Sunday, December 11, 2011

Measure Twice, Cut Once

An alternate title for this post might be "Hubris: A Primer". Or "Pride Goes Before A Fall".

Actually, "Gauge: I Does Not Have It" is probably best.

I've been working on a matching hat for my husband's Binary Scarf, so I measured the gauge on the scarf, did the math, and started knitting. I got through two character repeats before it was long enough to put on his head to measure, and it was obvious that something was wrong. So I threaded on a lifeline and slipped it off the needles to assess the damage.

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Ah, yes. That's going to be a slight problem when it's windy.

The gauge I (thought) I had measured on the scarf was 27 st/4 in -- maybe it is. I don't know. I had to change to my aluminum needles from my bamboo, so that probably didn't help. I was so high from my Binary success that I succumbed to the hubris and did not reswatch.

I'm getting closer to 18 st/4 in, which makes a lot more sense for worsted-weight yarn. So now comes the frogging, the recalculating of stitches, and a reconfiguration of what the darn hat was going to say. Here's hoping the second time's the charm.

Because if it's not, he's getting a cowl for Christmas.

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

I love this post! So funny because we have all been there! Your husband looks happy though so maybe if it turns out to be a cowl he will be ok!