Firstly, I want to thank all of you for your encouragement and kind words after completely losing it yesterday. Having had a good night’s sleep the world is much rosier.
Ok, the real content I wish to share- A true story of Knitting Math.
Many of my wonderful readers have expressed wonder at my ability to alter and tweak patterns so easily and effectively. For all knitting math the watchword is proportion.
Proportions are one of the very few things I learned from an inept 8th grade algebra teacher, but they are (I believe) the most useful math skill anyone can possess. If you have never used proportions I’d like to introduce them to you now.
Knitter… this is Proportion. Proportion… this is Knitter.
“Nice to meet you Proportion, what are you and why the heck should I care?”
“Nice to meet you Knitter. I am a simple math operation by which you can find out any information you wish, as long as you know the original proportion. You are not limited to given pattern measurements once you understand me. Watch how useful I am…
“Knitter Peggy wishes to make a Fishtrap Sweater. The base size given is for a 40″ sweater, but she needs a 48” sweater. What should she do? Gauge up and pray? Add stitches and pray? NO! Knitting is math, and math is here to help the knitter!
“So, Knitter Peggy knows that a 40″ sweater knitted with a gauge of 5 spi in stockinette requires 224 sts, and she wants a 48” sweater… all she needs to do is set up her proportion. If 40 = 224 then 48 = ?
“The trick is to cross multiply and divide. So, (48 x 224) divided by 40 = 268.8
A 48″ sweater will require approximately 268 sts.
“Knitter Peggy started the first sleeve/swatch with her percentages derived from her proportions when she noticed the sleeve was looking a little…um…smaller than expected. Silly Knitter Peggy did her proportions correctly but failed to knit a stockinette gauge swatch. Silly Knitter Peggy imagined her stockinette gauge was 5 sts per inch, when it was really 5.5. Now her numbers/assumptions are all wrong!
Proportions to the rescue!!! If 5 spi = 268 then 5.5 spi = ???
cross multiply and divide (5.5 x 268) divided by 5 = 294.8
“Knitter Peggy rounded 294.8 up to 296 for pattern considerations and has been happily knitting away on Fishtrap ever since. The body of her sweater is 48″ around, the small-ish sleeve was salvaged by continuing the increases to the new percentages. Knitter Peggy tweaked both chest measurement and gauge without swatching the patterns or guessing- and with minimal frustration and frogging.”
Thank you Proportion.
I am not suggesting that a swatch is not a valuable tool. It is. A swatch is a great start. Say you knit a swatch and you love the needles, you love the yarn, you love the density of the fabric, but it’s Not the Gauge Listed In the Pattern. You don’t have to change your gauge to fit the pattern. Proportions. Proportions. Proportions. You can change the pattern to fit your gauge, your knitting style, your recipient’s style, and anything else under the sun.
Your knitting is yours. Own it.
Cheers!
I do it allll the time… 🙂 Props to the great EZ for helping figure that one out! This is my gauge, it’s so much easier to adapt the pattern to it than my gauge to the pattern – why do people have so much trouble with this idea?
The sweater is looking gorgeous.
uh, I’d like to edit that… “props to EZ for helping *me* figure it out”
Excellent tutorial Ms. Proportions. I tell ya what, I’ll figure out what I need and I’ll send the info to you and you can tell me what to do. 🙂 Just kidding.
The post is excellent. I appreciate it. And that sweater is turning out just gorgeous.
In response to the comment you left on my blog. Ms. Peggy, you are amazing and the more I get to know you the less likely I am to be surprised at anything you can do.
I always thought I didn’t like math growing up but I do, I do! I love figuring out all the different equations for quilting and now, knitting. Great tutorial!
i was able to incorporate this into my math lesson last year. otherwise, what is the point of all those random calculations? Just like i incorporated tap dancing into my math lesson several years ago: how many beats to a step, fractions, etc.
Peggy, you know how much I love looking at pictures of your sweet ones. I especially like the one of all three of you, where you are wearing that lovely hand knit Icelandic wool sweater. All three of you look quiet relaxed and contented. love to all.
Love it! Thanks for another great tool!
Peggy,
Awesome job on Proportions.. I love examples of math from school applied to the real world… I remember back in elementary school (eons ago it seems) thinking.. why do I need to know this??? Great tutorial and wonderful looking sweater!
[…] honor of this day, too, you can check out the Chasing Bunny’s entry “Removing the VooDoo from Knitting Math”, which explains how proportions are used to adapt sweater patterns to different sizes, or “Knit […]
thank you!!!!! i get it!
в итоге: благодарю.
Any suggestions on a book with proportions for kid size stuff?