Stitches

How do you count the stitches in a rib stitch pattern?

A tailor messed up the ribbed detailing on the sleeves of a merino wool sweater of mine. I want to attempt to recreate and fix it myself but I need help finding a yarn that is going to match. How do I count stitches, and how do I determine from stitch count, what yarn weight and needle size to use?

Public Comments

1. You do not determine the yarn or needle to use by the stitch count! Stitch count only determines the number to cast on. The yarn weight can influence the number possible to cast on in an inch, but there is a lot of variance here. The needle size can vary as well, with the same yarn, or the number of stitches. You can simply take out the ribbing that is there, unravel it, and then use the same yarn that was there, and re-knit it as a rib. There is a wide variety of ribs possible as well... you need to determine the pattern used by studying the other sleeve. If you are going to do both, then it doesn't matter... you can use your own pattern, as long as both are the same. If there is ribbing on the bottom hem, use that as a guide. You can knit the ribbing up and sewing it on, or pick up stitches along the sleeve fabric, and knit down. You may have to use rather fine gauge needles, and may want to use a fine gauge knitting machine to do the ribbing. There is no shame in using that. You may be able to find commercially made ribbing in the same colour, and save yourself a lot of work.