Gauge, The Importance of

Remember that second knitting project I ever did? First a scarf then diving straight into a sweater, a sweater that turned out to be a size 3x instead of the size small I needed. Gauge was a note at the top of the pattern, meaning nothing to me. Oh, but if we want an item to fit, gauge is everything. I think the suggested needle size for that sweater was 4 or 5 but I didn’t like using needles that size so I used size 10 or 11. Or maybe I didn’t have needles sized 4 or 5. I am certain I had a logical reason for completely disregarding the recommended size of knitting needles.

So how important is gauge, even if we use the recommended needle size? It only matters if we want to wear the finished project. Scarves, not such a big deal. Toys, does it really matter if it’s a 15” doll or 18” doll? Probably not. Gauge does matter for anything we want to wear, including hats. I saw a woman knitting a hat that looked like one of those hats meant to tuck dread locks under and she said that it was for her baby grandson. Oops. She didn’t understand gauge either.

I had a mental pause, you know, that cloudy, foggy, gray area where a thought will not step forward though you know it’s something simple and basic. For me it was double loading two socks on at the same time for magic loop. I just could not wrap my head around how to get them both on there. So I googled it. Within ten seconds of seeing the little video someone had put together I hit the duh moment (Cast on half of first one, full second one, then second half of first one. Duh.) but I kept watching the clip. That woman knit so tightly I was expecting the yarn to break every time she knit a stitch.

So, we are using the same size knitting needle as recommended but there is no denying that we all knit at different gauge. I see people knit right at the tip of the needles all the time. That impacts gauge. Some people’s knuckles turn white from the strength they use to wrap that yarn as tight as possible. That impacts gauge. Some people knit very loosely. Some knit a good inch back from the tip. Take a look at knitting needles. They slope down more and more narrow as they approach the tip. Someone knitting back at the straight section will have a different gauge than someone knitting right at the tip even if both people hold the yarn at the same tension.

Gauge is very important if you want to wear the finished item. Fortunately gauge is easy to figure out. You can do it one of two ways.

     One, knit a swatch in pattern about 20 stitches wide and 20 rows high. Then measure inside the swatch to get the stitches per inch. Ideally it’s a good idea to block the swatch. For a sweater or scarf it isn’t as necessary but for a sweater it is a good idea. I have found that if you hold up a ruler and count the stitches in 1” you can still be off. Count the stitches in 4” and then divide by 4 to get a more accurate gauge.

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       Two, start knitting project and after a few rows measure for gauge. The benefit for this method is that if gauge is accurate then you’ve saved yourself the time knitting the swatch and already are on your way into the project. Of course you can’t block it this way. But for a general gauge measurement it will work also.

The best way to adjust gauge when it doesn’t match the pattern’s gauge is to go up or down in needle size as needed. 

The most important thing about measuring gauge is so that you have a heads up on if you are matching the desired end size for fitted items before you complete a whole sweater, or hat, or cowl. For something like a scarf it isn't the end of the world to match gauge, though it can impact how much yarn you'll use compared to what you planned for. We'll talk more about gauge in the future.