Gauge questions

[catwoman]

Hi.I was wondering if it is very hard to get both the sts gauge and the row gauge for a pattern? I always get the st gauge but not the row gauge .i try to make my tension by holding the yarn around my fingers different ways and tighten or loosen the yarn .could a person if they wanted to could a person just get the sts gauge and just add more rows in the pattern?is st gauge more important then row gauge ?what do you guys think?

[magiccrochetfan]

this topic gets discussed a lot, and you can review previous discussions here by searching for the word gauge.  Please read this recent thread which has quite a few informative links and some discussion   (edit --sorry, i messed up the link the first time)  

 

 

[magiccrochetfan]

re the difficulty of getting both correct:  it can be; like everything else it depends on one's personal style and the specific yarn and stitch pattern.  

re doing extra rows if sts are too short:  that can work great if you are making a flat item in rows and you know the dimensions you want it to be.  if you are working for example a topdown raglan top, you may have to recalculate the rate of increases for the yoke.  if you are working a round doily, or filet crochet, you may be best off using extended sts.  

 

[Granny Square]

You are not alone, I think this is a common issue.

For a lot of things, you can just throw in extra rows and you are good to go--example, many clothing items will say something like 'continue in pattern until piece reaches 10 inches' for example.  Or, it probably doesn't matter in a blanket if you add another pattern repeat, even if it involves a few rows for the repeat.

But sometimes it does matter.

This blog by Doris Chan describes how different height tensions, and gives them names.  She is a lifter, and I'm a yanker.  I tried making one of her top-down sweater patterns, and I just couldn't do it.  When you are making a top-down raglan style top, you just can't add rows without messing up the raglan line.

Sometimes when you are making something in the round, like a doily, it can make a difference--if your stitches are too tall or too short, it can cup or ruffle.

If you can't adjust your impulse to yank a stitch down or lift it high, you could sub a taller or shorter stitch. Example, I've been meaning to try that sweater again, but use an extended DC instead of the DC it called for.

I see Magiccrochetfan has posted as I'm typing, (hi! ), she's right there are a lot of other posts on this.

 

[magiccrochetfan]

Hi Granny Square, I was surprised that I actually posted first 

[catwoman]

Hi magiccrochetfan and granny square.wow I didn't even know about the golden loop method or a lifter or a yanker  and how it affects your gaugeit would of maybe saved me from tearing my hair out  by trying to get the row gauge for  patterns.

Thanks for the help