FDKK: Re-jigging patterns part 1 - substituting yarns
As you can probably tell from the 'blurb' in my banner, two of my loves are knitting and fashion dolls, as well as knitting for fashion dolls. One of the questions I hear continually is how to resize and rejig patterns, either from one type of doll to another, from human size to doll size or by using a different type of yarn to the one stated in the pattern.
I'm going to tackle each of these questions using examples and I'll even include a downloadable fact sheet (bonus!) In some cases I'll include a free pattern too.
Anyway, in the first of a few parts, here's how to change the yarn stated in the pattern to another. This is particularly good if you want to make the pattern in a finer yarn, or if the yarn stated in the pattern is one that you haven't got or if you'd prefer to make it in a different yarn.
The pattern I'm going to use is my own design for 16" dolls such as Tyler Wentworth and Gene called (originally enough) Fringed Dress and can be downloaded at the end of this post. So, here we go.
The Fringed Dress has a gauge of 6 stitches per inch. My (imaginary) substitute yarn has a gauge of 10 stitches per inch. The pattern says to cast on 58 stitches.
58 divided by 6 = 9.66666
The answer actually came out longer, but we'll shorten it. Whenever you get a long answer, round the number down to the nearest decimal point.
58 divided by 6 = 9.6
We take this answer and multiply it by the gauge of the substitute yarn.
9.6 x 10 = 96
So, with our new yarn we'd cast on 96 stitches. Hurrah! As I said earlier, you'll use the 'stitches in pattern' part of the equation wherever there's a certain number of rows or stitches mentioned. A good example from the Fringed Dress is the armholes
p11, cast off 10 sts, p15, cast off 10 sts, p to end
Using our 'substitute yarn sums', we'll work it out as before.
11 divided by 6 = 1.8
1.8 x 10 = 18
Instead of purling 11 stitches, we'd purl 18 stitches. And for the 'cast off 10 stitches' part:
10 divided by 6 = 1.6
1.6 x 10 = 16
Means we'd cast off 16 stitches instead of 10. However, make sure that the number of stitches worked matches the same amount of stitches you should have in your row. Sometimes you have to do a bit of working out (occasionally the numbers may be one stitch out or something).
There, now you know how to substitute a yarn that has a different gauge! Remember, this also works for crochet and 'human sized' knitting.
I'm going to tackle each of these questions using examples and I'll even include a downloadable fact sheet (bonus!) In some cases I'll include a free pattern too.
Anyway, in the first of a few parts, here's how to change the yarn stated in the pattern to another. This is particularly good if you want to make the pattern in a finer yarn, or if the yarn stated in the pattern is one that you haven't got or if you'd prefer to make it in a different yarn.
The pattern I'm going to use is my own design for 16" dolls such as Tyler Wentworth and Gene called (originally enough) Fringed Dress and can be downloaded at the end of this post. So, here we go.
- First things first, you've got to do a gauge/tension swatch with your chosen yarn before you go any further. Yes, I know I know, doing tension swatches are boring, but trust me it's worth it! One of the things I hate most is when I read a knitting pattern for a doll and it states "Gauge not crucial" ARRRRGGGGHHH! Of course it is! If the gauge is wrong then the pattern won't come out as it should for the intended doll (and I've learnt this the hard way when I didn't check my gauge once, and the sweater I was knitting for Tyler ended up fitting my 22" American Model. Be warned!)
- Now you've got your gauge swatch, look and see how many stitches you get to the inch/centimetre. It doesn't matter if you use inches or centimetres, as long as you're consistent and stick to the same throughout; no flitting from cm to " and vice-versa. For me, I can work in both, but I know a few people out there can't convert between them.
- OK, you've got your stitches per inch/centimetre. Take a look at the pattern and see what the gauge is for the yarn they have.
N.B. Make sure you read the gauge properly; in the Fringed Dress pattern I give the tension over 5 centimetres (2 inches), so to get the stitches per inch I have to divide by 2 (and for centimetres, divide by 5). Some patterns may give it over 10 centimetres (4 inches) or just the 1 inch. Double check to avoid a sizing disaster! - Here's where the maths comes in. The equation goes like this:
Stitches in pattern divided by pattern stitch gauge multiplied by substitute stitch gauge
'Stitches in pattern' refers to anywhere it mentions a certain number of stitches or rows, such as when casting on.
The Fringed Dress has a gauge of 6 stitches per inch. My (imaginary) substitute yarn has a gauge of 10 stitches per inch. The pattern says to cast on 58 stitches.
58 divided by 6 = 9.66666
The answer actually came out longer, but we'll shorten it. Whenever you get a long answer, round the number down to the nearest decimal point.
58 divided by 6 = 9.6
We take this answer and multiply it by the gauge of the substitute yarn.
9.6 x 10 = 96
So, with our new yarn we'd cast on 96 stitches. Hurrah! As I said earlier, you'll use the 'stitches in pattern' part of the equation wherever there's a certain number of rows or stitches mentioned. A good example from the Fringed Dress is the armholes
p11, cast off 10 sts, p15, cast off 10 sts, p to end
Using our 'substitute yarn sums', we'll work it out as before.
11 divided by 6 = 1.8
1.8 x 10 = 18
Instead of purling 11 stitches, we'd purl 18 stitches. And for the 'cast off 10 stitches' part:
10 divided by 6 = 1.6
1.6 x 10 = 16
Means we'd cast off 16 stitches instead of 10. However, make sure that the number of stitches worked matches the same amount of stitches you should have in your row. Sometimes you have to do a bit of working out (occasionally the numbers may be one stitch out or something).
There, now you know how to substitute a yarn that has a different gauge! Remember, this also works for crochet and 'human sized' knitting.
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