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The Importance of Gauge

© Adelle Tilton

"If you don't begin something right, there is very little chance you can make it right down the line." I remember getting that piece of advice when I was younger. I don't believe it had a thing to do with knitting, but I can think of nowhere that this is more true. When you create a knitted fabric, particularly for a garment, you better have the gauge right when you start. There really is no way professionally to correct a gauge problem and it is much easier to prevent the problem from occurring.

The definition of gauge is "stitches per inch." Every pattern stitch, every yarn, and sometimes even every color will be a different gauge. Every knitter should be aware of different things that affect gauge.

* The type of knitting needle affects gauge. If you work up a swatch with wood needles, don't change to aluminum and expect the same gauge, even if you use the same size needle.
* Gauge is also known as tension - use that as a cue. Don't work up a swatch to determine your gauge when you are tense or upset. Your knitting will be much tighter.
* The color of the yarn can affect gauge. A tan yarn may knit up entirely differently than a black yarn of the same brand, due to the color dying process.
* It sounds crazy but weather can affect your knitting. If you live in a climate that is normally dry and it is a rainy and soggy day, work on a project you already have in process and pass up knitting gauge swatches. Better yet - go shopping and buy some new yarn!

Knitting a swatch to determine gauge seems very tedious to many knitters and in many ways, if not understood why you are doing it in the first place, it can be boring. But to understand knitting is to understand gauge. Gauge is the critical first step in your knitting. If you are off even 1/2 stitch per inch or two, and you are making a sweater or other fitted item, it isn't going to fit. So many knitters have learned this the hard way. My mother, a size 8, knitted a beautiful pink sweater for herself when she first learned to knit. Her gauge was off and it would have been too big for my father, who wore a men's extra-large! Had she understood gauge at that time (a lesson she has since learned) she would not have ended up with a white elephant. (Or at least a sweater big enough for one!)