What You Wanted to Know About Gauge (Part 1) | Podcast Episode #130

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Are you completely confused by gauge?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone! I turned to my Instagram community again this week to bring you another “what you wanted to know episode” to find out exactly what you need to know about gauge.

Clearly, this is a topic that needs clarification. After all, it’s the single most important thing to consider when designing or following crochet or knitting patterns. So many questions were submitted that I’m breaking it into two episodes so I can answer as many of your questions about gauge as I can for you!

Episode Transcript

Brittany:
Well, hey there! Welcome to episode 130 of the B.Hooked podcast—the place where we love yarn, we love to learn, and we truly believe yarn can do more for us than just make pretty things. Am I right?

If you’re new to the show, first of all, welcome. My name is Brittany, and I’m your host here on the show. Today I have a special treat for you. We’re going to do another one of those What You Wanted to Know episodes because you all went pretty crazy over the first one.

In episode 124, I turned to my community on Instagram to see exactly what you wanted to know about fiber. Well, this week, I turned to my Instagram community once again and asked what you wanted to know about gauge. So that’s what we’re talking about today.

If you missed the opportunity to submit a question for today’s show from my Instagram stories, don’t worry—we’ll have more episodes like this in the future. To get in on those opportunities, you’ll first need to follow me on Instagram. My handle is @bhooked—that’s B-H-O-O-K-E-D.

When you follow me, you’ll be able to see my stories—you know, those little circles at the top of your home feed? That’s where I’ll share the topic for the next What You Wanted to Know episode and a place for you to submit your question. So when you see me pop up in stories, be on the lookout and submit your question.

As you probably know, Instagram stories are only live for 24 hours, so there’s a short window for you to get your questions in. That’s why it’s important to follow me and keep an eye on my stories.

Here’s how it works from there: I’ll answer as many of those questions as I can cram into one episode—except this time. There were so many questions that came in about gauge that I decided to break it into two episodes so I can answer as many as possible.

Gauge is a big deal when it comes to following patterns. It can be the difference between a project that fits and one that doesn’t. It can also be the difference between having enough yarn or running out mid-project.

Bottom line: if you plan to follow patterns anytime soon, you’ll want to soak up as much information as you can about gauge.

Before I get to some of your questions, I want to remind you that the show notes can be found at bhooked.com/130. I’ll link to any resources I mention there so you can have easy access. And of course, if you have additional questions or tips for others in the community, feel free to leave them in the comments section. That space is there for you to connect with one another and with me. I love seeing your questions and tips!

Alright, first things first—I want to explain what gauge is for those who just really need all the help they can get. Maybe you’re brand new to crochet, or maybe you’ve been doing it a while but can’t quite get a grip on gauge—what it means, and more importantly, why you should care.

Let’s start super basic. Gauge is a measure of stitches and rows per inch, and its entire purpose is to bridge the gap between different crochet styles.

I’m not talking about Tunisian crochet versus standard crochet. I’m talking about the unique way you form your stitches compared to how I form mine—or how another designer does theirs.

Have you ever heard someone say they crochet really tight—or really loose? I know I’ve said it here several times on the show: I crochet tighter than most people. That’s just how I learned and what feels comfortable. I think it partly stems from my perfectionism—I wanted every stitch to be as even as possible, so I held the yarn tighter, my tension was tighter, and my stitches came out tighter.

What does that mean for me? Well, my stitches are smaller than some other people’s.

Think about it—the tighter you hold the yarn, the more compact the stitches are, and the smaller they’ll be. On the flip side, if you know someone who works their stitches looser, their stitches will be bigger, they’ll use more yarn, and their measurements will be different compared to mine.

We all crochet a little differently, and with that comes slight variations in how we crochet the same project.

Gauge is really a reference point to make sure you can recreate something that’s the same size I can create.

Its sole purpose is to make sure when you follow a pattern, one: it will turn out the size the pattern claims, and two: that you have just enough yarn to finish the project.

Kind of a big deal, right? Good, I’m glad we’re on the same page.

Gauge is measured in stitches on the horizontal and rows on the vertical. So you’ve got a vertical measurement and a horizontal measurement. The horizontal measurement is always stitches. The vertical measurement is always rows.

When you see it in your pattern, it might say something like: “14 stitches and 8 rows equals 4 inches.” What does that mean? That 14 stitches should measure 4 inches wide, and 8 rows should measure 4 inches tall.

It’s pretty basic when you spell it out like that, but the questions come up when things don’t measure right. So let’s get into those questions.

Our first question comes from Station Owl, who wants to know: if the gauge is different—meaning your horizontal or vertical measurements don’t match the pattern—can you just adjust the size of the garment instead of changing hook size?

