“Knitting THAT sweater in YOUR Yarn”

How many times have you found the perfect sweater pattern in a magazine or pattern book, and then have been unable to match the stitch and/or row gauge? You know, that doesn’t mean you can’t knit it. All you need to know is the “Conversion Formula”, and have an accurate tension swatch in the yarn you wish to use.

When determining the gauge of your swatch, use the same factor as the written pattern, i.e. stitches/rows to 1", stitches/rows to 4",stitches/rows per cm, or stitches/rows to 10 cm.

A simple hand-held calculator will be very helpful to calculate two necessary “Conversion Formulas”. You will use one or both of these to re-figure your pattern.

The Stitch Converter

Take your stitch gauge, divide it by their stitch gauge and the answer is the Stitch Converter. Use up to 2 decimal points. For example; say you are getting 29.5 stitches to 4 inches and the pattern calls for 28 stitches for 4 inches. Divide yours (29.5) by theirs (28) and the answer (stitch converter) is 1.0535714 We’ll round that to 1.05

How do we use it? Simple. If the pattern calls for 140 stitches in 1x1 rib, multiply their # (140) by the stitch converter (1.05) and the answer is 147. Because the pattern uses an even number, we’ll round up to the next even number, 148. So you’ll cast on 148 stitches.

The Row Converter

Take your row gauge, divide it by their row gauge and the answer is the Row Converter. It is used the same way as the Stitch Converter.

Shaping is not so simple, but by using common sense, and a few basic rules, you’ll be fine. Round  necklines are shaped by “most first, then less, less and less”. Sleeves are narrow at the bottom and shaped rather evenly up the length.