I absolutely hate knitting gauge swatches. When I get excited about a project, I just want to get started. I don’t want to waste time knitting a tiny little square and then waiting for it to dry while I block it.

You may be surprised to hear a tech editor say “fuck it” when it comes to gauge. Yes, I KNOW it’s important. But also, ughhhhh, it kind of sucks - unless you’re the kind of person who loves swatching, and I know there are people who do.

I will say there are some projects where you definitely need to knit a gauge swatch, unfortunately. But sometimes you can kind of just get by without one and see what happens.

But before I get into those scenarios, let me just briefly explain what I mean by gauge. Gauge is essentially the tension of your knitting. When knitting a pattern designed by someone else, it is recommended that you knit a small 4x4” square (or larger) to see how your tension compares to that of the designer. The pattern should specify the gauge over a 4” (or 10 cm) area, which is what you’ll compare your gauge swatch to.

If your gauge is not the same as the designer’s, it will affect all the areas I’m about to mention. Depending on your answers to the questions below, you may be able to get away with not knitting a gauge swatch.

Is fit crucial?

This is definitely the first question you need to answer. If something has been designed to fit to specific measurements, then I’m sorry, but you’ll need to knit a gauge swatch.

Examples include sweaters, shirts, socks, and hats (though I have a hack on swatching for hats down below). Basically, anything that is designed to fit your body in a particular way needs a swatch. If you’re off in your gauge by a couple of stitches when knitting a sweater, that could end up being a difference of at least a couple of inches in the finished sweater.

Let’s go through an example. Marly Bird’s My First Knit Sweater, which is a free pattern from Red Heart, lists a gauge of 16 sts x 22 rows over 4”. Let’s divide 16 by 4 to get stitches per inch: 4.

Let’s say I’m knitting this sweater and my stitch gauge is 15 stitches per 4”, which is only off by one. My 1” stitch gauge would be 3.75 stitches per inch.

I would probably knit size 2, which has a bust circumference of 44” and CO number of 176 stitches (if you’re following along, I’m just doubling the CO number so that the front and back are added together). At the recommended gauge, 176 stitches equates to 44”, but at my gauge 176 stitches would make 47”. That’s a 3” difference!

So even though my stitch gauge is only off by 1 stitch every 4”, I’d end up with a sweater that is 3” too big.

I will admit that the sweater I used in my example is knit in worsted weight yarn, and thus has larger stitches. If you’re knitting a fingering weight sweater and you’ve got a lot more stitches per 4”, the difference won’t be quite as severe. For instance, if the stitch gauge was 28 and I was off by 1 stitch, it would only be a 1” difference with this pattern. So the thicker your yarn is and the looser your gauge, the more important gauge becomes.

Are you limited on yarn?

One of the other ways we can use gauge is to confirm that we have enough yarn. If you’re knitting the same gauge as the designer, you should use exactly as much yarn as the pattern says. If your gauge is off, and you end up making something slightly bigger, you may run out of yarn before you planned.

So, if you’re short on yarn, it’s a good idea to double check your gauge. If you’ve got plenty to spare, maybe it’s not so important to meet gauge.

Projects made from stash yarn are a good use for swatching because you’re working with a limited amount of yarn.

Are you using a very different yarn than what the pattern suggests?

Yarn comes in all different flavors and textures. An acrylic yarn will have a much smoother look than a rustic wool. If the pattern was written for Caron Simply Soft and you’re using a handspun wool, your knitting is going to look totally different than the pattern photos.

In addition, different yarns may have different properties, such as drape, strength, weight, and more. One of the reasons for knitting a gauge swatch is that it gives you a chance to feel what the fabric is like knit up and if you’d like that in your project.

The texture, feel, and properties of yarn can vary wildly because there are so many different things you can make yarn out of, and even different manufacturing processes.

Is there a stitch pattern where texture is important?

If your gauge is way off from the designer’s then there’s a chance the stitch pattern won’t look quite right.

Being way off gauge in stockinette or garter stitch might not be a big deal, but it could totally change the look of lace, cables, or other special stitches.

How big is the project?

The size of the item definitely plays into my decision of whether I want to risk skipping the gauge swatch. For example, I don’t swatch for hats because they’re so small to begin with. I’m not going to spend my time knitting a swatch that isn’t even much smaller than the item itself. So even though a hat might be an item that is designed to fit to a certain measurements, I’m just like “ehh, if it doesn’t fit I can rip back and not have wasted much time.” With a sweater, I would be wasting several months at the speed I knit, whereas I can probably knit a hat in about a week.

Have you knit a pattern from this designer before?

If you’ve knit patterns from this designer before and met gauge, then great! It’s pretty likely (though not always) that you and the designer have similar tension in general. If you had to go up or down a needle size last time, you probably needed to go up or down a needle size this time.

Needle material and the yarn you’re using will of course have an effect, so if you’re changing it up in those areas too, your results may vary.

There is a sock designer I follow who I never swatch for her socks because I know that the first pair fit and I don’t need to check my gauge with her anymore.

So there you have it! You don’t always have to knit a gauge swatch, but before you decide to jump right in and cast on, consider these questions.

Do you REALLY need to knit a gauge swatch? Mostly yes, but not always.