Always do a swatch. Attach a note to it with needle size and type of yarn, if you will not be needing the yarn. Keep this in your Journal for future use.
Once you have a pattern stitch chosen and the yarn you will be using, you need to do a Gauge Swatch. This determines the needles you will use. Make a swatch with the needles recommended in your pattern. Cast on enough stitches to make your swatch 4 or more inches wide. Knit until swatch is square.
To determine gauge, lay swatch on flat surface. With ruler, measure an inch in the middle and count the stitches in the 1 inch area. This is your Stitch Gauge. Then measure your rows per inche to determine your Row Gauge.
Stitch Gauge then equals _____ stitches per inch
Row Gauge then equals ______ rows per inch
Check with pattern to see if what you come up with is what they are calling for. If you come up with more stitches then your knitting is tighter, you may want to go up a needle size. If your stiches are less, you may want to go down a needle size. If you do this, you will need to do another swatch to be sure. This is very important to do every time you start a project!
| Desired Width of Finished Project | ______" Wide |
| Desired length of Finished Project | ______" Long |
| Stitch Gauge by Swatch | ______ Stitches Per Inch |
| Row Gauge by Swatch | ______ Rows Per Inch |
Width of Project X Stitch Gauge Equals Number of Cast On
Stitches
Determining Number of Rows to Knit:
Length of Project X Row Gauge Equals Number of Rows to
Knit
