2019-07-01_Simply_Knitting

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EXPERT ADVICE

Knittinga tensionsquaretocheckyourgaugeisa sure-firewayto

create knits that’ll fit you like a glove – our quick read shows you how

tension squares

F

orgreatresultsfromyourknitting

it’sveryimportanttoensurethat

youhavethecorrecttension–

thisdetermineshowlargeorsmallyour

garmentwillbeintheend.Thetensionyou

needtoknittoisgovernedbyyourneedle

sizeandisusuallystatedintheknitting

patternandontheyarn’sballband.Before

startinganyproject,it’sa goodideato

knita smallsquarewiththeyarn,calleda

tensionsquare.Someknittersseethisasa

chore,butit’sreallyimportantif youwanta

garmentthatfitswellandlooksfantastic.If

yourtensionistootight,yourgarmentwill

comeupsmallerorshorterandmightnot

fityouproperly;if yourtensionistooloose,

you’ll find that the garment istoobaggy.

HOWTOMAKEA SQUARE

Tomakea squaretocheckyourtension

orgaugeusetheyarnandsizeofneedles

thatthepatternstates.Mostoften,you’ll

findthattheinstructionsgivenarefora

10x10cm(4x4in)square,buttocorrectly

measureyourtension,werecommendthat

youmakea squareatleast15x15cm(6x6in)

insize.Whenyou’vecompletedthesquare,

pinit toa paddedsurface(weuseda firm

cushion),aspicturedright,andgently

smoothit out,beingcareful that you don’t

distort the stitches.

STITCHTENSION

Toworkoutthestitchtension,usea pinas

a markerandinsertit verticallybetween

twostitches.Then,usinga rigidruler,

horizontallymeasure10cm(4in)andplace

anotherpininthefabric.Countthenumber

ofstitchesbetweenthetwopins.

If yourtensioncorresponds

withthatgiveninthepattern

youcanstartknitting.

However,if youhavemore

stitchesthanisstated

inthepattern’stension

guide,it meansthat

yourknittingistootight;

trymakinganothersquare

knittedonneedlesthatareone

sizebigger.If youhavefewerstitches

thanisstatedinthepattern’stension

guide, then your tension is too loose, so try

knittinganothersquareonsmallerneedles.

Continueincreasinganddecreasingneedle

sizesuntilyougetascloseaspossible to

thetension stated in thepattern.

ROWTENSION

Tocheckrowtension,

horizontallyinserta pin

andmeasure10cm(4in)

verticallyandinsertanother

pin.Counttherowsbetween

pinsandif theycorrespond

withthepattern,your

rowtensionisfine.If there

aremoreorfewerrows,use

smallerorlargerneedlestocreate

anothersquare.If therowtensionis

onlyslightlyout(suchashalfa rowtoone

row), it shouldn’t make too much dierence

tothefinalgarment,especiallybecause

mostpatternsinstruct youtoknitthe piece

toa certain length.

FORA DIFFERENTYARN

Usea tensionsquareif youhaveanold

patternthatwasintendedfora now

discontinuedyarnandyouwanttomakeup

thegarmentina yarnofthesameweight.

Forexample,if youwanttomakea DK

jumper,buya similarDKyarnandworka

tensionsquareuntilyouget the tension

stated in the pattern.

Pinyourworkoutand

usea rigidrulerto

measure your tension

The truth about...

Whenmeasuringyour

knittingit’sa goodideato

usea rigidruler.A rigidruler

willcompressyourknitting

flatteninganycurlyedges

andgivingyoua more

accuratereading

all round.

TOP TIP

NEXTMONTH

Nextissuewetaketheconfusionoutof

incorporating slip knots into your knitting.