August Meeting Recap: Changing the Gauge, Tips for Better Circulation, and More

Members beat the heat by enjoying the a/c and lots of cozy, cozy knitting at our August meeting.

Andrea Hungerford brought copies of By Hand Serial.

Keep Up with Events

We want to make sure you're in the know! In addition to announcing events at our meetings (thank you, Margaret!), we maintain our Community Events page regularly. If you use Google Calendars, you can add events we publish to your own agenda--easy-peasy. Just scroll to the bottom of our Community Events page, find the Google Calendar, click on the event you don't want to forget, and select "Copy to my calendar." 

Member Tip

Kate Cornelius shared with us a tip for helping with hand and finger pain. To ease pain from general inflammation or arthritis, she suggests compression gloves, specifically the design without fingers so that you don't have to put down your needles. You can find her pair here on Amazon. Find out what is meant by compression.

By Hand Serial
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By Hand Serial, created by Andrea Hungerford with photography by Karen DeWitz, is on its 6th issue. Upcoming features include Vancouver Island and Nova Scotia. Andrea had a preview of a gorgeous handmade leather pattern and needle holder. Look for the pattern and potentially even kits to make your own.

Program: Change the Gauge with Nele Redweik

As a knitwear designer and resident tailor at Portland's Wildwood & Company custom shop, Nele is a pro when it comes to changing the gauge. She walked us through the various ways you can tailor patterns to fit your unique vision.

You want to use the perfect yarn of your dreams for the perfect sweater of your dreams, but somehow the two just won't work together. Don't give up. You may be able to make it work.

Start Easy(ish)
If you've never knitted a sweater or gauge-changing before, perhaps you'd want to start with experimenting on simple projects like scarves and hats. Adding/reducing rows, pattern repeats, and stitches per inch isn't as vital to fit when working with hats and scarves as it is when working with sweaters. 

Jump Into Intermediate
If you've made a few pullovers and you're ready to start experimenting with your own designs, start with a simpler crew new, perhaps something knit flat or in plain knitting in the round. 

Go Pro
A seasoned gauge swatcher with no fear of maths? You're ready to play with unique shaping and advanced techniques. 

How To Make Your Sweater Fit You Better

What is it that you want to achieve? A longer hem? More contouring? To use a bulkier yarn? Determining your objective can help you decide what kind of modifications you can start making should you be working off of an established pattern.

To demonstrate the kinds of changes you can make, Nele walked us through an exercise.

Start with your pattern and gauge swatch (blocked). Determine your stitch and row gauge (both the horizontal and vertical stitch count in a 4" section). 

Then, grab your pattern's schematic or finished measurements for the size you choose. Compare your own gauge numbers to the pattern's and do a bit of math to determine the new cast on number, how many rows to knit before the armhole shaping, the rate of decrease for the neckline, etc. If you end up with fractions (3.32 stitches for example), round down to the nearest whole number. 

How Do You Know How Much Yarn To Get?
When using a different weight of yarn than what the pattern calls for, Nele recommends using the handy pamphlet Yarn Requirements by Ann Budd. Knitty also has a wealth of articles on going beyond the pattern with sleeves.

If you have questions for Nele, she's easily found on Ravelry!

Show and Tell

We had an impressive Show and Tell, including snowmanknitter’s trek on the Tour de Sock! Finishing 20th out of about 1700 (!!) on her first FO, Tour de Sock 2018 - Marvin, it took her 20 hours and 5 minutes to complete the socks. We’re cheering her on as she continues!

Sunshine Division Hats

We are still collecting hats until the October 11th meeting. Free yarn is available at the September meeting if you need some (and love to work under a tight deadline). We're up to 91 hats, so keep them coming!

September 13th - Next Meeting
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See you next time with ​Parna Mehrbani, local knitting teacher and an intellectual property lawyer, who will present "The (C) Word:  Copyright for Knitters."