Meditative or … boring?

The ribbing on the Belcarra Cardigan seems to be taking forever to complete.

It is simple crochet ribbing–working evenly, 14 stitches per row, the same row over and over–very meditative … or dare I say boring?



So much so that it is getting tedious and I am finding it hard to stay motivated, especially with the call of smaller projects offering more challenges and the promise of almost instant gratification.

It doesn't help that the cardigan is taking longer than necessary to complete due to many interruptions besides ripping out stitches:

• The latter part of the year is exam time, graduation time and  'concert season' for my children with lots of extra errands.  
• I have been ill for a couple of weeks (the usual cause–MCTD flare). When I cannot do anything the daily jobs pile up and crochet gets pushed aside as I try to catch up later.
• Weather is also warming up and the larger cardigan is less convenient to cart around.

Almost completed ribbing around collar and front edges.

Still, ribbing is great for crochet in front of the TV (not that I watch much TV in the first place), and, when I can manage to take it with me it doesn't need a pattern to go with it, as it is easy to remember 14 stitches on every row.

That's the width of the main ribbing: 14 stitches at my tension.

How I recalculated the ribbing

Remember, that my tension is different to the Robyn Chachula's original pattern because I am using a different yarn weight.  I worked out the number of rib stitches at my tension like this:

1. How wide is the 'collar and body' ribbing in the original pattern?
The schematic has limited usefulness because it does not include the ribbing so the answer is in the pattern instructions which are (US terms):

ch 19, sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across … join ribbing to garment; 

i.e. 18 chains for 18 stitches and 1 turning chain. 

Therefore the original pattern calls for ribbing 18 stitches wide.

2. How wide are the original 18 stitches in inches or centimetres?
The answer is in the gauge specifications:

20 sts and 14 rows = 3¾ inches by 4¼ inches in wallpaper cluster stitch. 

This is the only gauge measurement given in the pattern so I will work from that even though the ribbing is not worked in wallpaper cluster stitch.
Find out the width of one stitch:

Imperial

If 20 stitches = 3.75 inches

then 1 stitch = 3.75" ÷ 20 sts

therefore 1 stitch = 0.1875" wide.

Multiply 0.1875" by 18 stitches and the 

'collar and body' ribbing will be 3.375 (3+3/8) inches wide   

Metric

20 stitches = 3.75 inches = 3.75 x 2.54 centimetres = 9.525 centimetres

If 20 stitches = 9.525 cm

then 1 stitch = 9.525 cm ÷ 20 sts

therefore 1 stitch = 0.47625 cm wide.

Multiply 0.47625 cm by 18 stitches and the 

'collar and body' ribbing will be 8.5725 centimetres wide.

I can cross-check my mathematics by multiplying:

Inches to centimetres (multiply by 2.54): 

3.375 inches x 2.54 = 8.5725 centimetres

Centimetres to inches (multiply by 0.3937): 

8.5725 cm x 0.3937 = 3.3749932 inches (which rounds off to 3.375 inches)

Therefore, in Robyn Chachula's pattern, the original 18 stitches of  'collar and body' ribbing will be 3.375 inches (3+3/8") or 8.5725 cm wide.


3. How many stitches at my tension will make ribbing 3+3/8 inches or 8.5725 cm wide?

In the post Belcarra Beginnings, I discovered that my tension was (metric):

17 stitches across 10 cm (1 stitch = 0.5882352 cm, rounded off to 0.59 cm)

Divide the width of the ribbing by the width of each stitch:

8.5725 cm  ÷ 0.59 cm = 14.529661 stitches, rounded off to 14.5 stitches

It makes no sense to work 'half a stitch' so round off to whole numbers. 

At my tension, I will need 14 or 15 stitches for the ribbing.  

I chose 14 stitches because the original pattern had an even number of stitches. 

Therefore I will chain 15 for the first row of 'collar and body' ribbing (14 sts + 1 tch).

Here's the calculation again using Imperial measurements:

My tension: 17 sts across 4 inches (1 stitch = 0.2352941 inches, rounded off to 0.24 inches)

Width of ribbing: 3+3/8 inches = 3.375 inches

3.375" ÷ 0.24" = 14.0625 stitches, rounded off to 14 stitches

When examining the Imperial calculations, one can see that 14 stitches is probably closer to the correct measurement than 15 stitches.

I must take comfort that 14 stitches per row are a lot fewer than the 18 stitches per row as called for by the original pattern. Perhaps it isn't so tedious after all!

Pattern Details

Belcarra Cardigan, designed by Robyn Chachula, Interweave Crochet, magazine, Winter 2010:

• Crochet Me web site, Interweave: http://www.crochetme.com/media/p/115970.aspx
• Interweave Store: http://www.interweavestore.com/belcarra-cardigan?utm_source=ls&utm_medium=affiliate&cid=05t1rdpCdm4&siteID=05t1rdpCdm4-D3I5nwqeVwa6n_w5wKwdvQ
• Ravelry project page:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/belcarra-cardigan

Chachula, Robyn, crochet designer

• Crochet by Faye, blog: http://www.crochetbyfaye.blogspot.com.au/
• Robyn Chachula, Ravelry Profile: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/robyn-chachula

Abbreviations

" – inches
cm – centimetres
sc – single crochet (US) = double crochet (Aust/UK)
sts – stitches
tch – turning chain

Related Posts on Lupey Loops

"Belcarra Beginnings", 21 August 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/belcarra-beginnings.html

"Tension Headaches", 7 August 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/tension-headaches.html