The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting

by Gail Diven

Overview

You're no idiot, of course. You can sew a button, tie a knot and even thread a needle in under 30 seconds. But when it comes to knitting and crocheting, you feel as prickly as a pin cushion. Don't unravel just yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Knitting and Crocheting shows you how to create beautiful crafts worthy of becoming heirlooms.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101222256
Publisher:	DK
Publication date:	03/01/1999
Series:	COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	317,839
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Gail Diven is a freelance needle arts designer specializing in knitting, crochet, and fabric designs. She is the former knitting editor for Vogue Butterick Co.

Barbara Breiter is the knitting guide at about.com and the owner of Knit a Bit, the only website offering downloadable patterns for sale. She also crochets and does needlepoint.

Read an Excerpt

[Figures are not included in this sample chapter]

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting

- 3 -

Don't Skip This Chapter! Checking Your Gauge

In This Chapter

• What is gauge?

• Seeing gauge in items

• When to be concerned with gauge

• Swatching patterns to determine gauge

• Fixing incorrect gauge
  
  

What comes to mind when you think of gauge? A measure of tire pressure?Pounds per pressure when canning summer tomatoes? The name of the toddler in Pet Semetary who killed Fred Gwynne, TV's lovable Herman Munster? It's all these things, but gauge is also the most important concept you will learn in knitting and crocheting.

Pardon?

What Is Gauge?

Gauge when knitting or crocheting follows the same concept as gauges used in other practices; it is a measurement of how big or small each of your stitches will be,based on several factors:

• The stitch,

• how tightly or loosely you knit or crochet,

• the yarn, and

• the size of the knitting needles or crochet hook.

In addition, your mood can sometimes affect gauge. As you become more accustomed to knitting and crocheting, you might find that the stitches you knit an evening after you've been stuck in a traffic jam for 90 minutes are tighter that those you make while sipping a martini at Martha's Vineyard. Unless you have violent, tumultuous,Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, however, the difference between your relaxed knitting and your tense knitting won't be significant enough to worry you.

Can I See Gauge in Action?

Sure you can. Let's start by looking for gauge differences in knitted items.

Are you wearing a T-shirt? Take a look at it. Notice the tiny adjoining loops that make up the fabric? You're looking at a very tight gauge. Now look at a sweater.If it's a bulky J. Crew lime-colored handknit, you'll notice that it still contains loops--just like the T-shirt--but the loops are much larger. This is a much looser gauge. Both items are knitted, but the size of the stitches varies significantly.

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Needle Talk

Gauge is the number of stitches you need to complete to finish a specified length of knitted fabric. Gauge is typically measured by the inch, such as 5 stitches per inch or 7 stitches per inch.

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Likewise, look at a crocheted doily. Notice a difference in the loop sizes between the doily and the afghan on the back of your couch?

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Pointers

For a look at some humongous stitches, take a sneak peak at the afghan you'll make in Chapter 18; the stitch size used in this piece is a far cry from antique crocheted lace!

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Think about it. If you're using thick needles and thick yarn, it stands to reason that you'll get chunkier stitches.

The following illustration shows two knitted pieces. Both pieces are 20 stitches wide and 15 deep, but one is knit on size 2 needles using baby-weight yarn, while the other is knit on size 11 needles using chunky-weight yarn. You don't need your sleuthing hat to see the obvious differences between these two samples.

Knitting the same number of stitches using different size needles and different thicknesses of yarn.

How Does Gauge Affect Me?

Suppose that you want to make a beautiful oversized sweater that should be about 44 inches around when complete. You'll need to make sure that the gauge and the number of stitches you work with match the size sweater you want to make. Generally speaking, knitwear designers use the following formula when creating patterns:

Stitches per inch (gauge) x number of inches = number of stitches

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Snarls

Knitting without knowing your gauge is like sailing a boat without a compass. You'll get somewhere, but it might not be where you wanted to go. It's better to take the few extra minutes to make a swatch than to later regret not making one.

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Whew. Feel like you're taking a grad-school entrance exam? Hang on. I'll explain.

How Do Patterns Specify Gauge?

Most patterns specify knitting gauge. It might be called something else, such as "stitch measurement" or "tension," but the information is the same. This gauge tells you the number of stitches you make to complete a specified amount of knitted fabric. If your gauge when knitting or crocheting matches the gauge given in the pattern, the item you're making will be the same size as the one indicated in the pattern. If your gauge is off, the finished item will also be off.

