Gauge issue, Horizontal V Vertical

[chrishazzoo]

I constantly have problems getting my row gauge to be "right". By using a bigger hook, I can always get my stitch length correct but can rarely get the height to be "high" enough. I have tried loosening my stitches but still have the issue....What am I doing incorrectly?

[Stacey]

I can almost never get the row gauge right--my stitches just come out a little shorter than most people's. In a lot of cases it's not critical (with most things I make, I can just add extra rows or make other little adjustments), but with things like clothing it can make a huge difference. I've never tried a sweater yet because of that LOL but otherwise it hasn't caused me big problems. (Trying to crochet looser didn't help me, either--I'd just gradually tighten up again as I went along because when I got into the rhythm of it I'd go back to my natural tension.)

 

If it's something where getting both stitch and row gauge right is absolutely critical, you could try using an extended stitch, where at the beginning you do an extra yarn over, pull up a loop before completing the stitch as you normally would. I'm not sure if that makes much sense... as an example here are instructions for extended dc: http://www.stitchguide.com/stitches/crochet/stitch_pages/cro_double_crochet.html It's at the bottom labeled "long double crochet" -- you can do this with pretty much any stitch. Dang. I think that was the wrong link, sorry! I can't find my link to extended dc instructions--I was sure I had one. Hmm.

[crochet smartcat]

If you look closely at the instructions for doing a double or half-double or treble, the instructions show pulling your loop up high to the height of the previous stitch, before you yo and pull through any loops. Try it, I have found that this extends the height of my stitches some.

[luckygrrl]

I have this problem too, I should try that sometime. I'm working on something right now in which the finished product should have had 15 rows. It took me a whopping 23 rows to achieve the same height!

[sjkmaurice]

Truthfully, I don't worry about the height of my stitches, just the width. Most clothing patterns say to go X inches instead of X rows so it doesn't matter. The ones where it does say to go X rows, I calculate what it would take for me to get there and write that number in so I don't forget. If it's for an afghan, I buy a skein extra to make sure I don't run out in the end.

[chrishazzoo]

I was looking for information on how to do a cross stitch, this site had little videos on how to do the stitches. I found out what I was doing wrong was tightening my stitches each time I pulled the loop through. When watching these videos, I found that the person made their regular treble and double crochets kind of like a popcorn stitch...not pulling tight until the stitch was completed. My trebles and doubles are now a decent height, I still have to get used to this technique though!

http://www.stitchguide.com/stitches/crochet/stitch_pages/cro_triple_treble.html

I don't know if this will help anyone..I hope it does!

[Dejhia]

Truthfully, I don't worry about the height of my stitches, just the width. Most clothing patterns say to go X inches instead of X rows so it doesn't matter. The ones where it does say to go X rows, I calculate what it would take for me to get there and write that number in so I don't forget. If it's for an afghan, I buy a skein extra to make sure I don't run out in the end.

 

I do the same thing. 'Cept I work small both in width and height... SO I convert my pattern into inches completely, and then into the gague I'm working in. Excel is a great help with doing all the conversions.... So far, I have only made one project on gague ..... THough, my height wasn't right... But, my width was.. .And, like Sjkmaurice said, the pattern gives all of the heights in inches so it didn't matter....

[Cathy W]

Truthfully, I don't worry about the height of my stitches, just the width. Most clothing patterns say to go X inches instead of X rows so it doesn't matter. The ones where it does say to go X rows, I calculate what it would take for me to get there and write that number in so I don't forget. If it's for an afghan, I buy a skein extra to make sure I don't run out in the end.

 

Doing that with clothes, though, I always worry about armhole and neckline shaping. It's great to just work in one extra row to make the body long enough, but doesn't the armhole shaping on a sweater need to be pretty precise to match up with the sleeve cap, which also needs to be pretty precise?

[goldengal]

I have the same problem with heights of stiches. However, the only time I attempted a cardigan, the sleeves turned out perfect. The neckline needed some additional rows though, but that was easy. The real problem I had was the actual body was too wide for me as I didn't check as I went!!

[sjkmaurice]

Doing that with clothes, though, I always worry about armhole and neckline shaping. It's great to just work in one extra row to make the body long enough, but doesn't the armhole shaping on a sweater need to be pretty precise to match up with the sleeve cap, which also needs to be pretty precise?

 

 

I cheat. I've never made sleeves and sewn them in. I've always figured out the stitches from the shoulder down, connect it directly to the armhold opening and work in rounds.

[Stacey]

I have the same problem with heights of stiches. However, the only time I attempted a cardigan, the sleeves turned out perfect. The neckline needed some additional rows though, but that was easy. The real problem I had was the actual body was too wide for me as I didn't check as I went!!

Oh, I'm really glad to hear that! I've never made anything with sleeves before, and I'm much more likely to actually try one now after reading that it might actually come out right anyway

[Dejhia]

I cheat. I've never made sleeves and sewn them in. I've always figured out the stitches from the shoulder down, connect it directly to the armhold opening and work in rounds.

 

That's a good idea... I hadn't thought of doing that.... I am working on a sweater right now... It might be easier to do that than convert the gague given to inches and then convert to my gague...... I will keep that idea in mind.