August 29, 2019 • 42 mins
Are you completely confused by gauge?
No worries! I'm back this week to answer even more of your questions about gauge and why it's one of the most important things to consider when designing or following crochet or knitting patterns. Here's the scoop...
Don't worry, you're not alone! I turned to my Instagram community again this week to bring you another "what you wanted to know episode" to find out exactly what you need to know about gauge. So many questions were submitted that I'm breaking it into two episodes so I can answer as many of your questions about gauge as I can for you!
About The BHooked Podcast
Brittany's primary goal is to inspire you and help you grow in your craft with The BHooked Podcast. Through her own stories and the stories of each special guest, you'll discover tips and tricks to improve your crochet and knitting skills and find inspiration to achieve your hobby goals. When you want to kick back and learn from yarn industry experts, grab some yarn and turn on The BHooked Podcast. There's never a shortage of all things crochet, knitting or yarn.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brittany (00:00):
You're listening to the Be Hooked Podcast, episode
131 with Brittany.
Hey there, and welcome toepisode 131 of the Be Hooked
(00:36):
podcast, the place where we loveyarn, we love to learn, and
where we believe yarn can domore for us than just make
pretty things.
I mean, that's a pretty bigadded bonus, but it does so much
more than that finished object,right?
I know for me, it helps keep mea little sane, calms my mind,
relaxes me and gives me a senseof accomplishment, and certainly
(00:58):
a creative outlet.
I'm your host, Brittany, andwe're ready to dive into part
two of what you wanted to knowabout Gage.
Now, if you missed last week'sepisode, you'll definitely want
to go back and listen to thatone if you're completely
mystified by the idea of Gage.
That first one went into a lotof detail about what Gage is and
(01:18):
why you should even care in thefirst place, which is a really
great precursor to what you'llhear about in today's episode.
Okay, so here's the scoop.
I turned to my community onInstagram and asked what you
wanted to know specificallyabout Gage, and, well, I'm on a
mission to answer as many ofthose questions as possible,
continuing with this one.
So today, I'll answer a fewmore of your questions submitted
(01:41):
under that original ask aboutGage.
Before we get to it, don'tforget to check out the show
notes page to find the detailsfor this episode.
I know you're probably on thego or multitasking or something
like that.
Hopefully you're stitching aproject while you're listening.
And just know that you canalways find the episode details
on my website.
(02:01):
For this particular episode,just type in behooked.com slash
131.
Alright, last week you learnedthat gauge is a measure of
stitches and rows per inch.
And its entire purpose is tobridge the gap between different
crochet styles.
That is specific ways that Iwork my stitches and the
(02:22):
specific way that you work yourstitches.
We're all doing the same stitchin pretty much the same
motions, but we all do it alittle bit differently.
And that's what makes us allunique.
And if you're thinking, oh,well, I crochet pretty normal.
Think again, friend.
We all crochet just slightlydifferent and that slight
difference can cause problemswhen following a pattern.
(02:43):
So if you plan to, you know,follow a pattern at any point in
the future and you want thatthing to come out as you expect,
you'll want to take gaugepretty seriously.
So let's get right into ourfirst question, which comes from
someone whose Instagram handleI can't quite pronounce, so I
will have that one in the shownotes in case you want to
(03:04):
connect with them later.
They want to know, how can youcalculate the number of skeins
you need for a project from yourgauge swatch?
This right here is the power ofgauge and an intro into pattern
grading.
Now, if you're working for ayarn sponsor, for example, a on
a prospect project, you may needto calculate how much yarn they
(03:28):
should send you.
And well, when you don't havethe thing made yet, when you
don't have it designed yet, itcan be a guessing game.
And you don't really want tostart off that relationship in
that way.
So it's best if you can do alittle calculating so you know
exactly how much yarn to requestfrom them.
You might also find this usefulif you're, say, free handing a
(03:49):
project and you want to have allthe yarn on hand that you need.
Now, I'll forewarn you, thereis quite a bit of math involved
in this one, so we're divinginto the deep end here.
Don't gloss over.
If this information will beuseful to you at any point in
the future, just stick with mebest you can.
(04:10):
Take notes if you have to, andperhaps re-listen if you want to
catch the notes later on.
Now, there is a lot of mathinvolved in this type of
question, but it's not reallycomplicated math.
Honestly, you can set up aspreadsheet to do the
calculations for you, which iswhat I do.
I like to eliminate any errorsthat could possibly arise.
(04:31):
The spreadsheet will do thehard work for you.
However, you do need tounderstand the basics of this
concept in order to setsomething like that up.
So in order to calculate howmany skeins you need for a
project before it's evendesigned, so before you've
started the pattern writingprocess, you need to know one,
(04:52):
how much yarn is used in onestitch of that project, and two,
how many stitches will be inthe project.
The good news is you canestimate this with a gauge
swatch if you have some basicmeasurements for the project.
There are a few steps involvedhere, but here is the process
that I use when I need to figureout how many skeins of yarn I
(05:15):
should order before I've startedthe design of a project.
Now you can either make thesecolumns in your spreadsheet or
you can just jot them down, butyou'll need to have some yarn
information first and foremost.
Take note of the yarn weightper skein and make sure you only
choose one unit.
Now I'm here in the States, soI like to use the ounce
(05:37):
measurement You can use grams.
Either one works.
Just keep your metric withmetric, so meters with grams, or
keep your ounces with yards.
Okay?
From there, write down theskein length.
Again, only choosing one ofthose units of measurement.
So at this point, you shouldhave your yarn weight and your
(06:01):
yarn length for that one skein,either in your spreadsheet or
written down on your piece ofpaper.
Now your first calculation isto figure out how many units of
length are in one unit ofweight.
I know that's kind of acomplicated way of saying it,
but in other words, you'lldivide your skein weight by the
(06:22):
skein length.
This will give you somefraction of a number, so don't
be worried if it's some randomoff-the-wall really small
number.
And your units to this equationare going to be yards per
ounce, or if you're using themetric system, meters per gram.
So that's the first itty bittycalculation that you're going to
(06:44):
do.
And that's the first veryimportant piece of information
you need to know to estimate howmany skeins you should buy for
your project based on a gaugeswatch.
The next thing you'll need isthe swatch information.
So after you make this swatch,weigh it with the kitchen scale
in the same unit that you chosefor your yarn calculation
earlier.
(07:04):
So again, for me, it's alwaysounces.
Then you'll write that numberdown or make another column for
it in your spreadsheet.
And then you'll calculate thenumber of stitches in that
swatch, again, with a reallysimple calculation, which is to
multiply the total stitches inone row by the number of rows in
(07:25):
that swatch.
So that's itty bittycalculation number two.
And now the next step from hereis another calculation where
you'll need to divide the swatchweight, so the total weight of
the swatch, by the total numberof stitches in your swatch.
This will give you the yarnweight in your chosen unit, so
(07:47):
ounces for me, per stitch.
So it gives you the yarn weightper stitch And again, it'll be
a really, really small number,way less than zero.
When it comes to rounding, Itypically don't round.
I just let my spreadsheet doits thing and it's a little bit
more precise in doing so.
(08:07):
But if you must round, if youjust don't want to work with
that many digits or that manyplaces, then try to keep it at
five places from the decimal.
So with these calculations, younow have the amount of yards
per ounce in the yarn thatyou're choosing to use for your
(08:29):
project, and you also have theamount of yards per stitch that
you're using for your project.
So we need to take it a couplesteps further to get to the
point where we can figure outhow many skeins of yarn, but the
good news is there's not toomany more steps involved.
So let's say you wanna make ascarf that's 10 inches wide by
(08:52):
60 inches long.
You made a gauge swatch andfigured there to be 14 stitches
and 16 rows that measure twoinches.
In your gauge swatch, youcalculated a total number of
1,170 stitches.
I know, super exact, right?
You calculated that manystitches and your swatch and the
(09:16):
swatch weighed 0.3 ounces.
And from there, you calculatedeach stitch in that swatch to
require 0.00256 ounces eachusing that last calculation.
So that little examplesummarizes every part of the
(09:37):
equation that we've covered sofar.
