First, for your Passap, you really HAVE to do a gauge swatch for a garment if you want it to fit. Yarn dyes vary, so even if you’re using the same yarn, you might knit with a different stitch size when you’re knitting this time.
Second, always be consistent with the size of your gauge samples. I recommend 30 stitches X 30 rows, so select -30 + 30 when programming your Passap. You can make a larger swatch and use it for a charity item as you cannot use the same yarn again to knit the garment as the yarn will knit and look different when knitted a second time. The Passap creates a unique ripple in the yarn, so if you try to use the yarn again with yarn you haven’t knitted, it pops up immediately and changes the finished stitch. You knit it, you dye it, you undo it, and you knit it again so that the loop runs through the entire garment or knit item.
If you are dealing with a very unstable fabric or thread, you will want to make a gauge swatch that is twice the normal size, except for the 100×100 size.
What is an unstable tissue? Well, Passap birdseye fairisle and jersey knits are really stable (unless you’re knitting a jersey knit in a very large stitch size with weights for very loose stitches). Passap Fisherman’s Rib is one of the most unstable.
The larger the piece of fabric, the more it will grow under the weight of the fabric, especially if it is, in my case, a dress. The length of the dress can cause the thread to stretch under the weight while worn or hanging on a hanger. You can detect the yarn’s tendency to stretch by making a gauge sample and sending it through the same process you would when you need to clean it after use.
A longer length may change the caliber. Some threads may be (50 stitches may be 8 inches, but 100 stitches may be 20 inches). You’ll want to monitor what’s happening when you go into the actual pieces of the garment to make sure your gauge stays accurate.
Some of the Passap double bed pleat fabrics can grow in both dimensions. Just watch as you work with them and handle them after you take them off the knitting machine.
The contrasting thread you use to mark the beginning and end of your gauge sample should be about the same size as the main thread and similar in fiber content. If your main thread is cotton, then if you use cotton for the contrast thread, they will both shrink and the contrast thread will not distort the shape of the main thread piece.
Never rib the gauge swatch unless you have a considerable number of rows between the two, as it will severely distort the main gauge of the fabric.
Tip: If you have different stitches you want to try, be sure to place at least 50 rows of leftovers on each side of the next stitch you want to try. This will give enough distance to prevent one fabric from affecting the other.
Many new yarn blends are available. some of them will weave on your Passap and some won’t, so approach your yarn with curiosity and a sense of exploration and see what you may discover that might surprise and delight you, taking your weaving to a whole new dimension and level.
If a yarn could go through the Passap buttonhole, is it possible that we can knit with it on our wonderful Passap knitting machine if you know how to do it? And yes, you also have to make a sample.
