recommended yarn on the manufacturer web site.  Let's say the pattern says 7 stitches per inch on US 5 needles, and the website says the yarn is rated for 5 stitches per inch on US 7s.  This means the pattern is written for the yarn to be very compressed, making a denser fabric.  Compressing it further will make it hard to to work with.  So go down one yarn weight. Knit a gauge swatch with the recommended needles, and you'll be close.  Adjust needle size if necessary.  (Too many stitches per inch?  Go up a needle size.  Too few?  Go down a needle size.)  Within half an hour you'll be all set with the correct yarn weight and needle size.

If the yarn is rated for 6 stitches per inch on US 3 needles, then the original pattern is written for the stitches to be very loose.  Using the recommended yarn, go down in needle sizes until your gauge swatch gives you the proper gauge.

Make sure to count fractions of a stitch. (This is why you want swatches of at least 4" by 4".  Fractions of a stitch are easier to gauge when measured over several inches.)  On a garment with 100 stitches cast on, being off by a quarter stitch can mean several inches of extra or missing fabric. 

That's it.  Two minutes with a calculator and the internet and you'll be starting a project guaranteed to fit!

Gauge

I knit like I cook: I start with a recipe, and follow parts of it but not others.  I make the dish, or the garment, my own.

One of the most exciting things about designing knitwear is seeing other people make the designs their own.  One of the toughest things is telling Sample Knitters that they don't get to interpret at all. 

For samples, the colors and yarns are chosen in advance.  The gauge is chosen in advance.  Every line of the pattern needs to be followed exactly.  I love seeing the beautiful finished products, and I'm eternally grateful for all of the feedback on the reliability of the pattern, but I hate telling other knitters what to do!  The terrific women who knit samples for me are happy to challenge themselves with a new project or technique.  Bless their hearts.  It would make me crazy!

The trickiest bit, I'm learning, is to knit exactly to someone else's gauge.  I tend to knit my stitches a little tall compared to the average.  When I knit up a swatch to use as the base math for a design, that's the gauge.  When someone else knits it, if the row gauge is off, the pattern comes out like a fun house mirror version of the original.  If the stitch gauge is off, the sample doesn't fit normal human dimensions.  So I'm trying to make my gauge as moderate as is humanly possible to make my patterns more flexible. Wow!  It feels like trying to use someone else's handwriting.

And so it goes.  I'm sorting out a tricky bit of thumb math right now.  Thank heavens this project will be felted.  Row gauge is a little less critical.  A little.