Again, as you write these down,it'll solidify it in your mind
a little bit more.
So if you're just trying tolisten and let it sink in, it's
probably gonna go right out theother ear.
So I do urge you that when youget the chance, if this is
something that you really wantto do, just take a few moments
(09:57):
to sit down, write it down, letit sink in, work a few problems,
and it'll be so much easierwhen it's out in front of you
rather than just trying to comein one ear and out the other.
So we're taking it a little bitfurther now.
From here, what I like to do iscreate two new columns, one
(10:19):
called the width and one calledthe length.
This is specifically for yourproject or, for example, a panel
in your project if you'reworking on a piece of clothing
or something like that.
In each of these columns,input, taking this from our
example before, you'll input 10for the width and 60 for the
(10:40):
length.
To figure out how many stitchesare in one row that equals 10
inches wide based on yourswatch, you'll need to divide 10
by the number of stitches perinch.
And if you remember, the gaugein this example is in two
inches.
So remember that from theprevious episode from 130, I
(11:04):
told you how to calculate thenumber of stitches per inch by
dividing the total number ofstitches that you counted in
your gauge measurement by theinch measurement.
So our example is 14 stitchesequals two inches.
So to get the number ofstitches per inch, I'm dividing
(11:26):
14 by two.
That'll give me seven stitchesper inch.
So you can do that math in yourhead really easily.
You'll multiply seven stitchesby 10 inches.
You get 70.
And that's the total number ofstitches you need in each row to
(11:47):
achieve a scarf that's 10inches wide based on our gauge
here in this example.
So a little bonus tip here isthat this is how you use a gauge
swatch to figure out how manyfoundation chains you need for
your scarf.
for starting your project.
But to figure out how manyskeins you need, we're still
plugging away at the numbers.
(12:07):
We have one little piece of thepuzzle figured out.
We've got our width covered,our number of stitches covered,
but as you remember, gauge hastwo parts to it.
We have our width and we haveour length, or our rows.
So use the same method tocalculate the number of rows in
your 60-inch scarf.
based on what we just didbefore, so that then you have
(12:30):
the number of stitches in eachrow and you have how many rows
are in the entire project.
When you have those two piecesof information, you're able to
calculate the number ofstitches, the total number of
stitches in that project.
The simple calculation for thatis to multiply the number of
(12:51):
stitches in each row, rememberwe figured that out to be 70, by
the total number of rows, andthat gives you your total
stitches.
This is probably going to be avery large number, especially
for some of those biggerprojects.
All right, there's only acouple steps left, so stick with
me here if you're trying tofigure this out along with me.
(13:13):
From here, you need to multiplythe number of stitches in your
project by the weight perstitch, you know, the number
that we calculated at the verybeginning to give you the total
weight of yarn needed for theproject.
Now, this is a total weightvalue.
It's not skeins yet.
(13:35):
There's still one tiny littlestep that we need to convert
this total weight into a skeinweight.
And to do that, the final stepis divide the total yarn weight
that you figured out for yourproject by the amount of that
one skein weighs.
And that number you can usuallyfind on your yarn band.
(13:56):
And if you don't have the yarnon hand to see that, visit the
brand's website.
It'll always be listed there inthe description.
When you do that, you will havethe total number of skeins You
need for your project asdetermined by your gauge swatch.
Now, in some cases, that's notgoing to be, well, in most
(14:18):
cases, it probably won't be around number.
It might not say exactly four.
It might be 4.23, in which caseyou'll know that, okay, I need
a little bit more than fourskeins of yarn to finish the
project.
I need to order five so that Iknow I have enough.
Okay, if you are stilllistening, you're not totally
(14:40):
glossed over.
Seriously, pat yourself on theback if you're still with me.
Don't worry if you're not anumbers person.
There are tech editors outthere who love to do this stuff,
and they offer their servicesfor pattern grading, so don't
feel like you have to mess withit.
Now, I sort of geek out on thisstuff, so I don't mind plugging
(15:00):
away at a spreadsheet beforestarting a project, but this is
not for everybody, and if it'snot for you, Don't worry, you're
not alone.
All right, our next questioncomes from Special Becca, who
wants to know what negative easeand positive ease means.
You may have heard these termsas it relates to clothing.
(15:22):
Negative ease and positive easeis a way to explain how a piece
of clothing fits on your body.
It indirectly relates to gaugein the sense of estimating the
fit of a piece that you plan tomake, so that's more for
designers, You may not be asconcerned about negative or
positive ease as a follower of apattern, but this is still
(15:43):
really good information to know.
So you might add negative orpositive ease to your standard
measurements as a designer whenyou're creating a piece of
clothing.
Positive ease is when the pieceof clothing measures larger
than the body measurement.
Think of your favorite big cozysweater.
(16:05):
That's positive ease.
Negative ease is when the pieceof clothing measures smaller
than the body measurements.
So think of that little tanktop that like really hugs your
waist.
That's negative ease.
Pretty straightforward afterthat last question, right?
Just remember, positive isbigger.
(16:25):
Negative is smaller when itcomes to ease and the fit of the
clothing that you're designing.
All right, next up, we have aquestion from Rach.ale who
wonders if you might give Gagean unblocked and an unblocked
swatch.
I'd honestly say this is reallyat the designer's discretion,
(16:47):
but from what I've seen inthousands of patterns over the
years, and is thousands reallyeven a logical estimate?
I think it probably is.
I think I have probably laideyes on thousands of patterns.
And through looking at all ofthose, I've really only noticed
one gauge.
Now, I personally like toprovide one gauge or just, you
(17:12):
know, one measurement, not doinga blocked versus an unblocked
because I like to make things assimple as possible, especially
with something like gaugebecause it's such a confusing
topic anyways.
I like to keep things plain andsimple and not raise any
additional questions becausethat might confuse the person
(17:33):
following the instructions andthey might just say, ah, I don't
need to do the gauge thing.
I've got this.
So as a designer, a good ruleof thumb is if you recommend
blocking the project, provide agauge that was taken from a
blocked swatch.
If you don't block the project,you won't necessarily need to
block the swatch to measure andrecord the gauge.
(17:54):
On the flip side of that, as afollower of the pattern,
blocking can be a really goodway to achieve a gauge that's
just slightly off.
Now, unfortunately, mostpatterns won't tell you to block
your gauge swatch or not.
I think for me personally is agood practice to look into the
(18:16):
instructions a little bit more.
See if it's telling you toblock the project or the panel
later on.
If so, I almost always block.
block that swatch to make surethat I'm on track.
But if there's no blockingrequired anywhere within the
pattern, and you might comeacross this when you're making a
hat or something like that, Iwon't block my swatch because
(18:38):
I'm not going to do that withthe project.
So to answer your questiondirectly, you could give a gauge
swatch in a blocked and anunblocked version, but make sure
that you're spelling that outvery clearly to the person who's
following your patterns.
so that they know exactly whichgauge is which and there's no
confusion because that, ofcourse, could raise some
(19:00):
problems in the future.
If they're following the wronggauge, there's a potential that
their project could come out acompletely different size or
that they don't have enoughyarn.
And that's both frustrating forthe designer and for the person
recreating that project.
And I know you're out there toput a great pattern into the
world.
So when you're providing asmuch detail as this, just make
(19:23):
sure that that is spelled outvery clearly within the pattern
so that a person recreating itcan follow it to a T.
All right, moving right alonghere.
Our next question comes fromDanz underscore SMJ.
I'm going to get better atreading your handles, I promise.
I'm just not really sure how todo it in a way that doesn't
(19:44):
sound funny to you, I'm sure.
So they want to know, how todeal with the tediousness of
making a gauge swatch.
Oh yes, tedious is a very goodword to describe the process of
making a gauge swatch.
The struggle is real here.
I'm not going to sit here andtry to pretend that I love
making gauge swatches, because Idon't.
(20:05):
But the honest truth is thatwhen I used to follow patterns
and I never made a gaugeswatch...
Because I crochet so muchtighter than a lot of people, my
projects almost always turnedout too small.
