I had a oops. I didn’t guess correctly on my needle size to get the gauge I wanted for my Family Crew Neck. If I was a smart person I would have notes on the needle sizes I have used before for this yarn, but … no notes. So I guessed. The gauge isn’t even close to what I wanted. So my first beginning of this Family Crew Neck for my grandson is toast.

Say goodbye to this one, it’s way too big. The gauge is closer to 5 sts/1″ and I was looking for 6 – 6 1/2 sts /1″.
New start.

This is obviously working great. I got the gauge I wanted by going down a couple more needle sizes and voila, stripes are appearing like magic.
Here’s my weekly update.
Because I can’t just knit just one sweater, I’m also knitting a Circular Yoke for myself. I started with an I-Cord 24″ long. I think this is a fairly good size for the neck opening. The I-cord idea came to me because I didn’t want to knit a swatch. I could knit the I-cord to the length I wanted, gauge doesn’t matter, it’s the length I needed. Don’t you sometimes just want to dive in? I do most of the time.

Once I picked up stitches around the I-cord I worked short rows using these Twin Stitches. Here’s a close up video of them.
The complete round where you have to close those last gaps from the back and forth short rows, is so much better with these Twin Stitches.
I can’t wait to get going on my 1-round stripes. I’m going to use the helical stripe method. Have you tried this?
Cheers, Deb
Any Gauge and Gauge-Free knitting patterns by Deb
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What yarn are you using on the do-over for the grandson’s Family Crew Neck that is making the “stripes appear like magic”? Great kids’ sweater look, BTW!
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The yarn is Shelridge DKW. Lovely superwash wool.
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Interesting. I am going to have to give the Twin Stitch method a try. It looks like a great solution for managing short rows.
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It is great and easy to work. I bet you like it.
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