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Snarls

U.S. needle and hook sizes are different from European and Continental needle and hook sizes. Be sure that the pattern you're reading is specifying the type needle or hook you have. If you need help converting a British pattern to American needles or vice versa, see the tear-out card at the front of this book.

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Suppose, for example, that a pattern shows the following:

Gauge: 20 stitches equal 4 inches (10 centimeters)

This means the pattern assumes that when you knit or crochet, every 20 stitches you complete will be 4 inches wide in the fabric. If you divide the 20 stitches by4 (the number of inches), you see that every inch will be 5 stitches:

20 stitches (number of stitches) ÷ 4 (number of inches) = 5 stitches per inch

This is a gauge of 5 stitches per inch.

What Happens If My Gauge Doesn't Match the Pattern?

So what happens if you decide to poo-poo gauge? Let's do a little math. Just a little.

Say you're making a sweater that is to be 44 inches around when finished. That means the front and back each will be 22 inches across (plus a seam, if you have one, but never mind that for now). The pattern specifies that the gauge should be 5 stitches to the inch (20 stitches per 4 inches), and that you should cast on 110 stitches.

Here's why the designer chose 110 stitches:

22 (completed inches) x 5 (stitches per inch) = 110

But what if you work a bit tighter than the pattern specifies? Not much tighter, mind you, but say you knit or crochet about 6 stitches per inch. Now you've got to divide that 110 stitches by 6 and you get a lot fewer inches:

110 (total stitches) ÷ 6 (number of stitches per inch) = 18¹/₃inches (completed inches)If both the front and back of the sweater are 18¹/₃inches wide rather than 22 inches, you're going to end up with a 36- to 37- inch,fanny-hugging sweater. Pass the SlimFast.

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Yarn Spinning

Many years ago, I knit a sweater for a boyfriend who was only a half-inch taller than me and outweighed me by maybe 1¹/₂ pounds. I hadn't yet mastered gauge and chose a yarn too thick for the Aran sweater I made. Consequently, my boyfriend looked like a five-year-old playing dress-up. Knitting superstition claims that once you finish an item for a non spousal significant other, the relationship ends. True to lore, we broke up right after the sweater-dress incident.

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What if you work a bit looser than the pattern specifies? Not a lot looser, but let's say your actual gauge is 4 stitches per inch rather than the specified 5 stitches per inch. Here's that math again:

110 (total stitches) ÷ 4 (number of stitches per inch) = 27¹/₂(completed inches)If both the front and back of the sweater are 27¹/₂inches wide rather than 22 inches, your sweater will be 55 inches around. Prepare to belly up to the Thanksgiving table this year; you've got a lot of fattening upto do.

As you'll learn later in this chapter, diverting disaster can be as easy as changing the size needle or hook you use.

Is Gauge Ever Unimportant?

Some projects don't have to be so precise, and you can be a bit cavalier with gauge. All of the patterns in this book, except the knitted cap, don't require you to be militant about gauge. These items, if they're a little bigger or a little smaller than the specified size, will still be completely useful and legitimate. (All ofthe patterns include a gauge, but they also indicate when gauge isn't so important.)In many cases if your gauge is close, you're fine. For example, if you're making any of these items, you don't really need to worry too much about gauge:

• Afghans

• Pillows that are using stuffing rather than preformed pillow designs

• Washcloths and dishcloths

• Hot pads

• Scarves

• Placemats

• Unfitted shawls

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Needle Talk

A swatch is a sample you knit or crochet to determine whether your gauge is where it should be.

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Needle Talk

Gauge counters are valuable tools for measuring gauge. You lay the counter over your knitting or crocheting and count the number of stitches that appear in the window.

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Checking Your Gauge

Checking your gauge, then, is an essential step when you're knitting or crocheting any item that is size-sensitive. Imagine a pair of socks three times as wide as your ankles. (I don't have to imagine those socks; I have a pair I made out of inappropriately thick yarn.)

Two tools for measuring swatches: A gauge counter and a measuring tape.

To check gauge, you have to knit or crochet a sample, called a swatch, and measure that sample.

To measure your swatch, you can use either a good old-fashioned measuring tape or a commercial gauge counter.

Check knitting gauge using either a measuring tape or gauge counter.