And that just drove me bananas.
I don't like to waste time,right?
You guys know this if you're alistener, a regular listener of
(20:27):
this show.
I love to plan things out.
I love to make sure that I'mspending my time wisely.
And at that time, I didn't seethe value in making a gauge
swatch, so I didn't make it apriority.
I really started to take...
gauge more seriously when Ijust got fed up with making
things that didn't fit.
I let that motivate me to getstarted on the swatch in the
(20:53):
first place.
Now, to your point, it'stedious and it's pretty boring
sometimes.
There's no way around that.
And I don't know that there's away to make it fun and not
tedious.
But I think there is a way tochange your perspective a little
bit so that you're okay withmaking the gauge swatch.
So here's what I do.
(21:13):
I make gauge swatches when Iwant to keep my hands moving,
like I need to get my crochetfix in for the day, but I don't
necessarily need to think aboutwhat I'm doing.
Now, if I'm working on apattern, I need to be laser
focused on what I'm doing andwriting things down and taking
notes and counting.
But when I'm working a gaugeswatch, I could probably do that
(21:36):
in my sleep because you'retypically just working one
stitch back and forth, row byrow.
There's not a lot of thinkinginvolved.
So I like to use that for mycouch time.
Gauge swatches are perfectevening couch projects.
You can sit and watch somethingwith your family and finish it
really in just a couple ofhours.
(21:58):
So if you're sitting there andyou're listening to what I'm
saying and you think, well, Ithink I could probably get by
without making a gauge swatch.
The truth is, yeah, sometimesyou can, but sometimes you
can't.
And I let that unknown sort ofkick me into gear because I know
what it feels like to spendtime on a project that doesn't
(22:21):
work out in the long run becausethe sizing is off.
And that's not a very funfeeling.
So I recognize that one, timeis one of the most important and
precious resources that I have.
And I go out of my way to makesure I'm spending it in the
right ways.
When you don't see the value ingauge or when I didn't see the
(22:42):
value in gauge, I never made ita priority.
It didn't feel like a good useof my time.
But once you make a fewmistakes, you test the waters a
little bit and see if you canget by without doing a gauge
swatch.
After you find out the truepurpose of gauge by your project
not coming out as you expect, Ithink then and only then can
(23:06):
you make that perspective shiftto realize that gauge is worth
your time.
So think of the tedious gaugeswatching time as an investment
to save time later and certainlyto save some frustration later.
and fill that boring space,that tedious space, with
(23:27):
something you can do while youcrochet it.
Okay, our next question comesfrom Jenna's DIY Studio, who
says that tension is different,so how do you accomplish writing
a pattern that accomplishesone?
This is the very heart and soulof what gauge is.
(23:48):
Because tension is differentfor every crocheter, you need to
have a standard, if you will,to pinpoint the tension needed
to recreate that pattern.
The gauge measurement is thatstandard.
It bridges that gap between thedifferences in tension, between
the way you crochet versus theway I crochet or somebody else
(24:12):
crochets.
The gauge measurement is thatstandard.
It's a way of showing you howmuch tension to hold on the yarn
so that you can create thething in the size you expect.
This is a really great way toexplain gauge in a different way
for somebody following apattern.
As a designer though, yourtension, your natural tension,
(24:35):
is the standard.
So when you're creating apattern and you have to wonder,
what is the tension that Ishould be holding on this?
It's whatever comes natural toyou.
So crochet as you normallywould and record the gauge
accordingly.
Then somebody who comes alongand wants to recreate your
pattern, who might very wellhave a different tension or a
(24:58):
different way, a more unique wayof crocheting, they might need
to adjust the to match yourtension or to match your gauge.
And because you presented themwith your gauge, that
measurement, the standard, theycan do that and recreate your
pattern in the sizes that youspecified in your pattern.
(25:19):
Now, our next question is alongthe tension line.
So I'm gonna throw this one inhere too.
It comes from at mlove10315.
who wants to know how do youloosen your tension to fit
gauge?
So the last question was morealong the designer's
perspective.
This one is along the followerof a pattern's perspective.
(25:40):
And I love to have both ofthese in here because I know
some of you listening aredesigners and some of you just
like to recreate patterns.
So how do you loosen yourtension to fit gauge?
When you hear the word tension,think about...
The yarn coming from the skeingoing to the project.
That's really the area we'rereferring to when you hear the
(26:02):
word tension.
How taut is that yarn as itcomes from the skein to your
project?
How loose is it as it comesfrom the skein to your project?
And because tension has such adirect correlation to the size
of your stitches, it's morelikely It's generally more
relatable to the width aspect ofthe gauge, or in other words,
(26:25):
the stitches per inch.
So if you're measuring morestitches per inch, even just a
fraction of a stitch more, youknow you're likely to have more
tension in the way you hold thestitch.
So the yarn is just a littlebit tighter.
This is my natural style too,so I know exactly what you're
going through if this is thecase for you.
(26:46):
Sometimes it's easier to loosenyour tension if you know going
up a hook size will change ittoo much.
You'll start to learn thisabout yourself and your crochet
style the more you play aroundwith gauge and try to make
adjustments to it.
So in those instances where youknow going up a hook size will
(27:06):
be too much, that it'll makeyour gauge too big, then the
answer is often to change yourtension.
And this takes a lot ofthought, honestly, because after
making a certain stitch athousand times or multiple
thousands of times, we'reactively working against our
(27:26):
muscle memory to loosen ourtension.
Now, because I can't reallycontrol that part of it, I like
to change the variable I cancontrol.
And that's how I'm holding theyarn.
I may not be able to tellmyself, hey, you need to crochet
more loose as you're workingthese stitches, but I can change
the way I hold the yarn.
(27:47):
So what I do is I remove thelittle yarn wrap from my pinky
that normally controls thetension as the yarn reaches my
hook.
So give that a try.
Change up the way you hold theyarn just enough to make sure
the yarn is a little more looseas it comes from the skein and
goes to the project.
(28:08):
It's also a good idea to keeptabs on the skein's location as
you're working that project andhow much effort you're putting
into getting the yarn to yourproject.
For example, sometimes we'resitting on the couch working on
our project and our skein plopson the floor and if you're like
me, you just leave it there.
But what that could do is itchanges the tension on the yarn.
(28:32):
Maybe it's rubbing on the sideof the couch and that's causing
things to be a little tighter.
Maybe just the distance iscausing it to be a little
tighter as well.
And you might see somedifferences in your stitches
because of that.
There'll be really slightdifferences, but they're there.
So when you need to loosen yourtension a little bit to help
(28:54):
fit your gauge, just trychanging the way you hold the
yarn before maybe you trychanging the way you're actually
working those stitches.
You can make yourself work it alittle bit more loose.
I tend to feel that I only dothat when I'm thinking about it.
And sometimes you just need totune out, right?
It's not always fun toconstantly be thinking thinking
(29:17):
about what you're doing thatsort of negates why we're
working some of these projectsin the first place.
We just like to tune out and dowhat we do.
So you might find it a littlehelpful if you're in that
situation to just change the wayyou're holding the yarn.
Make sure that aspect of it isa little more loose and you'll
probably see your stitchesloosen up as well.
(29:38):
Now our next question comesfrom Purple Elephant Designs who
says, what if my rows are rightand but the number of stitches
are wrong.
Now we talked a little bitabout this in the first episode,
so you may have heard theanswer to your question, but I
want to recap it really quickbecause this is very important
(30:00):
when it comes to understandinggauge and how it affects your
projects.
So to recap really quick, gaugeis measured in stitches for the
width of and rows for theheight of the project or panel
in the project.
And in this instance, you'resaying my rows are right, so my
height is right, that verticalaspect of the equation is right,
(30:21):
but my stitches are off.
If your stitches don't matchthe gauge, you'll have issues
with the width of the project ifyou were to move forward
without making any sort ofadjustments.
To break it down as simple aspossible, If you count more
stitches in the measurement thanwhat's given in the gauge, your
project will likely not be aswide as what you expect it to
(30:44):
be.
It may also mean that you won'thave enough yarn because you're
essentially making morestitches.
