Gauge Matters

You, dear knitter, already know that gauge matters. Sometimes it is nice to see proof in the world.

The Quotidian Quest socks I designed for Blue Ridge Fiber Fest were originally designed using some scrap sock yarn. I think this was the yarn from Merike Saarnitt's dye class at STITCHES South 2013. It was basic sock yarn. That worked . . . until I got the yarn from Blue Ridge Fiber Fest. That yarn turned out to be much thinner. It's good yarn from Mountain top Fibers, but not what I anticipated.

There are a couple ways to deal with this.

Since getting a sample worked up and photographed was a high priority, I did the easy thing and worked the yarn doubled. This gave me something close to the gauge I expected. The pattern was designed for 24 stitches in 10cm/4 inches. The sample sock is 28 stitches in 10cm/4 inches. It fits a slightly smaller foot than mine. But, overall, it works.

I realized from swatching this fine yarn would make a lovely sock fabric if worked at a gauge of 40 stitches in 10cm/4 inches. Yes, 10 stitches to the inch. I did it on 2mm/US 0 needles. The result is excellent. Of course, the socks also took much longer to make.

I'll be teaching the class this weekend at Blue Ridge Fiber Fest. When I was updating the handouts, I realized the last time I taught my toe-up sock class was at Maryland Sheep and Wool in 2013. That's a full decade ago. <blows dust off the handout>  Fortunately, the handout didn't need a lot of updating. We shall see how this goes on Saturday.

And if you are someone who would like to make the sock at such a fine gauge, you can find the numbers I used in my project notes on Ravelry.