Measuring Gauge When Knitting

To measure gauge when knitting, knit the specified number of inches and rows,and measure them. If the pattern specifies a particular type of stitch to measure(such as, "20 stitches per 4 inches over moss stitch"), knit your swatch using that stitch. Otherwise, use stockinette stitch: Knit one row, purl one row.

Do you have more stitches per inch than the pattern specifies? Try a larger needle size. Do you have fewer stitches per inch than the pattern requires? Try a smaller needle size. Continue moving up or down one needle size until your swatches match the gauge indicated in the pattern.

Unless you're using a yarn that isn't compatible for what you're trying, the gauge will come out correctly after you fiddle a bit with different needle sizes. If, however, you're trying to use a chunky hand-spun yarn on a pattern that features fine baby yarn, you're probably barking up the wrong tree. Even drastically changing needlesizes can't work those kind of miracles.

Check crocheting gauge using a gauge counter.

Measuring Gauge When Crochet ing

To measure gauge when crocheting, crochet the specified number of inches and rows,and measure them. If the pattern specifies a particular type of stitch to measure(such as, "15 stitches per 4 inches over triple shell"), knit your swatch using that stitch. Otherwise, use single crochet.

Do you have more stitches per inch than the pattern specifies? Try a larger hook. Do you have fewer stitches per inch than the pattern requires? Try a smaller hook. Continue moving up or down one hook size until your swatches match the gauge indicated in the pattern.

The Height's Okay, but the Weight's a Bit Hefty

In some cases, you'll be able to get either the height (20 stitches equals 4 inches)or width (24 rows equal 4 inches) correct, but both won't cooperate at the same time.Let's say 20 stitches equals 4 inches, but 24 rows equals 3³/₄inches. What to do?

In most cases, you most need to get the width right. Look through the rest of the pattern. Does it tell you to knit or crochet in inches rather than rows, like this:

Continue knitting until sleeve cap equals 5 inches

If so, just make sure that the width is correct, and you should be fine with the rows. You may, however, need additional yarn--to compensate for the additional rows--to finish the project.

Extra Helps: Searching for Gauge Clues

As you learned in Chapter 2, yarn labels can be bastions of information about everything from fiber content to suggested gauge. Although you'll still need to make a swatch to determine which needle size will give you the correct gauge, the yarn label can be a tremendous help when you're substituting yarn .

If the yarn is a teensy bit off from the gauge specified in your pattern, you can usually fiddle with needle sizes to get the gauge you need. For example, if the yarn label specifies that the gauge is 18 stitches to 4 inches and you need 16 stitches to 4 inches, you can probably use bigger-sized needles and get the correct gauge. If, however, the yarn specifies 20 stitches to 4 inches and you need 12 stitches to 4 inches, pick another yarn.

Switching from Swatching

So what if you just can't face the idea of swatching?

When you're first learning to knit or crochet, fiddling with swatches can be tiresome enough to make you want to give up the hobby. Initially you won't be a speedy stitcher,so creating a four-inch square of fabric that you won't use for anything can be heartbreaking. Make up a few dishcloths and a scarf instead. When you feel comfortable with the process and feel a little quicker and more ready to tackle a bigger project, then dig out a project that will require size to be accurate. As an added bonus, as you get more comfortable knitting and crocheting, your personal gauge will become more regular and predictable.

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Pointers

Want to do a little swatching while still making items you can use? Knit up the dishcloth in Chapter 10 using size 8 needles. Then make it with size 10 or size 6 needles. Notice the difference between the finished sizes?

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A Final Exhortation

If this all seems like too much work, think of the time it'll take you to knit an item using the wrong gauge, rip out the item, and knit it again. Or think of how heartbreaking it would be to see an ill-fitting item you've tenderly knitted for a loved one stuffed at the bottom of a drawer under the Menudo albums because you didn't check gauge. Checking the gauge is worth every second you spend knitting upswatches. If you just aren't into gauge, stick to knitting items in which gauge isn't important.

Is Gauge Nothing but a Boil on My Neck?

Absolutely not. While making swatches and checking for gauge in patterns might seem like a big pain, knowing the gauge can be incredibly important when you want to break away from a pattern and forge your own path.

Even if all knitters and crocheters were equal and if, provided you used the needle or hook size and yarn type specified, you could be guaranteed that the gauge would be correct and match the pattern precisely, you still want to know how to check gauge.Why?