So in this instance, when youcount more stitches per inch
than what the gauge presents,use a bigger hook and make
another swatch.
The bigger hook will make thestitches a little bit larger and
you're more likely to match thegauge after that.
(31:07):
I typically just go up one sizeand most of the time that does
the trick, but if it stillmeasures too many stitches
you'll need to go up anotherhook size and keep swatching
until it's right.
The reverse is true if youcount fewer stitches in your
initial swatch.
This means your stitches aretoo big and the width of the
(31:27):
project will be wider thanexpected.
Since your stitches in thisinstance are too big, choose a
smaller hook size and swatchagain and keep doing that until
you get it right.
So here's a good way to sumthat up so you know what to do
when your stitches per inchdoesn't match.
More stitches mean they're toosmall and you need to make them
(31:51):
bigger by using a bigger hook.
Fewer stitches mean they're toobig and And you need to make
them smaller by using a smallerhook.
Okay?
Good.
Our last question comes fromStitched by Steph, who wants to
know if you need to block theswatch and how far to measure
(32:14):
from edge to edge.
So here's my rule of thumb whenit comes to blocking versus not
blocking my swatches.
And I sort of alluded to thisearlier, but I want to state it
out plain and simply here sothere's no confusion.
Whatever you do to your projector whatever you plan to do with
your project, you must also doto your swatch.
(32:35):
If you plan to block yourproject, you block your swatch.
If you plan to wash yourproject ever, you should wash
your swatch.
Your swatch is sort of likeyour test dummy to make sure
that everything will goaccording to plan, or at least
you have a pretty good sensethat it will go according to
(32:55):
plan, if you do in fact investthat 12, 15, 25 hours, whatever
it may be, into your project.
From a designer's perspective,do you plan to recommend
blocking the project or panelsin the project?
If so, block the swatch.
From a follower of a pattern'sperspective, does the pattern
(33:19):
tell you to block the project orpanels in the project?
If so, go ahead and block yourswatch.
Now to answer your secondquestion, how far do you measure
from edge to edge?
I actually don't measure orrecommend measuring from edge to
edge of your gauge swatch.
Think about it.
(33:40):
Most of the time you haveturning chains at the edges of
your swatch, and those turningchains create sort of an
inconsistency in the edges, andthey're not nearly as clean as
the stitches in the work.
Since Gage is trying todetermine the number of stitches
in a measurement, to get thebest representation of how many
(34:04):
stitches are in thatmeasurement, it's really best to
measure within the swatch.
In other words, make a swatchthat's one to two inches wider
than the gauge in yourmeasurement.
So if you have a pattern thatsays your gauge is 14 stitches
and 16 rows equals two inches, Iwould say go ahead and make a
(34:25):
swatch that's at least fourinches wide.
That way you know you can getan accurate representation of
what the number of stitches perinch are within that
measurement, not how manystitches and or turning chains
might be within that two inches.
On the row side of things,there's a little more
(34:46):
flexibility there.
The very last row in yourproject is often pretty nice and
even, as long as you don't havelike a border or anything like
that.
The one little variable thatcould be introduced into the
equation is your foundationchain, or if you're doing
foundation stitches, which is acompletely another beast.
So if you plan to start yourgauge swatch with a foundation
(35:10):
stitch, you don't want toinclude this in your gauge
measurement.
Similarly, you don't wannacount your foundation chain in
your measurement either.
So you do need to make yourswatch a little bit taller than
what your gauge measurement is,but you don't necessarily have
to make it a certain amountbigger.
As long as you're not countingyour foundation row of stitches,
(35:33):
and your top row is nice andstraight, doesn't have a border
or anything like that, then youcan capture the stitches within
that measurement.
Whew, that was a lot of gaugequestions.
Thank you all so much forsending these questions in via
Instagram stories when Irequested.
(35:54):
I was completely counting onyou to provide two, well, at
least one great episode.
And you did not let me down.
I was able to turn all of yourquestions into two episodes and
possibly help even more peopleby answering their question.
And for that, I am supergrateful.
I know gauge is seriously atopic of confusion for so many
(36:20):
crocheters.
And if you still have questionsabout gauge, please let me know
how I can help you understandthis concept a little bit
better.
If you're only familiar with mehere on the podcast, of course,
I love to create episodes likethis that are very much more
conversational.
But I also have a YouTubechannel where I do tutorials and
(36:42):
that sort of thing.
I'm always looking for waysthat I can help you understand a
concept better.
So if Gage is still trippingyou up a little bit, if after
going through these last twoepisodes, you're still not quite
getting it right, I would loveto know how I can help you
specifically.
So feel free to drop me anemail.
(37:03):
You can email me directly atbritney at behookedcrochet.com.
That comes directly to me.
I'm still a one-woman show.
I don't have an assistant to gothrough these.
So you are emailing me when youdo that.
And I would just really love toknow how I can make this topic
a little bit easier for you tounderstand.
So these what you wanted toknow style of episodes, we've
(37:25):
only done technically three.
This would be the third one.
I think they have to continuebecause, well, they're a ton of
fun for me to put together.
I love answering your questionsdirectly, but most importantly,
you've shown me that they'rereally helpful for you too.
So if you want to participateand submit your question for the
next episode like this, here'show it works.
(37:47):
You'll first need to follow meon Instagram.
My handle there is at bhooked,that's B-H-O-O-K-E-D, and
Because when you follow me, youcan see my stories.
And that's where the magichappens.
So when I'm preparing the nextWhat You Wanted to Know style of
episode, I'll share a storywith a topic and a place to
(38:09):
submit your question.
So when you see me pop up inyour stories, be on the lookout
for these posts.
When you see that, type in yourquestion.
There's only like 24 hours foryou to submit that because
Instagram stories go away afterthat long.
So by following me and checkingyour stories, you'll be in the
know and be able to submit yourquestion.
(38:30):
Now, as far as how frequentlythese will happen, I'm sort of
playing around with this.
I don't want to completely boreyou by just talking your ear
off for 45 minutes.
But if you find this to bereally helpful and you want them
more frequently, tell me in thecomments section of the show
notes page for this episode.
That's BeHooked.com slash 131.
(38:53):
I know that's an additionalstep for you to take, but I
really would appreciate if youcould just tell me in the
comments how frequently you'reinterested in this style of
episode.
Do you want one a month?
Do you want two a month?
Do you want two a year?
Or something in between?
Tell me in the comments sectionso that I can better serve you.
(39:14):
The last thing I want tomention here before I go is that
this episode was brought to youby my Blueprint course,
Tunisian Crochet for Beginners.
You've been hearing me talk alot about this course, and this
is something that I really justcan't help but be proud of.
I teamed up with Craftsy acouple years ago.
to help teach a completelybeginner-friendly Tunisian
(39:37):
crochet course because this formof crochet was just
instrumental in my learning andjust opening up my creativity.
It allows you to create some ofthose familiar stitches.
You can do stitches that looklike regular crochet.
You can do stitches that looklike knitting, but you can also
do completely differentstitches, which is where I had
so many aha moments aboutcreating new textures, new
(40:01):
fabrics, and that sort of thing.
So if you haven't triedTunisian crochet yet, first of
all, you gotta Google it.
It's really cool.
You can do some really coolprojects with Tunisian crochet.
And if you're familiar with myteaching style, and if you like
that, you might also like totake part in my Tunisian crochet
(40:22):
for beginners class.
To learn more about what'sincluded in the class and how
you can sign up for that, justhead over to BeHooked.com slash
TCFB.
That's TCFB for TunisianCrochet for Beginners.
You'll see the layout,everything that you can expect
within that course.
(40:43):
And you can, of course, sign upthrough Blueprint and I'll be
there on the other side helpingto answer your questions should
you have any as you're goingthrough those lessons.
All right, thank you so muchfor spending some time with me
today and tuning into thisepisode of Be Hooked.
It was a real pleasure.
I had a ton of fun.
And next week, I have a reallysweet guest to share with you
(41:06):
who blends two types of needlearts into one.
I had never seen anyone do whatshe does prior to learning
about her on Instagram.
