I finally finished Michael’s holiday vest, which I started on Thanksgiving eve and had intended to get done before my parents went back home. I decided to use Berroco Pure Merino DK instead of the sport weight Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino that the pattern called for. It is from the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino Collection book. (I think you can find this at Knit Happens). I have to say, this is the third thing that I have knitted in Berroco Pure merino and this yarn is just amazing. After blocking, the fabric was even, consistent and drapey. It softens up even more and is machine washable with little wear on the fibres. We just got new colors as well and I am going to do more baby projects with it. It really holds up wonderfully.
For those of you that want to know how to substitute a different gauge of yarn, here is what I did:
I found the size that he should actually be wearing. I then figured out the gauge of the yarn that I wanted to use. So lets say (for practice sake) that the sweater is supposed to be knitted in 6 sts per inch gauge and I am using 4 sts per inch. Lets say the sweater had me casting on 40 stitches in their gauge. I set up a quick equation:
40sts/6 = X/4
After some quick cross multiplication, I had a number of cast on stitches for my gauge. I then checked the pattern and luckily my number matched one of their sizes. So for this particular project, I knitted the smallest size in DK weight yarn instead of the largest size in sport weight yarn.
The other way to do this is:
Check the squematics for the project. If the sweater is supposed to be 18 inches across, for example, and you are getting 6 sts per inch on your new yarn, then you would need 6sts times 18 inches in order to get this size across. Again, check the pattern and see if there is a size that matches the number you are getting. Then you don’t need to do math the whole way.
Keep in mind that you need to knit for the number of inches that matches your desired size, not the size you are now knitting because of the new gauge. So for example, with this vest, I worked it to the length described in the largest size even though I am technically knitting the number of stitches on the smaller size.