ideaphoria

THE PROBLEM THAT WASN'T

Some facts about the Salina sweater:

• I was knitting the red Salina sweater on size 4 needles, mistakenly thinking I was working on size 5s.
• In the process of knitting what I'd gotten done so far, I hadn't ever stopped to measure gauge.
• When I performed that assessment last week and measured the width of the back piece, the number I expected to see -- had I been using size 5s and been remotely close to gauge -- would have been 20 inches, or maybe 19.
• The number was 17-1/2.
• Although I couldn't get up much enthusiasm for it, I did knit a good-sized gauge swatch last weekend on size 5 needles.
• Measuring this gauge swatch showed me that I had two more stitches per four inches than the gauge stated in the pattern. I would still need to go up at least one needle size to get the gauge stated in the pattern.
• I could get up even less enthusiasm for knitting a second gauge swatch on size 6s.
• Which brings me to this last, subjective fact*: Re-knitting Salina, which is 97-percent stockinette stitch, was going to be pretty damn boring.

I remembered my experience in Catherine Lowe's workshop earlier this year, where she had said that, in general, your knitting will relax and your gauge will get larger when washed. My swatches for that workshop that had been right on gauge right off the needles. However, when I soaked and blocked the swatches, the knitting relaxed, and they ended up larger.

I got out the pieces of Salina that I have knitted so far -- the ones that are knitted on size 4 needles. I thought, I have nothing to lose.

I soaked and blocked the back piece yesterday, and here's how she turned out:

I didn't pin her out or stretch her in any way. I just patted her flat with my hands.

Miracle of miracles, the knitting relaxed a whole inch-and-a-half. I couldn't ask for anything more.

So I'm just going to keep going with what I've got, with my size 4 needles.

*Can facts be subjective, or must they always be objective? This is the kind of question I spent a lot of time puzzling over, in my days as a Philosophy major. We expect facts to be objective, verifiable, and true. So can a statement like, Re-knitting a piece that's 21 inches long and 19 inches wide and almost completely stockinette is boring, which is a subjective statement, be verifiable? Can it be true? Or is it mere opinion?

Posted by Karen at November 10, 2006 08:48 AM