We’re starting strong with this complicated one!

The short answer is yes, you can technically adjust the size of the panels in your garment to make up the difference. But this approach isn’t the easiest.

Making another swatch with a different hook size and getting the gauge right from the start will probably be easier—and safer.

Since gauge affects the overall size of the garment, if you’re working with your own gauge, you’ll need to adjust every single panel to fit your gauge. That’s time-consuming and can make you lose confidence that the project will turn out right.

One of the best things about working a pattern is that you can “tune out” and just follow instructions, confident that if you did your gauge correctly, the project will fit, and you’ll have enough yarn.

Gauge is the thing that gives you that peace of mind.

If you go rogue and use your own gauge and just resize the garment, you lose that peace of mind.

That said, it can be a fun challenge if you want to improve your designing or pattern grading skills—if you understand how the garment comes together, how gauge works, and if you’re comfortable with measurements.

You’ll also need to be okay with maybe ordering more yarn if you run out, or having leftovers if you overestimate.

So yes, you can change the garment size—but I strongly suggest trying to adjust your gauge first. It’ll probably be easier unless you’re up for a challenge!

Now, garments are pretty complicated projects, so let’s look at something simpler: a scarf.

If your gauge doesn’t match perfectly on a scarf, you can just decide how wide you want it, chain enough stitches to get that width, and go from there.

That’s much safer and easier since it’s one simple rectangle, and the exact width isn’t critical.

But keep in mind yarn requirements: if your size is off a lot, you might need more yarn than planned.

If you adjust your size instead of gauge, you lose the security blanket of the pattern’s sizing and yarn estimates.

Our next question comes from Creative Mama, who wants to know what to do if they’ve tried different hooks and still can’t get gauge right.

This one doesn’t have a straightforward answer, but I’ll do my best.

First, ask yourself: what part of gauge is off? Stitch count or row count? They need to be treated differently.

If the stitch count is off and you can’t fix it with different hooks, the first place I’d look is your measuring technique.

This is one of the things that trips a lot of people up. Their gauge might be perfectly fine, but they could be measuring it incorrectly. So the first piece of advice I have for you with measuring is to use a gauge tool. If you have one at your disposal, use it because it sort of blocks out all the other stuff in the background. It just has a little window and makes it easier to count.

Another benefit of having a gauge measuring tool is that they’re usually rigid. They’re not like a tape measure or something floppy that can move around on you. Now, you don’t have to have a gauge tool—you could use a hard ruler, like something you’d send your kids to school with. Some hook sets even come with a short, hard plastic ruler.

When you’re measuring, make sure you align the very edge of the first stitch you want to count with the first tick mark on your ruler. That part’s really important. Be as exact as possible. I like to stand right over top of it, too, because sometimes if you look from an angle, it can seem like it’s right on the edge when it’s not. So try to stand directly above, place that tick mark right at the edge of the first stitch, and then count over from there.

Another thing that often confuses people is not counting the air space between stitches, especially at the end. For example, if you’re counting stitches in four inches and you reach 14 stitches, but the four-inch mark actually falls somewhere between the 14th and 15th stitch, that air space is still part of your gauge. So it’s not just 14 stitches—it’s 14 point something.

I know it sounds nitpicky, but to be as accurate as possible, you have to be detailed.

If you’re confident you’ve measured correctly, I like to do a little calculation with the swatch that’s closest to the gauge stitch count. Remember, gauge is a factor, meaning it’s a multiplier—not a one-and-done deal.

Ask yourself three questions: What’s the total project width? How many times does your gauge measurement (that inch number) divide into that width? And by how many stitches or fractions of stitches are you off?

If you answer those three questions, you can plug them into a simple equation and do some damage control before you start. You can see whether being off by a half stitch or a quarter stitch will be a big deal or not.

Here’s an example: let’s say your total project width is 16 inches. Your gauge stitch width is four inches. Divide 16 by 4, and you get 4—that’s your multiplier.

Now let’s say you’re off by half a stitch and you measure 4 stitches per inch instead of 3.5 stitches per inch, which your gauge calls for. So 0.5 (the difference) times 4 (the multiplier) equals 2. That means your project will be 2 inches wider—18 inches instead of 16.

For a garment, that could be a big deal—one extra inch of ease can make it bigger. But for something like a scarf, being 2 inches wider might not make or break the project.

It will probably change how much yarn you need, but that’s usually okay. If you’re fine with that, you can move forward knowing you might need more yarn and the finished piece will be a bit wider.

However, for garments, hats, or anything where sizing is important, 2 inches can be a deal breaker.

Here’s the bottom line: if you’ve tried every single crochet hook and still can’t get gauge right, it’s best to change the tension on your yarn.

