Archive of Thread: Green ruler/Blue ruler Back

4 years ago
Hi Sue,
I bought the "green ruler" and the "blue ruler" to measure my swatches. They work very well when using stockinet stitch. I'm planning to make a sweater using tuck stitch, my questions are: what is your experience or opinion when measuring any other stitch than stockinet with these rulers? Are they as accurate as when measuring stockinet?

Kind regards,
Lola.

4 years ago
Hi Lola!
YES!  The key is to mark the stitches clearly.  You want to be able to identify and isolate the stitches you are measuring.

There are some suggestions in this video ... but do whatever works for you to place markers

4 years ago
I love that horizontal weave idea for the rows. I also like the running long vertical stitches for the stritch count. I think that would distort a lot less than what I do.  I these methods for the row/stitch count would make it much easier to count, even without a pattern stitch. However, I domhave a question and a comment.

QUESTION
What is the green ruler and blue ruler? I did a search in the site and could not find them.

Thank you.

COMMENT
One thing, though. Since you really need to wash the swatch as you would the finished item before measuring, I would think you need to fasten both ends of the long vertical stitches and the woven horizontal stitches so that they don’t get pulled out in the washing machine and/or dryer, correct? You know, like you do when sewing garments, you fasten when starting a sewing section, and fasten when ending a section, or starting a new piece of thread to keep it from getting loose.

4 years ago
Green and Blue Ruler ... these are used to measure specific stitches and rows and indicated the gauge without having to do any math.

Here's a link to a video discussing the 2 methods

4 years ago
[QUOTE username=Cynthia Quill  Cynthia Quill userid=6406272 postid=1308414773]I love that horizontal weave idea for the rows. I also like the running long vertical stitches for the stritch count. I think that would distort a lot less than what I do.  I these methods for the row/stitch count would make it much easier to count, even without a pattern stitch

COMMENT
One thing, though. Since you really need to wash the swatch as you would the finished item before measuring, I would think you need to fasten both ends of the long vertical stitches and the woven horizontal stitches so that they don’t get pulled out in the washing machine and/or dryer, correct? You know, like you do when sewing garments, you fasten when starting a sewing section, and fasten when ending a section, or starting a new piece of thread to keep it from getting loose.[/QUOTE]

You are right!  If you are machine washing your swatch you'd need to secure the marking strand.
Here's an example of a slip stitch swatch.

• I started the swatch in slip and knit a few rows.
• I took a contrasting yarn and wove (weaved?) it over an under the needles to isolate the rows I'll measure
• Then just continued in slip

Since I hand washed the swatch, I didn't secure the marking strand, but Cynthia makes a good point if you are going to machine wash it.