So it's Friday. It's Spring. Don't you think we all deserve a little teensy goodie today? Yup. We do. That's why here in the Knitting Daily offices, we've spent part of this week cooking up a spring surprise for you:
The Knitting Daily Online Waist Shaping Calculator!
This little wonder widget takes you through the steps we've been
talking about in our Waist Shaping 101 mini-course and does the math
for you! It asks you for all the pertinent information: stitch and row
gauge, hip/waist/bust measurements, desired ease, and the necessary
vertical measurements, then gives you stitch counts, row counts, and
fills in the blanks for such things as "work decrease row every X row Y
times."
A few notes on how to use the calculator:
You can use either inches or centimeters in this
calculator--but be sure to be consistent throughout! If you start out
entering your gauge in centimeters, then enter all the other
measurements in centimeters, too.
You can use either negative ease or positive ease. Put a minus sign in front of the negative ease numbers; enter the positive ease as normal.
Hover your mouse over the little question marks for a definition of that item.
This calculator was designed for bottom-up sweaters. You can also
use it for top-down sweaters, provided you remember to flip-flop the
increases and decreases. In a top-down sweater, you decrease from
bust to waist, and increase from waist to hip; in a bottom-up sweater,
you decrease from hip to waist and increase from waist to bust! The
calculations are otherwise the same.
Hey crocheters! This same calculator works for you, too!
If you need a reminder as to how all of this works, here are the posts in our Waist Shaping Series that walk you through each step:
Waist Shaping: An Overview
Waist Shaping: From Hem to Hip
Waist Shaping: From Hip to Waist
Waist Shaping: From Waist on Up!
So: Enjoy! And thanks to our talented web programmer Jason, who took
my pages and pages of notes and turned them into something easy-to-use!
There's even a couple of buttons so you can easily link to the calculator from your blog or website. Let us know what you think!
Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily.
What's on Sandi's needles? You know how it is. A friend tells
you she's preggers, then invites you over for Easter dinner. Am I the
kind of person who can show up without a tiny handknitted baby gift in
my hands? No. I am not. Thus, I quickly knitted the most adorable baby
jacket ever, the Baby Bolero from the book One Skein.