So I love to knit but so far I have made one pair of booties, bits of a baby cardigan and lots of half finished scarves. I want to make a jumper for Meerkat (probably in a size 3 but size 2 may do). But I have no idea where to start...
I bought a pattern book (it's small with only about 4 patterns) but it turns out that it's designed for a bamboo/cotton yarn and the whole point of me knitting her a jumper was that it would be wool. The pattern says the tension is 18 stitches x 36 rows to 10cm over garter stitch using 4.5mm needles. What does this mean exactly? Will this effect the type of wool I should buy?
Basically,
1) Should I forget about this pattern (it was cheap) and buy a new one that is designed to be knitted with wool?
2) Do I have to buy wool (yarn?) with the exact same tension as is specified on the pattern? So if I were to use this pattern, do I have to find wool that says the tension is 18stsx36 rows?
3) Is the tension always the same or does it depend on how tight you knit the stitches or something?
Sorry, I really have no idea what I'm doing but I really want to knit Meerkat a jumper. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!