So I can't wait to share whatthat is.
I'm teasing it.
That's all I'm leaving you withtoday.
But that episode is reallygreat and you don't want to miss
it if you're looking for aunique way to add some texture
(41:29):
and some creativity to yourcrochet project.
So if you're not subscribed tothe Be Hooked podcast on your
podcast player, do that now soyou don't miss it.
And I hope you have a wonderfulweekend and I'll see you next
week, friend.
Bye-bye.
You're listening to the Be Hooked Podcast, episode
131 with Brittany.
Hey there, and welcome toepisode 131 of the Be Hooked
(00:36):
podcast, the place where we loveyarn, we love to learn, and
where we believe yarn can domore for us than just make
pretty things.
I mean, that's a pretty bigadded bonus, but it does so much
more than that finished object,right?
I know for me, it helps keep mea little sane, calms my mind,
relaxes me and gives me a senseof accomplishment, and certainly
(00:58):
a creative outlet.
I'm your host, Brittany, andwe're ready to dive into part
two of what you wanted to knowabout Gage.
Now, if you missed last week'sepisode, you'll definitely want
to go back and listen to thatone if you're completely
mystified by the idea of Gage.
That first one went into a lotof detail about what Gage is and
(01:18):
why you should even care in thefirst place, which is a really
great precursor to what you'llhear about in today's episode.
Okay, so here's the scoop.
I turned to my community onInstagram and asked what you
wanted to know specificallyabout Gage, and, well, I'm on a
mission to answer as many ofthose questions as possible,
continuing with this one.
So today, I'll answer a fewmore of your questions submitted
(01:41):
under that original ask aboutGage.
Before we get to it, don'tforget to check out the show
notes page to find the detailsfor this episode.
I know you're probably on thego or multitasking or something
like that.
Hopefully you're stitching aproject while you're listening.
And just know that you canalways find the episode details
on my website.
(02:01):
For this particular episode,just type in behooked.com slash
131.
Alright, last week you learnedthat gauge is a measure of
stitches and rows per inch.
And its entire purpose is tobridge the gap between different
crochet styles.
That is specific ways that Iwork my stitches and the
(02:22):
specific way that you work yourstitches.
We're all doing the same stitchin pretty much the same
motions, but we all do it alittle bit differently.
And that's what makes us allunique.
And if you're thinking, oh,well, I crochet pretty normal.
Think again, friend.
We all crochet just slightlydifferent and that slight
difference can cause problemswhen following a pattern.
(02:43):
So if you plan to, you know,follow a pattern at any point in
the future and you want thatthing to come out as you expect,
you'll want to take gaugepretty seriously.
So let's get right into ourfirst question, which comes from
someone whose Instagram handleI can't quite pronounce, so I
will have that one in the shownotes in case you want to
(03:04):
connect with them later.
They want to know, how can youcalculate the number of skeins
you need for a project from yourgauge swatch?
This right here is the power ofgauge and an intro into pattern
grading.
Now, if you're working for ayarn sponsor, for example, a on
a prospect project, you may needto calculate how much yarn they
(03:28):
should send you.
And well, when you don't havethe thing made yet, when you
don't have it designed yet, itcan be a guessing game.
And you don't really want tostart off that relationship in
that way.
So it's best if you can do alittle calculating so you know
exactly how much yarn to requestfrom them.
You might also find this usefulif you're, say, free handing a
(03:49):
project and you want to have allthe yarn on hand that you need.
Now, I'll forewarn you, thereis quite a bit of math involved
in this one, so we're divinginto the deep end here.
Don't gloss over.
If this information will beuseful to you at any point in
the future, just stick with mebest you can.
(04:10):
Take notes if you have to, andperhaps re-listen if you want to
catch the notes later on.
Now, there is a lot of mathinvolved in this type of
question, but it's not reallycomplicated math.
Honestly, you can set up aspreadsheet to do the
calculations for you, which iswhat I do.
I like to eliminate any errorsthat could possibly arise.
(04:31):
The spreadsheet will do thehard work for you.
However, you do need tounderstand the basics of this
concept in order to setsomething like that up.
So in order to calculate howmany skeins you need for a
project before it's evendesigned, so before you've
started the pattern writingprocess, you need to know one,
(04:52):
how much yarn is used in onestitch of that project, and two,
how many stitches will be inthe project.
The good news is you canestimate this with a gauge
swatch if you have some basicmeasurements for the project.
There are a few steps involvedhere, but here is the process
that I use when I need to figureout how many skeins of yarn I
(05:15):
should order before I've startedthe design of a project.
Now you can either make thesecolumns in your spreadsheet or
you can just jot them down, butyou'll need to have some yarn
information first and foremost.
Take note of the yarn weightper skein and make sure you only
choose one unit.
Now I'm here in the States, soI like to use the ounce
(05:37):
measurement You can use grams.
Either one works.
Just keep your metric withmetric, so meters with grams, or
keep your ounces with yards.
Okay?
From there, write down theskein length.
Again, only choosing one ofthose units of measurement.
So at this point, you shouldhave your yarn weight and your
(06:01):
yarn length for that one skein,either in your spreadsheet or
written down on your piece ofpaper.
Now your first calculation isto figure out how many units of
length are in one unit ofweight.
I know that's kind of acomplicated way of saying it,
but in other words, you'lldivide your skein weight by the
(06:22):
skein length.
This will give you somefraction of a number, so don't
be worried if it's some randomoff-the-wall really small
number.
And your units to this equationare going to be yards per
ounce, or if you're using themetric system, meters per gram.
So that's the first itty bittycalculation that you're going to
(06:44):
do.
And that's the first veryimportant piece of information
you need to know to estimate howmany skeins you should buy for
your project based on a gaugeswatch.
The next thing you'll need isthe swatch information.
So after you make this swatch,weigh it with the kitchen scale
in the same unit that you chosefor your yarn calculation
earlier.
(07:04):
So again, for me, it's alwaysounces.
Then you'll write that numberdown or make another column for
it in your spreadsheet.
And then you'll calculate thenumber of stitches in that
swatch, again, with a reallysimple calculation, which is to
multiply the total stitches inone row by the number of rows in
(07:25):
that swatch.
So that's itty bittycalculation number two.
And now the next step from hereis another calculation where
you'll need to divide the swatchweight, so the total weight of
the swatch, by the total numberof stitches in your swatch.
This will give you the yarnweight in your chosen unit, so
(07:47):
ounces for me, per stitch.
So it gives you the yarn weightper stitch And again, it'll be
a really, really small number,way less than zero.
When it comes to rounding, Itypically don't round.
I just let my spreadsheet doits thing and it's a little bit
more precise in doing so.
(08:07):
But if you must round, if youjust don't want to work with
that many digits or that manyplaces, then try to keep it at
five places from the decimal.
So with these calculations, younow have the amount of yards
per ounce in the yarn thatyou're choosing to use for your
(08:29):
project, and you also have theamount of yards per stitch that
you're using for your project.
So we need to take it a couplesteps further to get to the
point where we can figure outhow many skeins of yarn, but the
good news is there's not toomany more steps involved.
So let's say you wanna make ascarf that's 10 inches wide by
(08:52):
60 inches long.
You made a gauge swatch andfigured there to be 14 stitches
and 16 rows that measure twoinches.
In your gauge swatch, youcalculated a total number of
1,170 stitches.
I know, super exact, right?
You calculated that manystitches and your swatch and the
(09:16):
swatch weighed 0.3 ounces.
And from there, you calculatedeach stitch in that swatch to
require 0.00256 ounces eachusing that last calculation.
So that little examplesummarizes every part of the
(09:37):
equation that we've covered sofar.
Again, as you write these down,it'll solidify it in your mind
a little bit more.
So if you're just trying tolisten and let it sink in, it's
probably gonna go right out theother ear.
So I do urge you that when youget the chance, if this is
something that you really wantto do, just take a few moments
(09:57):
to sit down, write it down, letit sink in, work a few problems,
and it'll be so much easierwhen it's out in front of you
rather than just trying to comein one ear and out the other.
