Knitter’s Workshop – Measuring the Width

I’m knitting “The Dude”, a sweater inspired by the one Jeff Bridges wore in The Big Lebowski. I’m making a few modifications for my college-age son: I’m shortening the length and I’m knitting the body in one piece. It’s knit completely in K1P1 (colorwork included) so you can imagine how long a row takes to knit ! I want to check the width to make sure my gauge (which I actually swatched) is correct.

In “Knitting Workshop“, Elizabeth Zimmerman recommends taking your work off the needles and measuring it to get a true idea of the width. Although she recommends doing this after about six inches of knitting, I’m going to measure after my first 18 rows (about 4 inches) because the pattern is all K1P1 and I’ve already invested several hours in this project already. If there’s any problems, I’d prefer to cut my losses so to speak. Here goes:

All 203 stitches.

Off the needles.

It’s supposed to be about 38 inches.
And…

It’s 38 inches! Yay! Now, to get them back on the needles!! Hopefully, I will continue to knit without tears.  Thank you Elizabeth!!!