Gauge

From BluWiki

When knitters talk about gauge, they typically mean stitch gauge, but row gauge is measured as well.

Gauge is controlled by what yarn you have, what size needles you are using, and how tightly you are holding your yarn. You will never proceed to the point where you do not have to check gauge as this will always vary knitter to knitter. There is no "correct" gauge to aim for; your goal is to only match that of the designer.

Gauge controls the size of your finished garment. If you are dealing with a published pattern, it will normally tell you the intended gauge if it matters (for some projects, like scarves and bookmarks, it doesn't). It will be presented in one of three ways, normally.

5 stitches/inch in stockinette 20 stitches/4 inches in stockinette 20 stitches/10 cm in stockinette

These are, of course, all the same gauge. It will usually be measured in stockinette for easy reference, but sometimes it is given over stitch pattern for greater accuracy. You knit a swatch. If your gauge is too loose (you have too few stitches to the inch) you go down a needle size. If your gauge is too tight (you have too many stitches per inch) you go up a needle size.

It's important to remember that knitting in the round gives a different gauge than knitting flat for most knitters.

To measure gauge, you lay a ruler along the knitting and count the Vs in four inches/10 centimeters. If needed, you divide by four. Don't count only one inch as you can easily be off by a fraction of a stitch this way. In this example I marked the stitches you will be counting, in alternating red and black Vs. You can see I have 22 stitches to four inches, or 5.5 stitches to the inch.