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#Post#: 49715--------------------------------------------------
Knitting question/needle size
By: Rain Date: April 5, 2020, 10:34 pm
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I plan on starting a new project (baby blanket) this week.
I will be knitting with 3 strands of "sport" yarn and 1 strand
of #4 yarn. What size needles should I use?
#Post#: 49721--------------------------------------------------
Re: Knitting question/needle size
By: oogyda Date: April 6, 2020, 6:50 am
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Just to be clear.....you are knitting all 4 strands of yarn at
the same time? For the entire project?
#Post#: 49722--------------------------------------------------
Re: Knitting question/needle size
By: bridalviolet Date: April 6, 2020, 7:41 am
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Are you following a written pattern or just winging it? If a
pattern, it should tell you the gauge. Experiment with different
needles, doing swatches and measuring the stitches-per-inch
until you hit it.
#Post#: 49730--------------------------------------------------
Re: Knitting question/needle size
By: Rain Date: April 6, 2020, 10:03 am
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I'm winging it
The edging will be all 4 (garter stitch only) the body of the
blanket will be sockinet stich with one sport strand and the #4
yarn.
#Post#: 49756--------------------------------------------------
Re: Knitting question/needle size
By: oogyda Date: April 6, 2020, 3:02 pm
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[quote author=Rain link=topic=1672.msg49730#msg49730
date=1586185388]
I'm winging it
The edging will be all 4 (garter stitch only) the body of the
blanket will be sockinet stich with one sport strand and the #4
yarn.
[/quote]
This is difficult because I don't know your level of experience
or ability and I don't want to sound condescending.
I think the best advice I can give you is to experiment with
various sizes. What size you settle on will depend on how tight
of a knit you want and how easy or hard it is to work with two
strands. Generally speaking, I use needles one size bigger when
I'm working with 2 strands (worsted weight/#4). So, if you're
using a #4 with a #2/sport weight, you probably can use the same
size needles that the label of the #4 yarn recommends. Usually
7-9. Again....it depends on the look you want.
If the edging is done with the body of the blanket, you'll have
to go up in size a little and settle on having a tight garter
stitch edging with a looser stockinette middle.
#Post#: 49772--------------------------------------------------
Re: Knitting question/needle size
By: Gardensgrey Date: April 6, 2020, 9:15 pm
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Please be aware that, even with a deep border of garter stitch,
long areas of stockinette will roll. There is little you can do
about it, although a search of the internet gives some proposed
mitigation methods. Despite these, you may end up with a long
tube that might be unusable for a baby blanket. Have you
considered using other stitches for the body of the blanket
which which don’t roll, such as basketweave? There are hundreds
of stitches out there that may give better results and are
combos of garter and stockinette, and therefore pretty simple
and fast to do. Just a thought to consider. :)
#Post#: 49786--------------------------------------------------
Re: Knitting question/needle size
By: Rain Date: April 7, 2020, 11:25 am
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Thank you for your suggestions.
I am still a novice knitter (I've made 5 baby blankets so far)
There are stiches I'd like to try, but need lessons in how to
read and track a pattern. Right now I use Stitch markers, the
end that has the purple is when I Pearl that row the end that
has the yellow marker is when I garter Stitch
#Post#: 49813--------------------------------------------------
Re: Knitting question/needle size
By: Gardensgrey Date: April 7, 2020, 4:55 pm
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Wow, 5 blankets is a real accomplishment! Didn’t mean any
discouragement for you, just somewhat of a heads-up. If
stockinette works for you, that’s great. I echo other posters’
suggestions to knit swatches using different needle sizes to get
the effect you want. Would love to see pics when you are done!
#Post#: 49816--------------------------------------------------
Re: Knitting question/needle size
By: oogyda Date: April 7, 2020, 5:15 pm
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5! That's great. I think I remember your last post about
knitting where people recommended stitch markers. You've done a
lot in that time.
Since you have a few projects under your belt, I'd like to
encourage you to start learning by really looking at your
stitches. While the markers will be important for the first few
rows, you should be able to recognize whether you should be
knitting or purling.
With stockinette stitch, the right side is the smooth side and
when that is facing you, you will knit. When the bumpy/wrong
side is facing, you will purl.
My point is...now that you're more comfortable doing the
stitches, you can pay more attention to the construction of the
stitches.
Edited because auto correct doesn't purl.
#Post#: 49820--------------------------------------------------
Re: Knitting question/needle size
By: STiG Date: April 7, 2020, 7:39 pm
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Stockinette stitch is when you knit one row, then purl the next,
giving you the smooth side and the bumpy side.
Garter stitch is when you knit every row and it ends up bumpy on
both sides. It is also stretchier than stockinette stitch.
What you could do, to keep the edges from curling, is to knit 5
stitches at the beginning of every row before either continuing
to knit or switching to purl. That way, you would have a border
of garter stitch. You could knit the first half dozen rows and
knit the last half dozen rows, too, giving you a full garter
stitch border all the way around. Just an idea, that would be
easy for you. :)
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