Knitting Math

I started a new vintage sweater right as I was finishing the Marriner. This time it's a chunky cowl necked sweater from Vogue Knitting Spring-Summer 1965. Again, take a look at the neckline on that one! I chose inexpensive wool from knitpicks with a few different shades of green. To choose my size, I took a look at the listed measurements, and at the pattern picture--in which the sweater looks a little baggy on the model. Preferring more fitted clothes, I chose the size just below my measurements.

I was about 9 inches into the front, when I finally took out my tape measure--it was looking rather large. And indeed, the sweater was about 20" across! This would make the sweater 40" at the bust for the 34" sized person. The image below illustrates just how much extra room this sweater would have had, as compared to one of my fitted t-shirts. Needless to say, those 9" of sweater are now rewound into 5" of yarn ball.

What did I learn from this lesson? Always do your knitting math before starting a pattern. Had I divided the 80 stitches by 4 (the stitches per inch), I would have immediately known this would be larger than I wanted. Knitting math (of a more complicated variety) would have probably helped me regauge the Marriner pattern to suit my modern yarn.