Patty's Purls Of Wisdom

Technique, etiquette and lifestyle advice for the modern knitter.

- Patty Lyons

Dear Patty,

Please settle a fight between my friend and me. I say you can change the size of your sweater by changing your gauge (after all, that’s what Elizabeth Zimmermann did on her Baby Surprise Jacket pattern), but my friend says it’s a terrible idea. I asked her why, and she came up with the oh-so helpful “I just heard it didn’t work.” Who’s right? Come on, say it’s me! - Gloating in Advance

Dear Gloating,

OK, get ready to do your happy dance— while eating crow. You are right … as is your friend (sorry). Mathematically, you can absolutely change the size of a garment by changing the gauge, but there are a few issues that sometimes make it less than ideal. First, you have to consider both stitch and row gauge. They don’t necessarily change at the same rate. So, once you do the math to figure out what width you’ll get by following the pattern exactly with your new stitch gauge, you may find you need to alter the pattern when it comes to shaping based on your new row gauge. This is not a big problem for a baby sweater with no shaping, but for a more complex garment, it’s sometimes more trouble than it’s worth.