How important is tension or gauge (if you're reading and American pattern)?

Hello there, some of my ideas for Blogs come from Questions frequently asked at yarn shows and email queries. I was prompted to write this Blog after completing a New colourway of my Wave Ripple Crochet baby blanket.

Making a new sample

I'd been wanting to make a new colour version with softer shades and I'd selected my colours and packed the yarn in my bag to take on a trip to France back in October 2023. I had the pattern with me and had already set up the first few rows before we set sail. What I should have done was checked the tension guide detailed in my pattern! I neglected to do this and cracked on with the sample.

Sirdars Replay yarn is a great non stretchy and non splitty yarn and is a dream to crochet with, I raced through the sample. Now for a bit of extra detail; the kit comprises of 5 colours and 1 neutral shade separating each coloured stripe. I knew from making the first sample that nearly all the coloured yarn is used up with 6 colour repeats. So when I had completed nearly 5 repeats with not much yarn left I was really puzzled!

What had happened?

Had I only ever made the original sample with 5 repeats? Was there a mistake in the pattern? After a quick inspection of the original and the new sample I saw the error of my ways, my tension was too loose!! You can see from the picture the new sample (underneath) is wider. The new sample was a whopping 9 centimetres wider than the original! By crocheting looser than the first sample I had made the new one wider and used more yarn. How could this have happened? Well believe it or not we knit and crochet differently according to our moods, a more relaxed state of mind produces loser work and tension and frustration and tension can produce a tighter knit or fabric!

Does it really matter?

Well in the case of this blanket I would say not overly as its purpose is to keep a baby or toddler warm and it's exact measurements are not vital to this job! However when making a garment if you are looking for a good fit then I would strongly recommend making sure your tension is correct to the patterns instructions.  

Apart from your garment not coming out the right size be it too long, short, wide or narrow you could find that you do not have enough yarn to complete the item. If you commonly find that you don't have enough yarn to complete a project chances are it's likely that your tension is too tight or too loose. 

So what is a tension square?

Every ball of yarn has a ball band with useful information printed on it! One of these is the tension square detailing how many stitches and how many rows you should knit when knitting a piece 10cm x 10cm square. Typically a double knit yarn will have 22 stitches across 10cm of knitting and 28 rows across 10cm of knitting.

Too many stitches - if you knit say 32 stitches across this means you have knitted too tightly your finished piece will be too small, try using a bigger needle or hook, say 4.5mm or 5mm. 

Too few stitches - and similarly 18 stitches across 10cm will mean your work is too lose and the garment will end up too big, try dropping down a needle or hook to a 3.5mm or 3mm. 

I typically use a half or whole size bigger when I knit! Trust me it's always worth the time to get this right to avoid disappointment and a garment that isn't wearable and wasting some lovely yarn. 

Note, that if you change your needle size for width tension the row tension will automatically correct itself and should match the desired number for the yarn you are using.

Keep practicing and it'll come right in the end!