Adjusting for Row Gauge

As I was knitting the body of the Cambridge Jacket, I noticed that although my stitch gauge matched the pattern, my row gauge was larger. After a little calculating, I realized that my sleeves would end up too long if I didn't make adjustments in the sleeve shaping.

Here's how I figured out the sleeve length for my row gauge if I followed the pattern as written:

• The sleeve begins with a cuff of 1.5 inches.
• The shaping starts with an increase row which is repeated every 6th row 4 more times -- 1 + (6 x 4) = 25 rows.
• Then the increase rows are worked every 4th row 20 times -- 4 x 20 = 80 rows.
• 105 total shaping rows divided by my row gauge of 6 rows per inch equals 17.5 inches -- (25 + 80) ÷ 6 = 17.5 inches.
• A cuff of 1.5 inches plus 17.5 inches of shaping equals a sleeve which is 19 inches from wrist to underarm -- an inch too long!

And here's how I adjusted the sleeve shaping to reach the length I wanted at the row gauge I was getting:

• First I subtracted the 1.5 inch cuff length from the 18 inch sleeve length I wanted, leaving me 16.5 inches over which to work my increases.
• Next I multiplied 16.5 by my row gauge of 6 stitches per inch converting this into 99 rows over which to work my increases.
• Since my sleeve width increased by 50 stitches and each increase row had 2 increases (1 at each side), I knew I needed to fit in 25 increase rows.
• Finally, I added 1 to my 99 shaping rows (just to make my life easier) and divided by the 25 increase rows needed to find that I should work my increases every 4th row.

I'm happy to report that the sleeves did, in fact, come out to the right length, and they fit great. The moral of the story is that sometimes row gauge does matter.

tags: knitting  row gauge  cambridge jacket