The Return of Gauge, Arch Nemesis of Knitters Everywhere

I finished a new project! I'm so happy for me, even if the finished product has ... issues.

As with all the items I've been binding off lately, I began this set of Norwegian-style snowflake/flower leg warmers quite a while ago. I think I finished the first leg last winter. So when I started the second leg, I only had a rough memory of how the pattern went (these are self-designed, based on a pattern from The Knitting Stitch Bible by Maria Perry-Jones).

At first, it seemed to be going quite well. I knitted loosely, because I have problems with stranded knitting being too tight. I figured that if the second leg was a little looser, all the better - the first was tight enough to be a circulatory aid. I bound off the project with brandy on the rocks and excitement in my very strange mind.


Unfortunately, I learned too late that I had likely used the wrong size of needles. I'd debated at the start whether I'd used size 6 or 8 for the first leg and just couldn't remember. The yarn (Plymouth Encore worsted weight, in black and cream) suggested size 8, so I decided that's what I must have used.

I was wrong. The second leg is a full inch longer than the first.


That said, it's not entirely a bad thing; the second leg is much more comfortable, while the first is tight, but not so tight as to be obnoxious. It will hardly be noticeable this winter when I wear them with boots or under my long skirts.

What did I learn, boys and girls. Gauge, damn it. Always measure gauge.

And keep more detailed notes in the future.

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