So we're taking it a little bitfurther now.
From here, what I like to do iscreate two new columns, one
(10:19):
called the width and one calledthe length.
This is specifically for yourproject or, for example, a panel
in your project if you'reworking on a piece of clothing
or something like that.
In each of these columns,input, taking this from our
example before, you'll input 10for the width and 60 for the
(10:40):
length.
To figure out how many stitchesare in one row that equals 10
inches wide based on yourswatch, you'll need to divide 10
by the number of stitches perinch.
And if you remember, the gaugein this example is in two
inches.
So remember that from theprevious episode from 130, I
(11:04):
told you how to calculate thenumber of stitches per inch by
dividing the total number ofstitches that you counted in
your gauge measurement by theinch measurement.
So our example is 14 stitchesequals two inches.
So to get the number ofstitches per inch, I'm dividing
(11:26):
14 by two.
That'll give me seven stitchesper inch.
So you can do that math in yourhead really easily.
You'll multiply seven stitchesby 10 inches.
You get 70.
And that's the total number ofstitches you need in each row to
(11:47):
achieve a scarf that's 10inches wide based on our gauge
here in this example.
So a little bonus tip here isthat this is how you use a gauge
swatch to figure out how manyfoundation chains you need for
your scarf.
for starting your project.
But to figure out how manyskeins you need, we're still
plugging away at the numbers.
(12:07):
We have one little piece of thepuzzle figured out.
We've got our width covered,our number of stitches covered,
but as you remember, gauge hastwo parts to it.
We have our width and we haveour length, or our rows.
So use the same method tocalculate the number of rows in
your 60-inch scarf.
based on what we just didbefore, so that then you have
(12:30):
the number of stitches in eachrow and you have how many rows
are in the entire project.
When you have those two piecesof information, you're able to
calculate the number ofstitches, the total number of
stitches in that project.
The simple calculation for thatis to multiply the number of
(12:51):
stitches in each row, rememberwe figured that out to be 70, by
the total number of rows, andthat gives you your total
stitches.
This is probably going to be avery large number, especially
for some of those biggerprojects.
All right, there's only acouple steps left, so stick with
me here if you're trying tofigure this out along with me.
(13:13):
From here, you need to multiplythe number of stitches in your
project by the weight perstitch, you know, the number
that we calculated at the verybeginning to give you the total
weight of yarn needed for theproject.
Now, this is a total weightvalue.
It's not skeins yet.
(13:35):
There's still one tiny littlestep that we need to convert
this total weight into a skeinweight.
And to do that, the final stepis divide the total yarn weight
that you figured out for yourproject by the amount of that
one skein weighs.
And that number you can usuallyfind on your yarn band.
(13:56):
And if you don't have the yarnon hand to see that, visit the
brand's website.
It'll always be listed there inthe description.
When you do that, you will havethe total number of skeins You
need for your project asdetermined by your gauge swatch.
Now, in some cases, that's notgoing to be, well, in most
(14:18):
cases, it probably won't be around number.
It might not say exactly four.
It might be 4.23, in which caseyou'll know that, okay, I need
a little bit more than fourskeins of yarn to finish the
project.
I need to order five so that Iknow I have enough.
Okay, if you are stilllistening, you're not totally
(14:40):
glossed over.
Seriously, pat yourself on theback if you're still with me.
Don't worry if you're not anumbers person.
There are tech editors outthere who love to do this stuff,
and they offer their servicesfor pattern grading, so don't
feel like you have to mess withit.
Now, I sort of geek out on thisstuff, so I don't mind plugging
(15:00):
away at a spreadsheet beforestarting a project, but this is
not for everybody, and if it'snot for you, Don't worry, you're
not alone.
All right, our next questioncomes from Special Becca, who
wants to know what negative easeand positive ease means.
You may have heard these termsas it relates to clothing.
(15:22):
Negative ease and positive easeis a way to explain how a piece
of clothing fits on your body.
It indirectly relates to gaugein the sense of estimating the
fit of a piece that you plan tomake, so that's more for
designers, You may not be asconcerned about negative or
positive ease as a follower of apattern, but this is still
(15:43):
really good information to know.
So you might add negative orpositive ease to your standard
measurements as a designer whenyou're creating a piece of
clothing.
Positive ease is when the pieceof clothing measures larger
than the body measurement.
Think of your favorite big cozysweater.
(16:05):
That's positive ease.
Negative ease is when the pieceof clothing measures smaller
than the body measurements.
So think of that little tanktop that like really hugs your
waist.
That's negative ease.
Pretty straightforward afterthat last question, right?
Just remember, positive isbigger.
(16:25):
Negative is smaller when itcomes to ease and the fit of the
clothing that you're designing.
All right, next up, we have aquestion from Rach.ale who
wonders if you might give Gagean unblocked and an unblocked
swatch.
I'd honestly say this is reallyat the designer's discretion,
(16:47):
but from what I've seen inthousands of patterns over the
years, and is thousands reallyeven a logical estimate?
I think it probably is.
I think I have probably laideyes on thousands of patterns.
And through looking at all ofthose, I've really only noticed
one gauge.
Now, I personally like toprovide one gauge or just, you
(17:12):
know, one measurement, not doinga blocked versus an unblocked
because I like to make things assimple as possible, especially
with something like gaugebecause it's such a confusing
topic anyways.
I like to keep things plain andsimple and not raise any
additional questions becausethat might confuse the person
(17:33):
following the instructions andthey might just say, ah, I don't
need to do the gauge thing.
I've got this.
So as a designer, a good ruleof thumb is if you recommend
blocking the project, provide agauge that was taken from a
blocked swatch.
If you don't block the project,you won't necessarily need to
block the swatch to measure andrecord the gauge.
(17:54):
On the flip side of that, as afollower of the pattern,
blocking can be a really goodway to achieve a gauge that's
just slightly off.
Now, unfortunately, mostpatterns won't tell you to block
your gauge swatch or not.
I think for me personally is agood practice to look into the
(18:16):
instructions a little bit more.
See if it's telling you toblock the project or the panel
later on.
If so, I almost always block.
block that swatch to make surethat I'm on track.
But if there's no blockingrequired anywhere within the
pattern, and you might comeacross this when you're making a
hat or something like that, Iwon't block my swatch because
(18:38):
I'm not going to do that withthe project.
So to answer your questiondirectly, you could give a gauge
swatch in a blocked and anunblocked version, but make sure
that you're spelling that outvery clearly to the person who's
following your patterns.
so that they know exactly whichgauge is which and there's no
confusion because that, ofcourse, could raise some
(19:00):
problems in the future.
If they're following the wronggauge, there's a potential that
their project could come out acompletely different size or
that they don't have enoughyarn.
And that's both frustrating forthe designer and for the person
recreating that project.
And I know you're out there toput a great pattern into the
world.
So when you're providing asmuch detail as this, just make
(19:23):
sure that that is spelled outvery clearly within the pattern
so that a person recreating itcan follow it to a T.
All right, moving right alonghere.
Our next question comes fromDanz underscore SMJ.
I'm going to get better atreading your handles, I promise.
I'm just not really sure how todo it in a way that doesn't
(19:44):
sound funny to you, I'm sure.
So they want to know, how todeal with the tediousness of
making a gauge swatch.
Oh yes, tedious is a very goodword to describe the process of
making a gauge swatch.
The struggle is real here.
I'm not going to sit here andtry to pretend that I love
making gauge swatches, because Idon't.
(20:05):
But the honest truth is thatwhen I used to follow patterns
and I never made a gaugeswatch...
Because I crochet so muchtighter than a lot of people, my
projects almost always turnedout too small.
And that just drove me bananas.
I don't like to waste time,right?
You guys know this if you're alistener, a regular listener of
(20:27):
this show.
I love to plan things out.
I love to make sure that I'mspending my time wisely.
And at that time, I didn't seethe value in making a gauge
swatch, so I didn't make it apriority.
I really started to take...
gauge more seriously when Ijust got fed up with making
things that didn't fit.
I let that motivate me to getstarted on the swatch in the
(20:53):
first place.
