Kniting Gauge Tutrial by Brenda Bel htp://www.ravelry.com/designers/brenda-bel htp://www.brendaabel.com Te Kniting Gauge Tutrial The Basics Recommended Tools & Supplies ☑ Knit a swatch that's at least 5 inches wide and 7 inches long. The larger your Metal ruler swatch, the more accurate your gauge Calculator (or pencil & paper) calculation will be. Main yarn Contrasting waste yarn ☑ Block and finish the swatch exactly as Blocking pins or wires (optional) you will block and finish the knitted article. If you are going to wash and dry the garment, you must also wash and dry the swatch before taking your gauge I believe gauge is the most important measurement. knitting concept because it is the sole principal that determines whether a knitted ☑ Measure the swatch to determine gauge item will be the right size when it is after blocking and finishing. finished. For an afghan, you have a bit of leeway in that a slightly smaller or slightly larger afghan is still acceptable. For a sweater however, a mere 1/8" inch difference between the pattern gauge and your knitting gauge is enough to cause an improper fit. If you've always believed that knitting a swatch is a waste of yarn, think again... you'll waste a lot more yarn knitting an entire sweater that ends up being 3" too small. All Original Content © 2004 Brenda A. Bell You may republish this content in any free publication or collection provided that is it accompanied by this copyright notice. This document was originally published at http:// knitfits.theotherbell.com/gauge-how-to.htm on July 22, 2004. http://www.ravelry.com/designers/brenda-bell July 2017 Page 1 http://brendaabell.com Te Kniting Gauge Tutrial Hints & Tips ☑ If you're using a yarn or pattern that may stretch in length due to gravity, you may ☑ If you're working with a particular yarn want to knit a longer swatch and let it hang for the first time and can't approximate the from a clothes hanger for 24-48 hours number of stitches and rows required for before measuring. Try attaching a 50gm your 5 x 7 swatch, try 30 stitches by 90 ball of the same yarn to the bottom of the rows for fine yarns, 40 stitches by 60 rows swatch to simulate the weight of a hung for medium yarns and 50 stitches by 40 garment. rows for bulky yarns. ☑ Always take measurements to the ☑ Measure the swatch to determine gauge nearest 1/16". after blocking and finishing. Notes ☑ Different types of stitches -- stockinette, ______________________________________ rib, lace, cables and others -- will have ______________________________________ different gauges. If the pattern specifies ______________________________________ the gauge for stockinette, your swatch ______________________________________ should also be stockinette. Otherwise, your ______________________________________ swatchshould incorporate the stitches used ______________________________________ in the pattern. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ☑ Do not include the selvages or cast-on/ ______________________________________ bind-off edges when you measure your ______________________________________ swatch because they may distort your ______________________________________ measurements. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ☑ Always use a knitting ruler or high- ______________________________________ quality metal ruler to measure your swatch. ______________________________________ Inexpensive wooden and plastic rulers are ______________________________________ often inaccurate and tape measures have ______________________________________ been known to stretch and shrink with the ______________________________________ seasons. I use a metal drafting ruler that ______________________________________ provides accurate measurements to the ______________________________________ nearest 1/16” or 1mm. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ http://www.ravelry.com/designers/brenda-bell July 2017 Page 2 http://brendaabell.com Te Kniting Gauge Tutrial The Never-Fail Method Calculating Gauge These instructions will work on any gauge The number of stitches ÷ the width of the machine. Use the first number for the swatch = stitches per inch. bulky, the second for the midgauge and the third for the standard. Example: The distance between the marker stitches on my swatch is 5" and Cast on 30-40-50 stitches with the main there are 20 stitches between the markers. yarn and knit 5-10-15 rows. 20 ÷ 5 = 4 Knit one or two rows of a constrasting yarn Gauge: 4 st = 1” that is the same size and fiber content as the main yarn. The number of rows ÷ the length of the swatch = rows per inch. Knit 15-20-30 rows in the main yarn. Example: The distance between the Mark the fifth stitch from each edge with a contrasting rows on my swatch is 5" and small length of contrasting yarn. there are 30 rows between the markers. Knit 15-20-30 rows in the main yarn. 30 ÷ 5 = 6 Gauge: 6 r = 1" Knit one or two rows of constrasting yarn. When calculating stitch or row gauge, you Knit 5-10-15 rows in the main yarn. may want to round to the nearest 1/4. After blocking and finishing, measure Example: 20 stitches ÷ 6” = 3.33 stitches between the contrasting rows to obtain per inch. You can use 3.25 or 3.50 rows per inch and between the markers to depending on whether you want a bit of obtain stitches per inch. This avoids use of negative or positive ease. the edge stitches and usually results in a more accurate measurement. Notes _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ http://www.ravelry.com/designers/brenda-bell July 2017 Page 3 http://brendaabell.com Te Kniting Gauge Tutrial I Can’t Get Gauge! Now What? the number of stitches to cast on, I can calculate the width: You already know from the explanation above that gauge is merely a means of # stitches ÷ stitches per inch = width making sure a knitted article ends up being a particular size. So when you're having In my case, my pattern only says I need to trouble getting gauge or contemplating cast on 88 stitches for the front of the using a substitute yarn, it helps to think of sweater... so I need to figure out how wide things in terms of inches instead of stitches the piece is supposed to be: and rows. 20 ÷ 4 = 5 st per inch Let's assume that my favorite v-neck crop- 88 st ÷ 5 st per inch = 17.6" top calls for a medium weight yarn that yields 20 stitches and 24 rows over 4" (or Now that I know the width, I can figure out 10 cm). I can't obtain the recommended how many stitches I need to cast on to yarn, but I have another yummy yarn in my make the front of my sweater the same size stash that I think would be just fabulous. as the pattern using my gauge: After knitting, blocking and finishing my swatch, I learn that I get 18 stitches and 21 18 ÷ 4 = 4.5 st per inch rows over 4". I might be able to match the 4.5 st per inch x 17.6” = 79.2 stitches gauge more closely by changing my needle size, but I've decided I really like Since the number of stitches must be a the way the swatch feels as it is and I don't whole number, I need to cast on either 79 want to give up a softer fabric by switching or 80 stitches. If my sweater has a special to smaller needles. So I grab the calculator stitch pattern that must be centered across and start writing my own version of the the front of the sweater, I need to round up pattern to work with my yarn and my to 80 stitches because the original pattern gauge. calls for casting on an even number of stitches. Since we should probably have Determining The Number of Stitches to the V centered on the two center stitches, Cast On I'm going to cast on 80 stitches. First, I need to know how wide the item is The very next thing I'm going to do is take supposed to be on the needles. another look at my pattern. Did you know you can sometimes use the wrong size • If the pattern contains a schematic pattern to make the right size garment? that gives me the width, I'm all set. • If the pattern gives me gauge and http://www.ravelry.com/designers/brenda-bell July 2017 Page 4 http://brendaabell.com Te Kniting Gauge Tutrial If my pattern provides instructions for Again, I'll round to the nearest whole different sizes and has instructions that call number and knit 79 rows. for casting on 80 stitches, those instructions will knit the width I want using At this point, we've taken care of all the my gauge. I'll simply follow those simple calculations. But, how are we instructions for everything having to do supposed to handle arm and neckline with the number of stitches: cast on, bind shaping or those gradual decreases off, number of stitches to decrease or required for a tapered sleeve? We'll increase, etc. continue to apply what we've learned above to shape the garment. To illustrate Since this is a basic pullover with a this, I'm going to use a schematic because standard amount of ease, I could use any that will make explaining things a little size on the pattern that's close -- casting easier. on 78 or 82 stitches, for example. After we get through an exercise with