Simplicity Itself

Dear Anne
I hope you have recovered from your surgery and are now feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed! I have a little contribution for the magazine, one that has seen me safely through many hundred knitted jerseys. It was shown to me by my Passap teacher Lena De Lima here in Johannesburg when I first bought my machine. I have never used any other method to work out the correct size of my jerseys. It is simplicity itself!

Knit a tension swatch, 40 stitches wide and 60 rows long. Leave it for a couple of hours or longer and then measure it. Find a calculator and the formula is:

What you want – the garment width or length
Multiplied by what you have – 40 sts or 60 rows
Divided by what you know – size of your swatch

This, believe it or not, will give you how many stitches or rows are required! I will give you an example to make things a bit clearer.

My tension swatch measures 40 sts / 15 cm and 60 rows / 8 cm
My jersey is 54 cm chest, 24 cm long without the rib.
54 cm x 40 sts = 2160 • 15 cm 144 stitches
Divide 144 into 2 for Back and Front 72 stitches.
For length, 24 cm x 60 rows = 1440 • 8 cm 180 rows.

It really is easy! Good luck with the magazine.
Jessie Dennett
Wakkerstroom, South Africa

That is brilliant. Now I will have to get my head round why it works.
WINIFRED
2009-01-08 12:03:02
I remember this from the late 70’s but when I got my green ruler never used the old formula.
Hilda Butler
2009-02-16 10:38:52
Thanks for the calculations. Its a big help to me as I am just a beginner. I have just got an E6000 if anyone has any easy patterns I would be grateful

Many Thanks
Sheila

alishecou
2009-08-22 21:46:11
Thank you for this – it looks ideal for cut and sew.
Lynne F
2009-09-19 09:50:48
Wow thanks 4 this I have been trying to work out a sweater I want to knit for my grand-daughter as she wants it different to my pattern I was reluctant to start it but now i’ll do it tomorrow fingers crossed I have recently come back to my 950i after a gap of 12 years and have found myself re-reading all my old magazines for tips and articles that I could do years ago without any problem I am picking it all up gradually and am looking forward to taking up my lovely hobby once more I’m open to any more tips anyone has though…
barbararoblin
2010-12-21 14:03:17
Hi
I’m also learning so what would I knit to make a 10 inch square in Double Knitting as I make wraps of love for 3rd World countries. Also how do I stop the edges from rolling in stocking stitch? Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks Maggie
landofoz
2011-07-20 12:52:04