You're making me dizzy...

Klaralund, that is.

Okay, I sat down last night with pencil and paper and worked out the math.

The first size is fine. You cast on XX sts for the front/back, which makes a total of XXX Divide by the gauge (16 sts over 4 inches, which is 4 sts per inch), that gives you a XX inch finish.

The problems are with the next three sizes up, XX inch, XX inch, and XX inch.

You cast on X stitches more for the XX, X stitches for the XX, and XX sts for the XX.

At X stitches per inch, that's X inch, X inches, and X inches increased in the next three sizes.

So to get the right sized finish, you'd have to cast on XX sts respectively for the next three sizes (and not the XX called for. Notice that this is a big difference in the number of stitches. And did anyone else wonder about that 41 inch finish? )

It also occurs to me that this was worked using a different gauge (gauge gauge gauge gauge gauge), but things are confusing enough without worrying about that. Besides, 16 sts over 4 inches seems a good gauge for Silk Garden...

I'm getting 17 sts to 4 inches, which works out to 4.25 sts per inch. To end up with a 44 inch finish, I need to cast on 44 times 4.25 or XX sts total for front and back. Divide by two, and I get X. Since I can't cast on a half a stitch, I can cast on X stitches. I'm going to cast on X, and count the extra stitch as selvedge.

I worked all this out last night, and I was still thinking about it this morning, trying to find out what I've missed. I think for many of us, our reaction to pattern errors is that it *must* be us. And though sometime it is, making Stupid Knitting Errors, in this case I don't think so. Particularly since the numbers for the first size work out correctly.

Here's another thought I had -- what will this do to the yarn requirements? What if the pattern was written and knit for the first size, and then everything extrapolated for the larger sizes?

Oh, and what about the sleeves? There is a half inch width difference between all the sizes, is that appropriate? Essentially the whole garment is just four big rectangles...

Hmm.

Comments

[Wendy]

Yuh-huh. I did the math for sizing this morning and had the same "What the . . . ?" reaction. And figured it had to be me doing something stupid.

But it ain't. The pattern is bizarre.

[katherine]

Yup. It's hard to break out of the habit of blaming one's self, especially when math is not one's best subject, but it really does have some problems.

I've decided to start mine now, since I'd like to have it for the fall, and I'm making detailed notes as I go along. I'll post them here, but if you were planning to have a klaralund-along page...

[Rose]

Hey I was just told by someone you had sizing issues with Klaralund too!!

I also cast on 94 sts for the 44" size after I knitted about five inches of it. (Yes, I am guilty of using my sweater as my gauge!)

What are you going to do regarding the arms??? I haven't got that far yet, but I may have to rethink this before I continue. I am doing it in Kureyon instead of Silk Garden (got gauge of 17sts per 4" too). I know it won't be as drapey as SG... We shall see.

[Ginny]

My copy of Book #2 is currently sitting on e Bay awaiting my winning it. I have a ton of Silk Garden here that would be perfect, but it sounds like I'm in for a tough go. Wendy e-mailed the designer regarding the bizarre sizings, and I am looking forward to reading the response, if any.

Thank you for posting this, as it will save me hours of heartbreak.

[Steph]

Thanks for doing the math and saving me from a knitting disaster. I tend to notice these problems after rather than before knitting.

And good on you to say it's the Pattern not You that's in error.

Where did you get the book anyway? They didn't have it at Romni when I was there Saturday.