Amanda, you can use the smaller needles and the yarn you have IF -- and ONLY IF -- you can work up a similar gauge. In other words, look at the size of the finished piece. I don't have the pattern in front of me, so I don't know what it is, but you want YOUR finished piece to be the same size. The only way you can determine that is with the gauge.
Do you know how to determine your gauge? Knit up a little square using the yarn you have and the needles you have. Make sure the square is at least 5" wide. Okay? Now, do you know how to count the number of stitches on a finished piece? Take the square off your needles and lay it flat on a table. Take a little measuring stick and lay on top of the finished piece; count the stitches in FOUR inches of work. Divide it by 4. Now you have your gauge.
Next, what is the finished size across? Lets say it's 20 inches. And lets say your gauge is 20 stitches PER INCH. Are you with me so far? Okay, multiply the number of stitches PER INCH (20) by the total number of the finished size (20), and you get 400. That's the number of stitches to cast on.
Wait a minute. Do you start at the bottom of the blanket, or the hooded top? Hold on; I'm gonna have to print out that pattern and take a look..... I'll be right back.
.....................................
Okay, I'm back. Well, that pattern is really a JUMBO knit. One ball of yarn is all that's required, and you KNIT TWO STRANDS TOGETHER! WOW! That sure is a quickie. (Damn, I like this pattern!)
Well, first of all, you've got a much, MUCH smaller needle, and your yarn is only 2.5 oz.? I hope you have enough yarn! I don't know how much you'll need, but it's gonna be a lot more than one ball.
Next, they work the blanket first, so that's good. And their gauge is 31 sts = 10". They cast on 87 sts. I figure that their finished product is 28". SO, YOUR finished product has to be 28" as well.
You still with me?
Now, based on our hypothetical figures above, if you have a gauge of 20 stitches per inch, and you want a finished size of 28 inches, then you need to cast on 560 stitches. WOW!
Hopefully you will have a higher gauge than that. I don't know what a 7-1/2" needle on a 2.5 oz. yarn would produce, so you're gonna have to knit up a swatch as I suggested. Be sure to work in the pattern stitch on that swatch! It's a seed stitch, so you K1, P1, K1, P1 across the first row, then repeat. MAKE SURE YOU CAST ON AN UNEVEN NUMBER OF STITCHES! So, in essence, you're knitting the perl and perling the knit on subsequent rows.
Are you with me?
Amanda, this is not as complicated as I'm making it sound. I wish you were here, and I could sit down and show you; it would take no time at all. Unfortunately, I can't. We'll just have to do this here.
OMG, you're leaving tomorrow? TOMORROW?! Okay, get cracking on that swatch!!!
Yowza.
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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