seren
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bleurgh! tension questioni'm trying to make a cardigan for arwen from interweave knits with patons washed haze and i just cannot get the tension right. to get it spot on i need a 3.5 and a 4mm needle and because it's aran yarn it's really hard to knit on needles that small. i had this trouble when i made laughing carrots from knitty for my son and i hated knitting the whole thing because it was so tight to knit with.
i threw caution to the wind when i did sitcom chic (again from knitty) and didn't even check my tension, using the needles in the pattern and it came out HUGE.
what can i do? am i destined never to use aran yarn for jumpers? 
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Glynis
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Golly, 3.5 and 4 do seem small for an aran weight yarn!
I notice that people on Ravelry have used larger needles, but I don't know what the pattern recommends.
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melody yarns
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I think Washed Haze would be knitted on 4.5mm needles so that's two sizes smaller - you'd come out with sock type fabric! Yuck!!  What tension do you need to achieve and mebbe you could subby the yarn?
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seren
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18 stitches and 28 rows. i think the only answer is to use the right needles
but a much smaller size 
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melody yarns
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Is it the Washed Haze aran or Washed Haze DK you're using?
18sts is about the right tension for aran, so using 5mm or 4.5 mm needles is right for this yarn. 28 rows is a bit too much though - aran usually knits to about 4 rows or thereabouts
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Wildpurl
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Hmmm,
if you really need such small needles to get tension with the yarn then your knitting tension must be very loose. I have seen suggested for other people with very loose tension that they try wrapping the working yarn around their little finger, or wrapping it twice if they already do so. Maybe that would help?
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seren
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i'll give that a go - i'm definitely a very loose knitter as i can't knit toys - the stuffing falls out of them
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seren
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it's aran melody 
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melody yarns
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Aaaah now I understand about the tension *nods head*
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