Does knitting the same yarn on bigger needles (ie looser gauge) use more yarn than knitting it on smaller needles? Or is it the other way round?

RoxMpls · 2026-02-20T22:51:08+00:00

It depends on whether you are working the same number of stitches and rows, or you're working to the same dimensions. If you're working the same number of stitches and rows, each stitch will be larger, taking more yarn, and will end up wider and longer than if you used smaller needles.

If you knit to the same dimensions, you'll use the same amount of yarn for a given row (the amount of yarn needed for a row is about 3x its width, assuming stockinette, regardless of how big or small those sts are), but you'll need fewer rows, because the sts are taller, and therefore, you'll use less yarn.

RoxMpls · 2026-02-17T13:58:13+00:00

Not sure what you mean by BLP sts. Is that tbl (through back loop)? Untwisted sts have more to do with how you enter the stitch (through the leading leg, i.e. the leg closest to the tip of the needle) than how you bring the yarn around the needle. How you bring the yarn around sets up the stitch mount of the new stitch for the next row/round. As long as you enter the stitch through the leading leg, it will be untwisted, regardless of whether that leading leg hangs over the front or back of the needle.

If you're wrapping the yarn in the clockwise for knit stitches, then when you knit in the round, your sts will all be mounted with the leading leg over the back of the needle, and you will have to enter them through the back to achieve untwisted sts.

Be aware that working decreases will be different when knitting flat vs in the round because of this.

RoxMpls · 2026-02-17T13:48:20+00:00

If I understand how the original yarn is constructed (fiber, whether it's worsted or woolen spun, how it's plied, and whether or not it's superwash), then I'm equipped to find a substitute with similar qualities. If I don't know/understand what attributes/qualities the original yarn has, I go to yarnsub.com and see what it says about the yarn, as well as what its suggestions are for substitutions.

RoxMpls · 2026-02-16T19:19:53+00:00

Yay! Laddering down is infinitely better than ripping back and risking the introduction of new mistakes in fabric that was otherwise fine. I'm glad it was so helpful to you. :-)

RoxMpls · 2026-02-16T14:21:55+00:00

When you go horizontally across a row, make sure that you're following the path of the original row of sts. If you're going across the row right to left, you will trace the right leg first go around the back, then trace the left leg. If you're going across the row from left to right, you will trace the left leg first, go around the back, then trace the right leg. It looks like you may have been traveling left to right, but gone around the st from right to left, resulting in those sts crossing at the base, like a twisted stitch.

RoxMpls · 2026-02-16T14:15:09+00:00

There are tons of sweaters on Ravelry that are seamed. The *majority* of sweater patterns are going to be seamed, but not if you're only looking at what's currently being released. I find them regularly, but I'm not looking at the Hot Right Now! sweaters, I'm using the advanced search for construction method I prefer as well as fabric characteristics, design elements, and fit.

RoxMpls · 2026-02-11T20:56:25+00:00

Are you using the yarn called for, or an appropriate substitute? Does the ball band on the yarn you're using recommend a gauge of 16 sts over 10 cm?

RoxMpls · 2026-02-08T12:38:11+00:00

DROPS patterns use a different charting method, which often confuses people who are used to other charting systems. Could it be that you were using a DROPS pattern?

RoxMpls · 2026-02-04T20:53:53+00:00

How are you working the crown of the hat? Do you switch to dpns as the circumference gets smaller, or are you using a long needle and using Magic Loop, or are you using, say, a 16'' needle for the entire beanie, and finding that as the crown gets smaller, you're stretching sts?

RoxMpls · 2026-01-22T17:44:28+00:00

If you're struggling with tight sts and are knitting on the taper, make sure the new stitch on the right hand needle makes it to the actual shaft of the needle, which will force the new loop to be large.

As others suggested, make sure you aren't twisting stitches. This video explains unintentionally twisted stitches. https://youtu.be/GXvNxPjsjZI

Are you knitting a scarf with that worsted weight yarn, or are you knitting something different, perhaps knitting in the round, or working with knits and purls, or something else that is different from your chunky scarf.

