Knitting Gauge Calculator
Stitches and rows per inch, from a swatch.
Calculate knitting gauge from a swatch in stitches and rows per inch or centimetre, and check it against the pattern's stated gauge.
Measure over 4 inches or 10 cm, in the middle of a blocked swatch. Never at the edges.
Optional — stitches over the same distance, to compare against yours.
Stitches per in
5.50
7.50 rows per in
Block the swatch exactly as the finished item will be treated before measuring. Superwash wool and cotton can relax by 10% or more, so an unblocked swatch measures a fabric that will not exist after the first wash.
How the Knitting Gauge Calculator works
Gauge is the exchange rate between stitches and inches, and it is the only number in a pattern that is genuinely about you rather than the design. Measure it over four inches rather than one: a half-stitch misread over four inches is a 3% error, and the same misread over a single inch is 12%, which is four inches of drift across a sweater front.
Also known as: tension square calculator · knitting tension calculator · swatch calculator
Why gauge is measured over four inches
Gauge is stitches divided by distance, and the error in the answer is the error in your count divided by the distance you measured over. Miscount by half a stitch over four inches and you are 3% out; miscount by the same half stitch over one inch and you are 12% out.
Three percent across a 40 inch sweater is an inch and a bit — annoying but wearable. Twelve percent is nearly five inches, which is two sizes. The measuring distance is doing more work than the counting.
Measure in the middle of the swatch, never at the edges. Stocking stitch curls and the first and last few stitches of every row are looser than the rest, so an edge measurement systematically reads wide.
A worked example
A swatch shows 22 stitches and 30 rows over four inches. That is 5.5 stitches and 7.5 rows per inch. A pattern calling for 5 stitches per inch is asking for a looser fabric than you are making, so every count in it will come out narrow if you knit it as written.
The fix is a larger needle, not more relaxed knitting. Roughly half a stitch per inch per needle size is a reasonable rule, so going from 5.5 to 5 stitches per inch is about one size up. Swatch again to confirm rather than assuming the rule held.
Where the answer misleads
An unblocked swatch measures a fabric that will not exist once the garment is washed. Superwash wool and cotton in particular can relax by ten percent or more on blocking, and a garment knitted to an unblocked gauge then grows to a size nobody planned. Wash and dry the swatch exactly as the finished item will be treated.
Gauge also varies with needle material and with your own tension on the day. Yarn slides faster on metal than on wood, and most people knit looser on slick needles. Swatching on one and knitting on another reintroduces the error you swatched to remove.
Finally, gauge in the round differs from gauge worked flat for many knitters, because purl rows are often looser than knit rows. If the garment is knitted in the round, swatch in the round.
Frequently asked questions
How do I measure knitting gauge?
Knit a swatch at least six inches square in the pattern stitch, wash and block it the way the finished item will be treated, then count stitches and rows over four inches in the middle. Never measure at the edges, which curl and distort.
Why does my gauge not match the pattern?
Tension is personal and no two knitters match. Change needle size rather than trying to knit tighter or looser: go up a size if you have too many stitches to the inch, down a size if you have too few. Half a stitch per inch is roughly one needle size.
Should I block my swatch first?
Always, and using the same treatment the garment will get. Many yarns change substantially on blocking — superwash wool and cotton in particular can relax by 10% or more — so an unblocked swatch measures a fabric that will not exist after the first wash.
Does row gauge matter?
Less than stitch gauge for most garments, because length is usually knitted to a measurement rather than a row count. It matters a great deal for anything shaped over a set number of rows — raglan yokes, armhole shaping and colourwork charts.