How To Knit A Gauge Swatch
Have you ever knitted something only to find it doesn’t fit, even though you used the correct size needles and yarn weight?
I think most of us will have, especially when we start on our knitting journey. It can be so frustrating after spending hours and hours knitting only to find that something doesn’t fit.
This is much less likely to happen if you knit a gauge swatch.
Gauge is how many stitches and rows there are in a predetermined square of knitting.
The knitting pattern will tell you the gauge that you should aim for and the size of square that the gauge is over. This is usually a 10 cm (4”) or 2.5 cm (1”) knitted square.
Gauge is determined by 3 factors.
The thickness of the yarn
The thickness of the knitting needles being used
The way the person is knitting
This blog post will tell you how to knit a gauge swatch, how to measure knitting gauge and what to do if your gauge is not the same as the pattern requires.
Let us suppose the pattern requires a gauge of 22 stitches and 30 rows, knit in stocking stitch (stockinette in the US) over a 10 cm (4”) square.
The first mistake most new knitters make is to think that they only need to cast on 22 stitches.
If you look closely at any sample of stocking stitch you will notice that the edge stitch is a bit different to the middle stitches. It hasn’t got a stitch tensioning it on either side. So 2 stitches out of your 22 are not being measured accurately.
To be able to measure the gauge accurately you need to measure in the centre of the square with a decent border around the 10 cm (4”). Your cast on can sometimes be a little tighter than the rest of your knitting and whenever you start a new piece of knitting, it can take a few rows to get into the rhythm of it. The edge stitches are also likely to curl a little so it is harder to keep the knitting flat close to them when you are measuring. With a reasonable border around all four sides of the area you are measuring, you will get the most accurate gauge.
A good choice would be to knit a square that is 15 cm (6”) square. That will give you a 2.5 cm (1”) border around the area you want to measure.
To check for a gauge that needs to be 22 stitches over 10 cm (4”), I would cast on 33 stitches. If my gauge is accurate I should then have a 2.5 cm (1”) border around the 10 cm (4”) square I want to measure. The whole piece will measure 15 cm (6”) square.
To make the square as flat as possible, I like to work a couple of rows in garter stitch at the start and end of my square.
The next thing to do is to launder your swatch. You need to treat the square in the same way as you will the finished item.
Some yarns will stretch once they are washed, so your finished item will be larger after the first wash than when you finished knitting it. Merino wool will usually ‘bloom’ in its first wash. The fibres in the wool puff up, become softer and drape more.
The usual way to wash your gauge swatch is to immerse it in very cool water. The water must not be hotter than the recommendation on the yarn band. I usually use a bowl of cold water with a drop of wool wash liquid added. If it is a machine-washable yarn and you are not in a hurry, you could just put it in the washing machine when you do your next wool wash.
Assuming you are using the bowl of water method, immerse your square in the water, press it gently so the water penetrates the fibres and leave it to soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Then remove the square and gently squeeze out the excess water. Wrap it in a clean towel and squeeze again to remove more water. Lay it flat to dry naturally without any pins in place.
Once the square is dry you can measure the gauge.
You can purchase a gauge ruler that has a 10 cm square marked out for you, such as this one.
Or simply measure a distance of 10 cm (4”) in the centre of your knitting and mark with pins.
Don’t be tempted to hold a tape measure in place and count stitches at the same time without marking either end!
Each stitch looks like a single ‘V’ as shown here. You are going to count the number of complete ‘V’s across the marked out 10 cm (4”). If you end up with a half stitch at the end, record it as a half stitch.
In this instance, I got 22 stitches across the 10 cm and 9 rows measured 3 cm, which equates to 3 rows per centimetre and 30 rows to 10 cm, which is exactly what I was aiming for.
But what do you do if you don’t get the result you hoped for?
Suppose when you measured you only got 20 stitches across 10 cm. This means your garment will end up too big!
If you had cast on 88 stitches for a baby cardigan, a gauge of 22 would mean your knitting was 40 cm (16”) wide. If you are only getting 20 stitches across 10 cm, your knitting will end up 44 cm (17 1/2”) wide!
Likewise, if when you measured your square, you had 24 stitches to 10 cm your finished cardigan would be too small.
If this is the case, you need to knit your square again. If you have less than 22 stitches, try using a size smaller needles. If you have more than 22 stitches, knit again using larger needles.
I keep the original square. If my second swatch is also not accurate, I can check which is the closest.
It is likely that if your stitch count is accurate the row count will be too. Likewise, if the stick count is off, the row count will also be wrong.
Occasionally, one is correct, but not the other. In this case, it is more important that the stitch count is accurate.
This is because most patterns will tell you to knit, say a sleeve for instance, until it is a certain length, not a specific number of rows.
Sometimes, no matter how many squares you knit, you just don’t get an accurate gauge. You have a few options.
I would not recommend simply trying to knit more tightly or loosely. We all have our natural rhythm and even if you start off trying to adjust how you knit, you will likely not enjoy the process and fall back into your natural rhythm without realising. Many of us tension our yarn around our fingers whilst knitting. If your gauge is just very slightly too loose, you may be able to tighten it a little by wrapping the yarn around an additional finger.
Choose a different yarn for your project
Try a different type of knitting needle. Needles made from different materials can behave differently - metal versus bamboo for instance.
Accept that your gauge will not be perfect and decide whether you could knit a size smaller or larger to take account of the gauge discrepancy.
You may be thinking that this is a lot of work when all you want to do is just get started knitting your new project!
I agree that it is, but you are going to put a lot of time and effort into knitting the garment. You want to be pleased with the result.
Here are a few tips to make it seem more worthwhile:
I label my swatches and keep a little library of them. I include information on the yarn make and name, the size needles I used and the gauge that I got. If I use that yarn again, I know my gauge and don’t need to knit a new one.
Once you find a yarn that you like and get an accurate gauge with, consider using it for other projects.
As stitch count is more important than row count, I don’t always knit the full height of the square., particularly when I’m knitting baby clothes. The pattern will tell me in centimetres or inches how long to knit a cardigan body or a sleeve, so I do not need to rely so much on how many rows there are in my gauge.
Learn which types of yarn you need to adjust your needle size for.
For instance, I know through experience That I normally get an accurate gauge with a 100% merino yarn.
I also know from experience that I will always have to go down at least one needle size to get an accurate gauge with acrylic yarn.
Once you have started to create a swatch library, you have a good starting point when exploring gauge for a new yarn.
Knitting a gauge swatch will soon become a regular part of knitting routine.
