Knitting and quilting depend on math to get the sizing right! Usually in quilting it's simply a matter of adding or dividing... My calculator and I - plus a diagram or two - usually manage to get those right. But when I wanted to re-size a shawl knit in equilateral triangles (directional knitting), I didn't know how wide the base of each triangle should be.
My daughter found a triangle calculator on a UK website. She informed me that if I wanted the triangles to be about 25 inches tall, the base of each one should be about 35 inches wide. Using that as a starting point, I started to knit, casting on 81 stitches...
Another friend, whose math skills I trust, calculated that, for a height of 25 inches, I should cast on about 29 inches. Then another mathematician - the husband of a woman who reads my blog - concurred.
I had already begun the project, based on my daughter's calculation. How big was my new shawl turning out to be?
When I measured the unfinished shawl, I discovered that math may be precise, but my knitting certainly isn't! The first triangle, with a base of 35 inches, ended up with two unequal sides... (one 36" - the other 31") Did I cast off more stitches on one side than the other? Or did the knitting on one side simply stretch?!
I have no idea! Hopefully it won't be noticeable... As long as it more or less fits!
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