Knitting across countries!

[rickyrickygrimes]

I’m not sure if this is a problem.

i learned to knit in the UK. I currently live in France. I’ve just joined Ravelry, which is American.

are these three countries compatible ? E.g if I knit UK style and use metric measurements, but I find a pattern I like on Ravelry and I then find some nice wool at my local market here in France, will I have to do all sort of complicated conversions of size / wool weight / needle size / knitting instructions to make it all work? I’m definitely a novice probably going to be attempting something out side my comfort zone (cardigan).

Thanks all!

You shouldn’t need to do anything more complicated than convert inches to cm (or vice versa) or yards to metres. There are free calculators available online that can help, if you think this might be an issue.

I’ve made loads of patterns of Ravelry and the main difference I’ve found is with regards to needle sizes and yarn weights. European needle sizes are in millimetres. USA ones have a number. Here’s a table that shows how one translates to the other-

https://sheepandstitch.com/library/knitting-needle-sizes-conversion-chart/

You can find similar tables for the terms used for the different yarn weights.

Some patterns on Ravelry - such as the Drop designs have details of both.

I still use knitting needles inherited/gifted from my grandmother and mother. They have the 'number' rather than mm sizes on them :) OP, if in doubt, knit a tension square first.

I agree that you won’t have to do any complicated conversions.

One thing you might find if you knit in public is that you might use the English throwing technique and others knit Continental style. There’s an article about it here. It makes no difference to the outcome, though.

The safest way to compare yarn weights is probably to look at how many metres there are in 100g or 50g.

For example, if you wanted to make the Eva cardigan you’d look for a yarn which had about 90m for every 50g, or 180m per 100g skein. Then look at the total meterage for your size, and work out how many balls or skeins you need to buy.

If you can’t find a lovely yarn with a similar meterage I’d go back to Ravelry and find a different pattern, rather than trying to adapt things and worry all the time you’re knitting that it won’t be right. But that might just be me.