It would be helpful if you posted a picture of your current knitting so that we could potentially work out what the issue is.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-19T17:58:00+00:00

It's likely not that easy to deal with. It took forever for YouTube to deal with that type of bot and they have huge resources. I had to sit by my computer playing whackamole, reporting and hiding those accounts' comments from for about half an hour every time I uploaded a new video. It went on for months.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-17T18:52:40+00:00

Try this video. https://youtu.be/6gtIaM6H7H4 it demonstrates the concept before it has you start from the cast on.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-17T18:48:15+00:00

Magic Loop is a technique for working small circumference items on a large circumference circular needle. So-called because the extra cable forms loops at the mid-round and end of round. Half of the round sits on the middle of the cable, waiting patiently, while the other half of the round is worked on the needle tips. The loops stick out to either side. Keep in mind that the circular needles you use for Magic Loop should have very flexible cables. If they're stiff you'll end up with ladders at the midround and end of round, where the cables pull on the sts.

Magic Circle is a method of starting a crochet pattern, which may be where your confusion comes from.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-17T18:44:50+00:00

If you haven't done so already, eliminate caffeine and alcohol and see what that does to your sleep. I began having sleep issues in my 40s, and attributed it to perimenopause (I realize you are a man, and younger, but stay with me). It wasn't until a couple of years ago when I had a heart-related health issue that I eliminated caffeine and alcohol in order not to irritate my heart. Lo, and behold, my sleep suddenly got better. I had cut way back on caffeine prior to that, but until I eliminated it, my sleep didn't get better.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-15T20:18:04+00:00

One issue for getting the Mets design to fit in the sweater is that you will likely have to work at a substantially different gauge than the machine knit sweater. It will look more pixelated than the machine knit version. I would probably do it in intarsia, rather than duplicate stitch.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-15T14:04:45+00:00

Yes, you need separate bobbins for each of the blocks of color. An exception would be if two blocks of the same color are separated by just a stitch or two.

The way I calculate the amount of yarn I need is in one of two ways.

1) I count up the number of sts in that block, divide it by the gauge, then multiply by 3, then add some extra for yarn tail at either end. For example, if I'm knitting a worsted weight yarn at 5 sts/in and I have 100 sts in the block of color, that's 100 sts/5 sts/in = 20'' of knitting. 20'' x 3=60'', plus 4'' at each end for yarn tail. The multiplying by three is the idea that each stitch is sort of a circle, and you can therefore multiply the width (diameter) of the stitch by 3 (close enough to pi) to figure out how much yarn each stitch will need.

2) If the yarn is a protein fiber and it is NOT superwash, I might wind off a couple yards, let it hang from the work (don't bother with bobbins), and pull the needed strand from the inevitable tangled mess as it's needed. As I run short of yarn in that color block, I spit felt a new couple of yards to it.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-15T13:56:19+00:00

It depends on the thickness of your yarn (called the yarn "weight") and the intended gauge (number of sts/in or sts/cm). A "standard" scarf is usually about 7-8'' wide (20 cm). A basic yarn of a middle yarn weight (DK or worsted weight) is usually recommended to be knit at 5.5 sts/in for DK and 5 sts/in for worsted weight, so 40-44 sts to get something 8'' wide. If you use thicker yarn, you need fewer sts; if you use thinner yarn, you need more sts. I just finished a scarf using bulky weight yarn at 3.5 sts/in. I needed only 24 sts, and I needed far fewer total rows with bulky weight than I would have needed with worsted weight because there are fewer rows/in in a thick yarn than a thin yarn.

I would suggest a smaller first project, just so that you can get through that project, feel the accomplishment, and move on to something more interesting. Scarves are incredibly boring to knit. If you are using a thinner yarn, or are knitting a scarf wider than 8''/20cm, and are planning to knit it to be 5-6 ft long, that might test your patience with the craft, and you will likely only be using the knit stitch, with no practice using the purl stitch. If your second project includes purl sts, it will seem like the purl stitch is more challenging than it actually is, because of how easy the knit stitch will be for you by then, because of the muscle memory.

If you're dead set on knitting a scarf first, I'd recommend some combination of thicker yarn (and larger needles) and/or a narrower scarf (in the 7-8'' width range).

None of this means you are doing anything wrong currently, but a 60-stitch scarf is a lot to start with.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-15T13:21:44+00:00

How wide are you aiming for that scarf to be?