• Suppose you come across a beautiful vintage pattern you want to try but the yarn is no longer available. By using gauge you can determine another yarn to use that will produce the same-sized results.

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Pointers

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• What if you find a pattern you love but for which the yarn specified is, in your opinion, frightfully ugly? Or prohibitively expensive? By understanding gauge, you easily can substitute in another yarn. You just need to make sure that the new yarn works up to the gauge in the pattern.

• What if you have a gorgeous yarn in your stash that you want to try on a pattern you've found? (We briefly touched on the inevitable stash in Chapter 2.) Stitch up a swatch and see whether the yarn can be used in that pattern.

What Do I Do with All These Little Squares?

While swatches help you determine gauge, they can also serve several other purposes. After you work up a swatch, you can throw it in the washer and dryer to test for shrinkage. You can rub on it a bit to see whether it has a tendency to pill. If you're really feeling saucy, you can pin it to some clothes you're wearing and walk around in it all day, seeing how it wears.

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Pointers

Kaffe Fassett, the designer whose colorful, fun designs revolutionized the hand-knitting industry, advocates working swatches into afghans. To make the swatches a uniform size, he suggests single crocheting around the edges of smaller swatches until they're the size you want.

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If you're feeling ambitious and you're one of those people who saves drawers full of bread ties because you can't stand being wasteful, you can save all your swatches and later sew them into a crazy-quilt afghan. If you don't have quite enough swatches for a whole afghan, you can make placemats or pillow covers.

The Least You Need to Know

• The stitch, yarn type, and needle size determine gauge, as well as how loosely or tightly you knit.

• Not all items require gauge to be correct; afghans, pillows, and scarves are safe items to make when you don't feel like dinking with gauge.

• To determine gauge, work a swatch of fabric and measure to determine whether the stitches you make per inch match the number specified in the pattern.

• To change gauge, change the needle or hook size: higher for a looser gauge, smaller for a tighter gauge.

• Always test gauge when making a sweater or other fitted item; you'll save yourself lots of time in the end.

• Use the needle or hook sizes indicated in patterns as a guide, but determine the size you should use by working a swatch and measuring gauge.

Table of Contents

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting

Part 1 - Begin at the Beginning

• Chapter 1 - Knitting and Crocheting Come Out of Your Grandma's Attic
  • Man versus Machine: The Death of Knitting and Crocheting?
  • Why Bother?
  • So What, Exactly, Is Knitting and Crocheting?
    
    
• Chapter 2 - Choose Your Poison: A Yarn Primer
  • Put Up Your Yarn: Common Yarn Packaging
  • Watching Your Weight: Choosing the Right Thickness for the Right Job
  • Selecting a Fiber
  • Digging for Clues: Learning to Read Yarn Labels
  • How Much to Buy?
  • Spinning Yarn into Gold
    
    
• Chapter 3 - Don't Skip This Chapter! Checking Your Gauge
  • What Is Gauge?
  • Can I See Gauge in Action?
  • How Does Gauge Affect Me?
  • How Do Patterns Specify Gauge?
  • What Happens If My Gauge Doesn't Match the Pattern?
  • Is Gauge Ever Unimportant?
  • Checking Your Gauge
  • Extra Helps: Searching for Gauge Clues
  • Switching from Swatching
  • A Final Exhortation
  • Is Gauge Nothing but a Boil on My Neck?
  • What Do I Do with All These Little Squares?

Part 2 - Knitting Basics

• Chapter 4 - An Overview of Knitting Tools
  • Knitting Needles
  • Accessories Make the Job Easier
    
    
• Chapter 5 - Building the Foundation: Casting On Stitches
  • Casting What?
  • Setting the Stage
  • The Single Method Cast-On with Your Left Hand
    
    
• Chapter 6 - The Big Three: Knitting, Purling, and Binding Off
  • Common Knitting and Purling Abbreviations
  • Same Stitch, Different Look: Knitting and Purling
  • Knitting 101
  • Purls of Wisdom
  • Bringing It to a Close
  • Left-Handed Knitting
  • The Fabulous Two: Garter Stitch and Stockinette Stitch
    
    
• Chapter 7 - Special Stitches Using Knitting and Purling
  • Common Stitching Abbreviations
  • Simple Patterns That Use the Basic Stitches
  • Cable Knitting
    
