Knitting Math--I Don't Get It, How Does Gauge Work?

How coins show stitch gauge equals different size sweaters!

If knitting math confuses you, it’s hard to know what size your sweater will turn out. If you’re tired of knitting sweaters that don’t fit you or anyone you know, grab some loose change. A handful of coins will help clear up the confusion for you in a visual way.

Line up 5 pennies side by side in a straight row.

Let’s pretend those five pennies equal one inch of knitting. I know a row of five pennies measures more than one inch long, but work with me here. We’re pretending.

Now let’s say your sweater expects you to knit five stitches per inch and you want to knit a sweater that measures 40 inches around the chest.

Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to do math.

If those five pennies equal one inch of your sweater and you need 40 inches of sweater–that’s a long line of pennies! (200 of them!)

Now line up 5 dimes side by side.

If you line them up beneath the row of pennies, you’ll instantly see a difference in size between one line of coins and the other. If five dimes equals one inch of sweater and you need 40 inches of sweater–this time it’s not such a long line.

Gauge works kinda sorta like that.

The size of your stitches can make an enormous difference in the size of your sweater. Imagine how much bigger your sweater would be if your five stitches were quarters!

So next time you knit a gauge swatch and don’t get gauge, what does that mean?

Here’s the other confusing part.

If you have MORE stitches per inch than the gauge calls for, your sweater will fit SMALLER. Seems backwards, doesn’t it? The MORE stitches per inch is dimes instead of pennies. They’re smaller stitches. See?

If you have FEWER stitches per inch, your sweater will fit BIGGER. The FEWER stitches per inch are BIGGER stitches, more like nickels or quarters instead of dimes.

Now put away your change before someone comes along. They’ll call you a loony if you say the coins are stitches teaching you about knitting math and gauge.

Best,

Karen

P.S

I hope this helped you understand gauge. If it didn’t, don’t despair. There’s lots more help here, complete with pictures.