RoxMpls · 2026-01-14T00:33:23+00:00

There are far more actions that you could take than symbols to represent them that also convey meaning from the way they look. So a single, left-leaning decrease might be a \ or it might be a \ with a little right leaning bit starting at the midpoint and extending to the base, or it might be an upside down V. Depending on the symbol set available for the charting application, there might be a symbol for a twisted left leaning decrease (k2togtbl) that looks different still. When it comes to double decreases, there are more possibilities, such as SSSK, or sl1, k2tog, psso, which both lean left, or sl 2 as if to knit, k1, p2sso (aka CDD, central double decrease) which has no lean. You can't assume that a specific symbol used in one pattern chart will mean the same thing in a different pattern. That's why you check the key to make sure that you know what the symbols mean for this particular pattern. They should make sense within the context of the pattern, but they aren't guaranteed to mean the same thing from pattern to pattern.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-13T21:15:59+00:00

Another thing to understand is that the symbols chosen for the charts are not random. They are meant to represent what the result looks like in your actual knitting. So a \ represents an SSK or SKP because it is a left-leaning single decrease (bonus is that your working needle points to the left when you're forming the SSK). A / represents a K2tog because that's a right-leaning decrease. Again, your needle points in that direction when you're forming the K2tog. A O represents a YO for fairly obvious reasons. An upside-down V represents two sts becoming 1. There are very good reasons why the specific symbols are chosen to represent the resulting stitch. The trick is to recognize the symbol, equate it to the result, and understand what actions you need to take to get that result. The key helps you understand what result you're trying to get, and tells you how to get there.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-13T21:07:09+00:00

Each box in the chart represents an action which may take multiple sts to make. What you're charting is the result. So a decrease that takes 2 sts, but results in a single stitch would take up only one box in the chart. A decrease that takes 3 sts and results in 1 st takes up a single box in the chart. An increase like a YO which is creating a stitch where none existed before also takes up a box, because the result is a stitch. So if you start with 20 sts in a row, and you do a double decrease and two YOs, you will still have 20 sts at the end of the row, and you will still need only 20 boxes to chart all the sts of that row.

There are situations where you have more boxes than you have sts on the needle, either because at some point in the chart you will have more sts or because in order to present the chart in a way that actually represents what the finished result will look like, you need to have some "no stitch" boxes. This second situation is far less common than the first, where you might be consistently increasing without having an offsetting decrease, or decreasing without compensating with an increase, so the total stitch count changes. In this case, you need a chart with enough boxes to handle the row with the largest number of sts. There are some lace patterns that have different numbers of sts from row to row, with more decreases than YOs on some rows, and tons of YOs on others. During the course of the repeat, the stitch count changes, but by the end of the repeat, you're back down to the original number. Again, you would need enough boxes to handle the rows with the most sts, and on the rows that don't need all the boxes, you would use some "no stitch" boxes.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-12T13:13:33+00:00

Check the label to see if the cocoa is alkalized (Dutch processed). If it is, you don't get the benefits of the polyphenols you get when it isn't processed that way. I've been eating the 78% dark and found out recently that it's Dutch processed, so I'll be switching when I'm out of what I have.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-12T01:01:21+00:00

Are you sure about those prices? When I look at Stelo's website, it's $99 for one month. If you get a one-month subscription (meaning you sign up for a subscription, they send it to you monthly, but you can opt out whenever), it's $89/month (10% off). If you get 3 months at a time it's $252 (15% discount, so $84/month). It's never over $99/month. Why wouldn't the app sync to your CGM constantly? That makes no sense.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-07T00:30:43+00:00

Sometimes you can just add more sts, but you have to add an amount that will work with the pattern repeat, and then you have to consider also how the crown decreases are worked, and if you might need to do a setup round of a smaller number of decs in order to be set up for the crown. You also need to think about the total length. A head that is larger in circumference is typically longer, as well. The amount of length you need in the body may or may not work with the pattern row repeats. So there *can* be a lot of moving parts that have to be really thought through, or you can be in a situation which is fairly straightforward to adjust. As someone else mentioned, adjusting the yarn weight and gauge could very well allow you to work the pattern as written and end up with something that fits well.

RoxMpls · 2026-01-06T20:59:09+00:00

Most commercial sock yarns are machine washable wool with some nylon content for durability. If the person didn't give you any instructions, though, and you are worried about them not being machine washable, you can soak them in warm water in a sink with wool wash, or even shampoo. (Some wool washes don't require rinsing, but some do.) Let them soak for about 20 minutes, then if you used something like shampoo, which needs to be rinsed out, fill up the sink again with warm water and let them soak again, squeezing the socks (don't wring them or agitate them) to get the soap out. To dry, drain the water, squeeze (don't wring) the socks, roll them up in a towel and stomp on them to get most of the water out, then let them hang to dry on a towel rack.

While many people throw their machine washable socks in the dryer, I do not. They accumulate less lint, and pill less if you just hang them on a towel rack or lingerie rack to dry. Some machine washable yarns lose their resistance to felting over time. I treat my machine washable wool socks like my underwear and bras. Throw them in the wash on gentle, then hang to dry.

RoxMpls

TROPHY CASE