    
• Chapter 8 - Whip Up a Neck-Loving Scarf
  • What Do I Need?
  • How Do I Make It?
  • Variations on a Theme
    
    
• Chapter 9 - What Goes Up Must Come Down: Increasing and Decreasing
  • Common Increase/Decrease Abbreviations
  • When Too Much Isn't Enough: Increasing
  • Losing the Girth: Decreasing
  • When Increasing and Decreasing Don't Do Either
    
    
• Chapter 10 - Make a Knitted Cotton Dishcloth
  • What Do I Need?
  • How Do I Make It?
  • Variations on a Theme

Part 3 - Taking the Next Step: More Complex Knitting

• Chapter 11 - Knitting in the Round
  • Common In-the-Round Abbreviations
  • Why Go 'Round and 'Round?
  • Knitting on a Circular Needle
  • Knitting on Double-Pointed Needles
    
    
• Chapter 12 - Making Your Knitting Colorful
  • Common Color Abbreviations
  • On Your Mark, Get Set, Stripe...
  • Fair Isle Knitting
  • Intarsia Knitting
  • Duplicate Stitch
    
    
• Chapter 13 - Knit Up a Hat in the Round
  • What Do I Need?
  • How Do I Make It?
  • Variations on a Theme
    
    
• Chapter 14 - Talking the Talk: Reading a Knit Pattern
  • Common Knit Abbreviations
  • And Asterisks for All!
  • Charting the Patterns
  • Calling All Sizes
    
    
• Chapter 15 - Correcting Common Knitting Gaffes
  • Taking the Bull by the Horns: Preventing Mistakes
  • Turning Twisted Stitches
  • Catc hing Dropped Stitches
  • Showing Sloppy Stitches Who's Boss
  • When All Else Fails: Let 'Er Rip!
  • Extra, Extra!

Part 4 - Crochet Basics

• Chapter 16 - An Overview of Crochet Tools
  • Crochet Hooks
  • Afghan Hooks
    
    
• Chapter 17 - Getting Started: Basic Crochet Stitches
  • Common Basic Crochet Abbreviations
  • Basic Training
  • The Base of All Crochet: The Foundation Chain
  • Basic Stitches
  • Left-Handed Crochet
    
    
• Chapter 18 - Crochet a Cozy Afghan
  • What Do I Need?
  • How Do I Make It?
  • Variations on a Theme
    
    
• Chapter 19 - Shaping Your Work
  • Common Shaping Abbreviations
  • Upping the Ante
  • Less Is More--Sometimes
  • New Threads
  • Crocheting Around in Circles and Squares
    
    
• Chapter 20 - Chameleon Moves: Becoming a Colorful Crocheter
  • Adding a New Color at the End of a Row
  • Your Secret Mission: Hiding Ends in Color Blocks
  • Crocheting with Bobbins
    
    
• Chapter 21 - Cracking the Code: Reading Crochet Patterns
  • Common Crochet Abbreviations
  • Is This an Asterisk Before Me?
  • The Sounds of Silence: Patte rns Without Words
  • Playing the Sizing Game
    
    
• Chapter 22 - Specialty Stitches and Patterns
  • We're Not Talking Fish Here
  • Afghan (Tunisian) Crochet
  • A Stitch in Time
  • Variety Is the Spice of Crochet
    
    
• Chapter 23 - Set a Stunning Table with Woven Placemats
  • What Do I Need?
  • How Do I Make It?
  • Variations on a Theme

Part 5 - Final Helps

• Chapter 24 - Finishing Your Work
  • Common Abbreviations
  • For Knitters Only--Creating Selvage Edges
  • Sewing Up the Seams
  • Blocking
  • A Final Bonus: Crocheted Edges
    
    
• Chapter 25 - Worthy Recipients: A Couple Thoughts on Giving Away Your Projects
  • Choosing Your Gift List
  • Making Gifts Others Will Love
  • The Virtue of Selfishness

Appendix A - Resource Guide
Appendix B - Glossary of Terms

Index

Editorial Reviews

Ready to dive into the relaxing art of knitting and/or crocheting? You won't have to sign up for an expensive how-to class if this book is on your nightstand. It covers all the fundamentals -- from choosing the right materials to the basic stitches to correcting common mistakes to easy first projects -- like scarves, hats, and afghans -- that will have you stitching up lovely, cozy pieces in no time!

bn.com