So, you saw this really cute sweater pattern in a magazine and you’ve just got to knit it right now! But, before you dive in there with both needles blazing, follow these tips to ensure that your sweater looks as good as the one in the magazine.

1. Know the Fiber Content

    No, I’m not talking whole grain here, I’m talking about what makes up the fiber content of your yarn. If you can’t find the exact yarn that the pattern calls for then it’s time to go hunting – yarn hunting that is. Whether you get your yarn from your LYS (Local Yarn Shop) or a big box craft store, it’s important to have an idea of what you want before you walk in the door. I know all the pretty colors and textures are distracting, but giving in to temptation and walking out of the door with chucky alpaca when you really need sport weight cotton is something that you will regret later. Trust me on this. I know. So, what should you do? First, think about how and when you are going to wear the finished object. Is it a summer tank top? Then you should probably go with a plant fiber like cotton or hemp. They tend to breathe better, keeping you cool on a warm day. Is it a big floppy cardigan suitable for snuggling in while sipping hot chocolate on a cold and rainy night? Then go for an animal fiber like wool, alpaca, or even buffalo. It’ll keep you warm and toasty. Or, is it one of those slinky little numbers destined to be a show off as you shake your thang out on the dance floor? Well, go for flash, then! There’s lots of smooth and sparkly silks or novelty yarns out there, even ones with sequence or beads already threaded onto them. Just knit along and you’ve got instant shazam, no fancy beading skills needed.

2. Size Matters
   

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    These days most patterns printed in the US have an icon of a little ball of yarn with a big number on its label. This tells you the weight (aka size) of the yarn that the pattern calls for. The number 4 means worsted, or medium, weight. The smaller the number, the thinner the yarn. Ditto goes for the larger numbers. But in reverse, of course. If you’ll pick up a ball of yarn…yes, it is pretty and soft…you’ll notice the same picture on the yarn label. If they match, then you’ve got a winner! Yea! If they don’t match, put it down. Pat it nicely and walk away. If there’s no little picture on either you pattern or your yarn ball you’ve got a teency bit of math to do. It’s not hard, so just take a breath and follow me.
   At the beginning of your pattern, up near where the materials are listed, there’s a section called either “gauge” or “tension.” Here’s where they tell you how many stitches you will get per inch when knitting with the recommended yarn. Or sometimes, they’ll tell you how many stitches you’ll get in four inches (go ahead, it’s ok to snicker.) If you look at the yarn label, it will tell you the same info. Sometimes it’s written out in lovely, easy to understand words. Other times it’s printed under a little grid or box. If that’s the case, then it’s telling you the four inch stitch count. You’ve got to get these two numbers to match. Say your pattern calls for Super Fabulous Scrumptious yarn knit at four stitches per inch. You pick up Random Really Soft yarn off the shelf and the little number under the grid is 16. That means you’ll get sixteen stitches over four inches if you knit with this yarn. If you divide 16 by four to get the number of stitches in one inch, you get…yep, you guessed it: four! Woo-hoo! Grab that Random Really Soft and run before anyone else can snatch it off the shelf. Oh, wait. How much should you buy?

3. Enough is Never Enough

   If the publisher of your pattern is a really nice person, he or she will have included the yardage in a ball of the recommended yarn, usually right next to the yarn name under “materials.” Multiply this number by the number of balls it calls for and you know how many yards you will need to make your project. But, sometimes the pattern doesn’t include the yardage. Sometimes it only will only list how many grams you need. This is better than nothing, but it only works if you use the same type of yarn. For example, if your pattern calls for three 200 gram balls of Cool Chick’s Cotton, but you want to knit it out of Sexy Mama’s Silk, you’ve got a problem. Cotton and silk do not weigh the same, so they will not have the same amount of yardage per gram.

   Or maybe the pattern doesn’t list anything at all. (Of all the nerve!) Actually, that happens a lot. And when it does, you’ve got three courses of action: go to your LYS, surf the web, or grab a similar pattern. Many locally owned yarn shops will have what I affectionately call The Magic Book. This book lists all those fun facts like gauge, yardage and fiber content for lots and lots of different yarns. Unless it’s an obscure brand, it’s a pretty good shot that the recommended yarn will be in there. Or you can try to find the yardage online. Some yarn manufacturers list that sort of thing on their website, or you may just find a kind person has posted it in a message board some where, bless their furry little soul. As a last resort, find a similar pattern that lists the yardage and have a go at guesstimating. Whatever method you use, always buy one ball more than you think you’ll need. It’s better to have a ball left over than to run out at the end. And the yarn shop doesn’t have anymore. Or the dye lot’s changed. Or the yarn’s been discontinued. Or…well, you get the picture.

4. Until Bind Off, Do Your Part
   

   Always, and I mean always knit your project with the very same needles with which you knit your gauge swatch. I can’t stress it enough. Always, always…Wait, you were planning on knitting a gauge swatch, right? Well, you’ve got to. You just do. I’m sorry, but if you are planning on knitting a wearable object you must know with what needles to knit it. It really doesn’t take that much time. Honest. Just cast on enough stitches to make four inches and knit for four inches in the pattern it calls for under that “gauge” or “tension” section. It’s usually stockinet stitch, but if the garment is knit entirely in a fancy stitch pattern they may ask you to make the gauge swatch in that, too. When you’ve knitted your swatch, measure how many stitches you get in an inch with those needles. Too many? That means your needles are too small and you should go up a size. Not enough? The needles are too big and you need to drop down a size. Be sure to knit another swatch in the new needle size to be on the safe side. Ya, I’m speaking from experience here. Floppy hats can be cute, but not if they’re so floppy that they flop right over your eyes.
   So why’s it so important to use the very same needles to knit your project? Believe it or not, most people knit at different gauges with different needle materials. I tend to knit much tighter on bamboo that I do on plastic or metal. Keep the same set of needles throughout the whole project and your life will be that much simpler.

5. The Fine Print

   So you’ve got your yarn, you’ve got your needles, and you’re rarin’ to go. Just one more thing: read the entire pattern before casting on. Be on the look out for phrases like “while at the same time” or “on the left side only.” Sometimes patterns are worded weirdly, and if you miss part of the instructions because you were just knitting as you came to it, you will be very unhappy and could possibly entertain thoughts of taking out your frustration by throwing your project out of a seven story window. Or out of a moving car. Or maybe that’s just me… Anyway, be sure you know what you’re doing, all of what you’re doing before you set out to do it.

Ok, so you’re all set now. Before you know it you’ll be able to reply, “Thanks, but I knit it myself,” to all those people who just must know where you got that sweater. So, get to knittin’ and remember the best tip of all: have fun with it!