quick gauge question

I've heard that it's because if you get the same gauge in stockinette the designer does, then you'll have the right gauge in the stitch pattern.

sue

Your gauge knitting stockinette in the round (where all stitches are knit) is different from your gauge knitting flat with the same needles and same yarn, because every other row is a purl row, and your gauge is very likely different on purl stitches than on knit stitches.

That's the official story. Sometimes I live dangerously and knit a flat swatch, but I have only myself to blame when it doesn't work out.

Georgia

I have found that a guague in the round is , strangely enough a bit different than a flat one ,, as in the rounds it sort of works to both sides ...i have no other explanantion . Ps my late mother and me when trying to knit the same , had to take different sizes for plain knitting and same sizes for patterns ?????? mirjam

Lisa,

Georgia has the answer. I have over a half dozen books on socks. They all repeat what Georgia says, " you get a different tension on perl than you do on knit. Switching back and forth from perl to knit does make a difference, the finer the yarn the larger the difference. I have tried it several times.

Hugs & God bless, Dennis & Gail

Thanks, Everybody! I'll go ahead and knit the swatch in the round. If I'm going to to do it, I might was well do it right. :-)

lisa

Or you could live dangerously and just start the sock :) Socks are one thing I never swatch for since they're small enough that it's not a huge waste of time if you end up having to rip back a few inches. Also, if I complete them and they don't fit me, I probably know someone else who they'd fit. Of course, that strategy doesn't work if you're using a special yarn or have a specific recipient in mind.

Good luck!