Now, to your point, it'stedious and it's pretty boring
sometimes.
There's no way around that.
And I don't know that there's away to make it fun and not
tedious.
But I think there is a way tochange your perspective a little
bit so that you're okay withmaking the gauge swatch.
So here's what I do.
(21:13):
I make gauge swatches when Iwant to keep my hands moving,
like I need to get my crochetfix in for the day, but I don't
necessarily need to think aboutwhat I'm doing.
Now, if I'm working on apattern, I need to be laser
focused on what I'm doing andwriting things down and taking
notes and counting.
But when I'm working a gaugeswatch, I could probably do that
(21:36):
in my sleep because you'retypically just working one
stitch back and forth, row byrow.
There's not a lot of thinkinginvolved.
So I like to use that for mycouch time.
Gauge swatches are perfectevening couch projects.
You can sit and watch somethingwith your family and finish it
really in just a couple ofhours.
(21:58):
So if you're sitting there andyou're listening to what I'm
saying and you think, well, Ithink I could probably get by
without making a gauge swatch.
The truth is, yeah, sometimesyou can, but sometimes you
can't.
And I let that unknown sort ofkick me into gear because I know
what it feels like to spendtime on a project that doesn't
(22:21):
work out in the long run becausethe sizing is off.
And that's not a very funfeeling.
So I recognize that one, timeis one of the most important and
precious resources that I have.
And I go out of my way to makesure I'm spending it in the
right ways.
When you don't see the value ingauge or when I didn't see the
(22:42):
value in gauge, I never made ita priority.
It didn't feel like a good useof my time.
But once you make a fewmistakes, you test the waters a
little bit and see if you canget by without doing a gauge
swatch.
After you find out the truepurpose of gauge by your project
not coming out as you expect, Ithink then and only then can
(23:06):
you make that perspective shiftto realize that gauge is worth
your time.
So think of the tedious gaugeswatching time as an investment
to save time later and certainlyto save some frustration later.
and fill that boring space,that tedious space, with
(23:27):
something you can do while youcrochet it.
Okay, our next question comesfrom Jenna's DIY Studio, who
says that tension is different,so how do you accomplish writing
a pattern that accomplishesone?
This is the very heart and soulof what gauge is.
(23:48):
Because tension is differentfor every crocheter, you need to
have a standard, if you will,to pinpoint the tension needed
to recreate that pattern.
The gauge measurement is thatstandard.
It bridges that gap between thedifferences in tension, between
the way you crochet versus theway I crochet or somebody else
(24:12):
crochets.
The gauge measurement is thatstandard.
It's a way of showing you howmuch tension to hold on the yarn
so that you can create thething in the size you expect.
This is a really great way toexplain gauge in a different way
for somebody following apattern.
As a designer though, yourtension, your natural tension,
(24:35):
is the standard.
So when you're creating apattern and you have to wonder,
what is the tension that Ishould be holding on this?
It's whatever comes natural toyou.
So crochet as you normallywould and record the gauge
accordingly.
Then somebody who comes alongand wants to recreate your
pattern, who might very wellhave a different tension or a
(24:58):
different way, a more unique wayof crocheting, they might need
to adjust the to match yourtension or to match your gauge.
And because you presented themwith your gauge, that
measurement, the standard, theycan do that and recreate your
pattern in the sizes that youspecified in your pattern.
(25:19):
Now, our next question is alongthe tension line.
So I'm gonna throw this one inhere too.
It comes from at mlove10315.
who wants to know how do youloosen your tension to fit
gauge?
So the last question was morealong the designer's
perspective.
This one is along the followerof a pattern's perspective.
(25:40):
And I love to have both ofthese in here because I know
some of you listening aredesigners and some of you just
like to recreate patterns.
So how do you loosen yourtension to fit gauge?
When you hear the word tension,think about...
The yarn coming from the skeingoing to the project.
That's really the area we'rereferring to when you hear the
(26:02):
word tension.
How taut is that yarn as itcomes from the skein to your
project?
How loose is it as it comesfrom the skein to your project?
And because tension has such adirect correlation to the size
of your stitches, it's morelikely It's generally more
relatable to the width aspect ofthe gauge, or in other words,
(26:25):
the stitches per inch.
So if you're measuring morestitches per inch, even just a
fraction of a stitch more, youknow you're likely to have more
tension in the way you hold thestitch.
So the yarn is just a littlebit tighter.
This is my natural style too,so I know exactly what you're
going through if this is thecase for you.
(26:46):
Sometimes it's easier to loosenyour tension if you know going
up a hook size will change ittoo much.
You'll start to learn thisabout yourself and your crochet
style the more you play aroundwith gauge and try to make
adjustments to it.
So in those instances where youknow going up a hook size will
(27:06):
be too much, that it'll makeyour gauge too big, then the
answer is often to change yourtension.
And this takes a lot ofthought, honestly, because after
making a certain stitch athousand times or multiple
thousands of times, we'reactively working against our
(27:26):
muscle memory to loosen ourtension.
Now, because I can't reallycontrol that part of it, I like
to change the variable I cancontrol.
And that's how I'm holding theyarn.
I may not be able to tellmyself, hey, you need to crochet
more loose as you're workingthese stitches, but I can change
the way I hold the yarn.
(27:47):
So what I do is I remove thelittle yarn wrap from my pinky
that normally controls thetension as the yarn reaches my
hook.
So give that a try.
Change up the way you hold theyarn just enough to make sure
the yarn is a little more looseas it comes from the skein and
goes to the project.
(28:08):
It's also a good idea to keeptabs on the skein's location as
you're working that project andhow much effort you're putting
into getting the yarn to yourproject.
For example, sometimes we'resitting on the couch working on
our project and our skein plopson the floor and if you're like
me, you just leave it there.
But what that could do is itchanges the tension on the yarn.
(28:32):
Maybe it's rubbing on the sideof the couch and that's causing
things to be a little tighter.
Maybe just the distance iscausing it to be a little
tighter as well.
And you might see somedifferences in your stitches
because of that.
There'll be really slightdifferences, but they're there.
So when you need to loosen yourtension a little bit to help
(28:54):
fit your gauge, just trychanging the way you hold the
yarn before maybe you trychanging the way you're actually
working those stitches.
You can make yourself work it alittle bit more loose.
I tend to feel that I only dothat when I'm thinking about it.
And sometimes you just need totune out, right?
It's not always fun toconstantly be thinking thinking
(29:17):
about what you're doing thatsort of negates why we're
working some of these projectsin the first place.
We just like to tune out and dowhat we do.
So you might find it a littlehelpful if you're in that
situation to just change the wayyou're holding the yarn.
Make sure that aspect of it isa little more loose and you'll
probably see your stitchesloosen up as well.
(29:38):
Now our next question comesfrom Purple Elephant Designs who
says, what if my rows are rightand but the number of stitches
are wrong.
Now we talked a little bitabout this in the first episode,
so you may have heard theanswer to your question, but I
want to recap it really quickbecause this is very important
(30:00):
when it comes to understandinggauge and how it affects your
projects.
So to recap really quick, gaugeis measured in stitches for the
width of and rows for theheight of the project or panel
in the project.
And in this instance, you'resaying my rows are right, so my
height is right, that verticalaspect of the equation is right,
(30:21):
but my stitches are off.
If your stitches don't matchthe gauge, you'll have issues
with the width of the project ifyou were to move forward
without making any sort ofadjustments.
To break it down as simple aspossible, If you count more
stitches in the measurement thanwhat's given in the gauge, your
project will likely not be aswide as what you expect it to
(30:44):
be.
It may also mean that you won'thave enough yarn because you're
essentially making morestitches.
So in this instance, when youcount more stitches per inch
than what the gauge presents,use a bigger hook and make
another swatch.
The bigger hook will make thestitches a little bit larger and
you're more likely to match thegauge after that.
(31:07):
I typically just go up one sizeand most of the time that does
the trick, but if it stillmeasures too many stitches
you'll need to go up anotherhook size and keep swatching
until it's right.
The reverse is true if youcount fewer stitches in your
initial swatch.
