Gauge converter: knit the pattern at your tension
Enter the pattern's tension and your own, in stitches and rows per 10 cm. Then type the pattern's numbers, or a measurement in centimetres, and see what to knit.
Pattern tension
per 10 cm
Your tension
per 10 cm
Convert the pattern
Cast on 182 sts
Without converting, the pattern's stitches would measure 100.0 cm at your tension.
Knit 56 rows
From centimetres
with your tension
100 sts
84 rows
Write down your swatches in KnitBuddy and compare them with the pattern's tension before you cast on. The swatch notes are on iPhone and iPad.
How to work it out yourself
Example: the pattern's tension is 22 stitches and 30 rows per 10 cm, and your swatch gives 20 stitches and 28 rows. The pattern casts on 200 stitches and knits 60 rows.
- Stitches: 200 × 20 ÷ 22 ≈ 181.8, rounded to a whole stitch: Cast on 182 sts.
- Rows: 60 × 28 ÷ 30 = 56: Knit 56 rows.
- Why convert: in the pattern, 200 stitches measure 200 ÷ 22 × 10 ≈ 90.9 cm. At your tension the same 200 stitches would measure 100 cm, 9.1 cm too wide.
- From centimetres: a piece 50 cm wide at your tension needs 50 × 20 ÷ 10 = 100 stitches.
The answers are rounded to whole stitches. If the pattern works in multiples, for example 4 for k2, p2 rib, pick the nearest one: 180 or 184 instead of 182.
Questions
- What is gauge, or tension?
- How many stitches and rows fit in 10 cm, in the stitch the pattern uses. Measure it on a swatch that has been washed and dried the way you will treat the finished garment.
- Should I change needle size or convert the pattern?
- Try another needle size first: too many stitches, go up a size; too few, go down one. Convert when the fabric looks and feels right at your gauge, or when you knit with a different yarn from the pattern's.
- Do I need to convert the rows too?
- Only where the pattern counts rows, for example in a chart or in 'decrease every 8th row'. Lengths given in centimetres need no converting: you simply knit until the piece measures that.