If you are an experienced knitter you will have a feel for the starting point in your swatch sample. If you are new to knitting follow the guide on the label of the yarn and cast on the number of stitches that you think will be at least 4 inches. This is not an exact science; remember swatches are experiments and you are playing around with your potential project.
1. Start with 4-6 rows of garter stitch. Put 2-4 garter stitches at the beginning and end of each row and end with 4-6 rows of garter stitch. This prevents your swatch from rolling up into a tube.
2. Knit at least 4 inches of the stitch in the pattern you have chosen.
3. It does not matter what size needle you need to achieve this gauge. I usually use a needle two sizes smaller than what patterns call for because I knit loosely. Other people need to go to larger needles. What kind of needle you use will also affect how many stitches you get per inch.
4. At the top of every pattern, there will be an area that states the gauge and that is the number you are aiming for. If you do not achieve the correct number of stitches per inch, do another swatch with smaller or larger needles. If you have too many stitches, go to a larger size needle, and if you have too few stitches, try a smaller needle.
5. Never measure your stitches while your sample is still on the needle. Do the entire swatch, cast off, and then measure. Leaving your work on the needles will distort the stitches. And don't pull the swatch out to reuse the yarn in your project - it will be crimped and will knit up differently than the rest of your yarn.
To determine your stitches per inch, measure carefully. Understanding Knitting Gauge by Mary Smith provides some additional instruction as well as illustrations to show the best ways to measure. Some hints:
1. Use a flat surface under your work to measure accurately.
2. Use a firm ruler - not a measuring tape.
3. Consider purchasing a knitting gauge ruler - small, inexpensive and easy to use.
In the future we can talk about different things to do with all your knitting swatches. Keep them in a shoe box with a label of the yarn for now.
There are many shortcuts in any craft, and knitting is no exception. Shortcuts are handy and very useful, but never take a shortcut in your gauge. It is easy to spend several hundred dollars on the yarn for a beautiful sweater and if the gauge is off, you will never be able to wear it. The extra time you take to make gauge swatches is only a fraction of the time you will invest in your project and may be the most important time you will spend with it.
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