Why gauge needs to be listed in every knitting pattern, even accessories
I’ve been knitting for over 10 years, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago when I knit my first sweater that I made my first gauge swatch.
It’s true that gauge becomes more important when you’re knitting something designed to fit a certain way, like a sweater or sock, but I’ve come to learn it’s always important, because it does so much more than ensure the sizing is correct.
Sometimes I see accessory patterns that either don’t list the gauge at all, or list it but say “gauge isn’t important.” Even though I personally hate knitting a gauge swatch, as a tech editor I do have to push back on the idea that it’s ever not important.
At its most basic definition, a knitting pattern is a set of instructions for creating exactly the same item as is pictured. In order to do that, a knitter needs to have every piece of information that the designer had available to them when they were designing the pattern.
Imagine if you were following a recipe and it said to add 1 teaspoon of sugar, but you add a tablespoon. Your dish is going to end up different than what the creator intended because you’re not using the same amount of that ingredient.
The same is true in knitting, and differences in gauge can affect the finished object in several different ways beyond just sizing and measurements. It may end up a different shape, have a different stitch definition than intended, or use up more yarn than listed.
Let’s work through an example:
See these two hats? For the first hat, the gauge was 18 stitches x 24 rounds = 4” (I’m going to omit cm measurements here just for simplicity of explaining, but I do recommend patterns include both). 78 stitches were cast on and 60 rounds were knit, resulting in a hat that is 17” in circumference and 10” tall.
For the second hat, I meet the stitch gauge of 18 stitches, but my round gauge is 20 rounds per 4” instead of 24 rounds. While knitting the same number stitches and rounds as the example above, I’ll end up with a hat that is 12” tall, which is 2” taller! I’ll also end up using a lot more yarn than the pattern called for.
It’s actually quite common for knitters to not be able to match both the designer’s stitch and row/round gauge exactly. Typically stitch gauge is the more important of the two and you can adjust for the row/round gauge by knitting more or fewer rows/rounds. But, this adjustment does require knowing the original gauge so that you can compare to it.
Of course, the majority of knitters won’t actually ever do this math and are quite happy to just knit something and see how it turns out.
(Regardless, I believe that including gauge information on every pattern is crucial. A knitter can decide not to swatch (I’ve been guilty of this many times), but then it’s on them as to why the pattern isn’t working.
Providing gauge helps cut down on pattern support time as well because you can start troubleshooting by asking the knitter if they met gauge. If they didn’t, then it’s easier to say why they’re having issues with something. If you can’t start the conversation at making sure gauge matches, then it’s going to be harder to help someone through issues, and you’ll spend more time doing it.
Ready to take your knitting patterns to the next level?
As a knitting tech editor, I can work with you to ensure your patterns are clear, accurate, and easy to follow. Visit my Tech Editing Services page to learn more and get started today! I also drew the schematics in this blog post, and can draw schematics for you as well.
