The Importance of Gauge

From a Knitter Who Loathes Gauge

The more you get into knitting, the more you hear about gauge. You hear knitters speak of its importance and they stress knitting a swatch to check your gauge before starting a project. On social media you see jokes and memes made about gauge with photos of oversized knits. And others will throw caution to the wind, refusing to knit a swatch to check their gauge. Normally, I am one of these knitters who reject caution and forge ahead with a project.

However, in my refusal to check myself before starting a project, I’ve had my fair share of missteps. Using yarns that I am familiar with helps me avoid these issues and often to not have to take the time to knit a swatch. On some instances though, to see how much a particular cable will shrink up, or when exploring a new yarn, I’ll need to do a bit of testing and planning. So that is what this post is about.

What is Gauge?

Let’s start at the very beginning. What is gauge, what does it mean? This is the term we knitters use to refer to the tension of our work. Gauge uses the number of stitches, and either rows or rounds, to determine the size and shape of a project. You’ll often see this written as “X stitches by Y Rows = 2 inches by 2 inches”. This allows you to do the math and figure out what your finished project will measure.

How to Measure Your Gauge

To check the gauge of a swatch or current work in project, you’ll need to find a ruler. You can find gauge tools which are very handy. I use one from KnitPicks. These are generally rulers that measure between two and four inches. Mine is a rectangle with an “L” shape cut out. Both sections of the “L” are two inches. This allows me to easily count the number of stitches and either rows or columns to calculate my gauge.

Swatching to Check Your Gauge for a Pattern

When you start working with a knitting pattern, you’ll often see the gauge for the pattern listed as part of the pattern notes or instructions. This is the pattern designer telling you the gauge they achieved by using a specific yarn, a certain size knitting needles, and their degree of tension so that you can do your best to match it.

Now this sounds complicated. But the easiest way to ensure that you’ll end up with the right gauge is to use the yarn that they recommend in the pattern, with the same size knitting needles. Your tension might be a bit different from theirs, but if you use the same yarn and needles you should be okay.

Before knitting the project, cast on a certain number of stitches (double or triple what they use to achieve the gauge measurement) and knit in the same pattern they used for in the gauge description. All this means is that if they listed the ribbing for the gauge then knit the ribbing pattern in your swatch. If they used a particular stitch or cable section of the pattern, knit that for your swatch. This will give you an idea of whether your finished project will be the right size and shape.

What If You Knit a Swatch and Your Gauge Is Off?

If it’s different, there are some adjustments that you can make. For example, if your piece comes out slightly larger, you might knit with a looser tension. To fix this, you can try knitting with a needle that is one size smaller. Similarly, if your swatch comes out just a bit smaller than you need, you can go up a needle size.

Another big variable when it comes to gauge is the yarn for your project. If you’re newer to knitting, it can be very helpful to bring a pattern that you’d like to knit to your local yarn store and work with their team to find a yarn that will give you the right results.

Why Can You Just Pick a Yarn that Is the Same Weight as the Listed Yarn?

It turns out that certain yarns can very in thickness and still listed as a certain weight of yarn. If you have started to accumulate a stash, pick a weight that you love to buy. For me it’s worsted weight. So if I pick worsted and pull a few skeins made by different brands out of my stash and line them up, there is a really good chance that they’ll be a little bit different.

You can work around this variation if your pattern gives you the gauge. Its even better if they give you the wraps per inch. Confession, I don’t list this information in my patterns because fit isn’t often that crucial or specific. I may consider adding this in the future if I start offering more garment type patterns or lace patterns.

I swatched…Now What?

Some knitters see swatching as a waste but by now you’ve hopefully seen that it can save you a fair amount of time and yarn (aka money). There are a few things you can do with that swatch:

Frog It:

You can frog or unravel the swatch and use the yarn to knit your project. This saves you a bit of money in terms of yarn. Your yarn might have a little bit of shape or stitch memory but because it hasn’t sat for weeks on end as a swatch, you should be able to knit again with it no problem.

Create a Swatch Library!

If you plan to knit this project again, knit something similar, or just plan on using the same yarn in the future, saving your swatch can save you time and energy. Some knitters create a binder of their previous swatches. Others store them with the pattern. There are plenty of choices for storage and you can pick the one that best fits your personality/organizational