A word about knitting needle size selection:
Needle sizes specified in my knitwear patterns refer to the required size of the STITCHES needed to match the gauge of the garment. This means that the stitches fit onto the knitting needle snuggly without hanging up consistently as they slide along.
If the stitch is so tight that it does not slide along the needle as work progresses, the stitch is too tight and does not fit the needle properly (and thus does not reflect the size of that needle). If the stitches slide off of the needle when it is held up vertically, the stitches likewise do not represent the size of the needle specified.
Needle sizes and gauges, especially those on yarn labels, have become virtually useless as standards shift to reflect loose knitting. Arbitrarily loose knitting throws out any possiblity of predictably reproducing the desired stitch sizes by others. Stitch sizes may vary from 1 - 3 needle sizes. In order for knitters to be able to reproduce results presented in patterns or with specific yarns, stitch size must truly reflect the size of the needle specified.
Likewise, yarn weight labels are no longer dependable as a true indication of the size of the yarn for producing a predictable gauge. I have been incensed on multiple occasions after receiving yarn orders from reputable sources for "worsted" yarns which are actually sock or fingering weight. They are likewise accompanied with needle sizes and gauges produced by sloppy knitting (not truly reflecting the actual size of the needle stated or the corresponding size of the stitches required for stability). This practice cannot be good for yarn manufacturers. While requiring more yarn, at the very least, or total replacement of an order, the alternative is that we knitters must re-write the instructions in order to use these yarns of entirely different weights with more appropriate needles for the desired knit garment.
Moving from sloppy gauge specifications (to indicate the needle and stitch size requirements) to inaccurate yarn weight (to indicate the size of the yarn strands) to wpi (wraps of yarn per inch) gave me hope of finding SOME standardization to allow all knitters to be on the same page when it came to communicating reproducibility of results. However, this has been a disappointment as well, as I am frequently dumbfounded as to how the specified wpi of a yarn can vary so much. Again, apparently the wrapping is sometimes being done as loosely as the knitting so that space exists between the strands as they are wound about a ruler. The opposite is possible as well, as a result of pulling the yarn too tightly or pushing the strands too tightly together around the ruler.
Needle sizes listed in knitting instructions need to return to reflecting the actual size of stitches required for reproducing a knit garment. We must have SOME sort of standardization as the basic foundation of our efforts to reproduce clothing treasures from balls of string. We used to, but we have wandered off course. Based on knowing the accurately standardized size of the stitch which we need to produce, we can all make informed accommodations in our choices for needle sizes based upon our individualized tendencies to be loose or tight knitters. As it is now, it has become a free-for-all scramble in a sea of multiple unregulated variables which we are forced to manipulate in order to get the results that we are after. At the very least, we should expect yarn labels to accurately reflect the size of the strands of yarn. This could most easily be achieved through listing the wpi of the yarn, but this will also require standardized instructions for how to accurately wind and scoot the yarn around a ruler or stick before measuring. I have received "worsted" yarns which may state 8 or 9 wpi on the marketing websites but actually yield 14, making them fingering weight.
If you have read my rant all the way to the end, I thank you - - and encourage you to speak up about your own frustrations with gauges, needle sizes, yarn weight labels, and wpi markings. You may have previously blamed yourself for the failure to reproduce a knit garment successfully when you were actually working with UNKNOWN fluctuations within the variables for your particular project.
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