This means your stitches aretoo big and the width of the
(31:27):
project will be wider thanexpected.
Since your stitches in thisinstance are too big, choose a
smaller hook size and swatchagain and keep doing that until
you get it right.
So here's a good way to sumthat up so you know what to do
when your stitches per inchdoesn't match.
More stitches mean they're toosmall and you need to make them
(31:51):
bigger by using a bigger hook.
Fewer stitches mean they're toobig and And you need to make
them smaller by using a smallerhook.
Okay?
Good.
Our last question comes fromStitched by Steph, who wants to
know if you need to block theswatch and how far to measure
(32:14):
from edge to edge.
So here's my rule of thumb whenit comes to blocking versus not
blocking my swatches.
And I sort of alluded to thisearlier, but I want to state it
out plain and simply here sothere's no confusion.
Whatever you do to your projector whatever you plan to do with
your project, you must also doto your swatch.
(32:35):
If you plan to block yourproject, you block your swatch.
If you plan to wash yourproject ever, you should wash
your swatch.
Your swatch is sort of likeyour test dummy to make sure
that everything will goaccording to plan, or at least
you have a pretty good sensethat it will go according to
(32:55):
plan, if you do in fact investthat 12, 15, 25 hours, whatever
it may be, into your project.
From a designer's perspective,do you plan to recommend
blocking the project or panelsin the project?
If so, block the swatch.
From a follower of a pattern'sperspective, does the pattern
(33:19):
tell you to block the project orpanels in the project?
If so, go ahead and block yourswatch.
Now to answer your secondquestion, how far do you measure
from edge to edge?
I actually don't measure orrecommend measuring from edge to
edge of your gauge swatch.
Think about it.
(33:40):
Most of the time you haveturning chains at the edges of
your swatch, and those turningchains create sort of an
inconsistency in the edges, andthey're not nearly as clean as
the stitches in the work.
Since Gage is trying todetermine the number of stitches
in a measurement, to get thebest representation of how many
(34:04):
stitches are in thatmeasurement, it's really best to
measure within the swatch.
In other words, make a swatchthat's one to two inches wider
than the gauge in yourmeasurement.
So if you have a pattern thatsays your gauge is 14 stitches
and 16 rows equals two inches, Iwould say go ahead and make a
(34:25):
swatch that's at least fourinches wide.
That way you know you can getan accurate representation of
what the number of stitches perinch are within that
measurement, not how manystitches and or turning chains
might be within that two inches.
On the row side of things,there's a little more
(34:46):
flexibility there.
The very last row in yourproject is often pretty nice and
even, as long as you don't havelike a border or anything like
that.
The one little variable thatcould be introduced into the
equation is your foundationchain, or if you're doing
foundation stitches, which is acompletely another beast.
So if you plan to start yourgauge swatch with a foundation
(35:10):
stitch, you don't want toinclude this in your gauge
measurement.
Similarly, you don't wannacount your foundation chain in
your measurement either.
So you do need to make yourswatch a little bit taller than
what your gauge measurement is,but you don't necessarily have
to make it a certain amountbigger.
As long as you're not countingyour foundation row of stitches,
(35:33):
and your top row is nice andstraight, doesn't have a border
or anything like that, then youcan capture the stitches within
that measurement.
Whew, that was a lot of gaugequestions.
Thank you all so much forsending these questions in via
Instagram stories when Irequested.
(35:54):
I was completely counting onyou to provide two, well, at
least one great episode.
And you did not let me down.
I was able to turn all of yourquestions into two episodes and
possibly help even more peopleby answering their question.
And for that, I am supergrateful.
I know gauge is seriously atopic of confusion for so many
(36:20):
crocheters.
And if you still have questionsabout gauge, please let me know
how I can help you understandthis concept a little bit
better.
If you're only familiar with mehere on the podcast, of course,
I love to create episodes likethis that are very much more
conversational.
But I also have a YouTubechannel where I do tutorials and
(36:42):
that sort of thing.
I'm always looking for waysthat I can help you understand a
concept better.
So if Gage is still trippingyou up a little bit, if after
going through these last twoepisodes, you're still not quite
getting it right, I would loveto know how I can help you
specifically.
So feel free to drop me anemail.
(37:03):
You can email me directly atbritney at behookedcrochet.com.
That comes directly to me.
I'm still a one-woman show.
I don't have an assistant to gothrough these.
So you are emailing me when youdo that.
And I would just really love toknow how I can make this topic
a little bit easier for you tounderstand.
So these what you wanted toknow style of episodes, we've
(37:25):
only done technically three.
This would be the third one.
I think they have to continuebecause, well, they're a ton of
fun for me to put together.
I love answering your questionsdirectly, but most importantly,
you've shown me that they'rereally helpful for you too.
So if you want to participateand submit your question for the
next episode like this, here'show it works.
(37:47):
You'll first need to follow meon Instagram.
My handle there is at bhooked,that's B-H-O-O-K-E-D, and
Because when you follow me, youcan see my stories.
And that's where the magichappens.
So when I'm preparing the nextWhat You Wanted to Know style of
episode, I'll share a storywith a topic and a place to
(38:09):
submit your question.
So when you see me pop up inyour stories, be on the lookout
for these posts.
When you see that, type in yourquestion.
There's only like 24 hours foryou to submit that because
Instagram stories go away afterthat long.
So by following me and checkingyour stories, you'll be in the
know and be able to submit yourquestion.
(38:30):
Now, as far as how frequentlythese will happen, I'm sort of
playing around with this.
I don't want to completely boreyou by just talking your ear
off for 45 minutes.
But if you find this to bereally helpful and you want them
more frequently, tell me in thecomments section of the show
notes page for this episode.
That's BeHooked.com slash 131.
(38:53):
I know that's an additionalstep for you to take, but I
really would appreciate if youcould just tell me in the
comments how frequently you'reinterested in this style of
episode.
Do you want one a month?
Do you want two a month?
Do you want two a year?
Or something in between?
Tell me in the comments sectionso that I can better serve you.
(39:14):
The last thing I want tomention here before I go is that
this episode was brought to youby my Blueprint course,
Tunisian Crochet for Beginners.
You've been hearing me talk alot about this course, and this
is something that I really justcan't help but be proud of.
I teamed up with Craftsy acouple years ago.
to help teach a completelybeginner-friendly Tunisian
(39:37):
crochet course because this formof crochet was just
instrumental in my learning andjust opening up my creativity.
It allows you to create some ofthose familiar stitches.
You can do stitches that looklike regular crochet.
You can do stitches that looklike knitting, but you can also
do completely differentstitches, which is where I had
so many aha moments aboutcreating new textures, new
(40:01):
fabrics, and that sort of thing.
So if you haven't triedTunisian crochet yet, first of
all, you gotta Google it.
It's really cool.
You can do some really coolprojects with Tunisian crochet.
And if you're familiar with myteaching style, and if you like
that, you might also like totake part in my Tunisian crochet
(40:22):
for beginners class.
To learn more about what'sincluded in the class and how
you can sign up for that, justhead over to BeHooked.com slash
TCFB.
That's TCFB for TunisianCrochet for Beginners.
You'll see the layout,everything that you can expect
within that course.
(40:43):
And you can, of course, sign upthrough Blueprint and I'll be
there on the other side helpingto answer your questions should
you have any as you're goingthrough those lessons.
All right, thank you so muchfor spending some time with me
today and tuning into thisepisode of Be Hooked.
It was a real pleasure.
I had a ton of fun.
And next week, I have a reallysweet guest to share with you
(41:06):
who blends two types of needlearts into one.
I had never seen anyone do whatshe does prior to learning
about her on Instagram.
So I can't wait to share whatthat is.
I'm teasing it.
That's all I'm leaving you withtoday.
But that episode is reallygreat and you don't want to miss
it if you're looking for aunique way to add some texture
(41:29):
and some creativity to yourcrochet project.
So if you're not subscribed tothe Be Hooked podcast on your
podcast player, do that now soyou don't miss it.
And I hope you have a wonderfulweekend and I'll see you next
week, friend.
Bye-bye.
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