So back to that question about what to do if you’ve tried different hooks and still can’t get it right.

First, do everything you can to get it right—measure properly, do some damage control, and see if your small differences are deal breakers.

If it is a big deal and your sizing is off, and you still can’t create a swatch that matches gauge, then look at your tension—how tight you hold the yarn as you crochet.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you count fewer stitches per inch, try holding the yarn tighter. That will make your stitches smaller and more condensed, which may fix the difference.

If you count more stitches per inch, try holding the yarn more loosely. That will make your stitches bigger and hopefully match your gauge.

What I’d do is pick whichever hook gets you closest to the pattern’s gauge, then adjust your yarn tension either tighter or looser based on your stitch count.

When I find myself in this situation, it’s hard. Making these adjustments is tough because crocheting is muscle memory. After thousands of stitches, it’s difficult to change how you crochet.

That’s why this isn’t an ideal scenario, but it’s realistic.

If I need to tighten my gauge (which is rare because I crochet tight), I add an extra wrap around my pinky. If you’ve seen my tutorials, I wrap my working yarn around my pinky, run it under my middle and ring fingers, and let it flow over my index finger (I’m right-handed).

If I need tighter tension, I make two wraps around my pinky—that’s the difference I need.

If I want looser stitches (which is more practical for me), I remove that pinky wrap entirely and let the yarn flow under my pinky, ring, and middle fingers, and over my index finger.

The only tension control I use then is pinching my middle and index fingers together.

Without that pinky wrap, my tension naturally loosens and I can usually crochet looser to match my gauge.

For some projects, subtle tension differences aren’t critical.

Just know if you can’t meet the width gauge measurement, you can’t fully depend on the project’s final size or yarn requirements.

But what if your stitch measurement is fine, and your row measurement is off?

I found from your Instagram questions that several of you have this problem—good width, but struggling with row gauge.

Here’s what I’d do.

The key thing is the row height part of gauge isn’t about hook size at all. It’s about how you work your stitches—specifically how high you pull up your loops when making each stitch.

If your rows are shorter than gauge, try pulling your loops higher.

If your rows are taller, try working stitches closer to the hook—don’t pull up so high.

I have the worst of both worlds: I hold yarn tension tight, so stitches are condensed, and I work stitches close to my hook, pulling up loops very little.

Because of this, my stitches and rows are both condensed.

If your width measurement is good, you don’t need to change hook size for row gauge.

I’d recommend working a few extra rows—maybe make a new swatch or work more rows on the same one, noting where you adjust—and try pulling loops higher or lower to see if you can fix the row measurement.

If you’re off just a little bit, you can usually fix it this way.

But if you’re off by a whole row over your gauge rows, it might be easier (if you know your project’s measurements) to simply adjust your row count.

That said, changing any pattern should be done cautiously.

Make sure you understand what you’re doing, know the project’s overall dimensions, and understand any stitch multiples involved.

Adjusting row counts is easier for simple stitches with no multiples, but harder for stitch patterns that depend on multiples of rows—like 10-row repeats.

In those cases, it might be easier to tweak your crochet style to better match the gauge.

Along those lines, New York First wants to know which is more important: width or height in gauge?

The right answer is both, because matching gauge ensures your project is the right size and you have enough yarn.

But if you want my honest answer, I’d say width (stitches per inch) matters more.

Width affects all width portions of the project, and changing it requires more knowledge and work.

Height (rows per inch) is easier to adjust, especially if you have a target length in mind.

Sometimes I just crochet rows until I reach that target length.

That said, it’s always best to try to match both width and height for smooth results.

If you fudge one, fudge the height—it’s usually easier to get away with.

Are you still with me? I know gauge can be one of those “in one ear, out the other” topics.

It’s easy to gloss over, which is why I’m breaking it into two episodes.

I want to make sure you have my full attention so you can really soak it in.

And if you have to listen to this episode more than once to get it, just go ahead and do so.

Our last question comes from DK Crochets, who wants to know how to make adjustments when gauge is off from the pattern.

This is a wonderful question to end on. Because this is the number one question you have when you first learn about gauge — you’ve made your swatch, and it’s off. Then what? This is the next thing you need to know.

So here are your two golden rules for stitch count, and what to do if your stitch count is off from your gauge:
If you count more stitches per inch, go up a hook size and make your swatch again.
If you count fewer stitches per inch, go down a hook size and swatch again.
Okay, fewer stitches — go down. More stitches — go up.

All right, now here are your two golden rules for row count and what to do if your row count is off:
If you count more rows per inch, work your stitches closer to the hook — in other words, don’t pull up so high.
If you count fewer rows per inch, pull up a little higher when you work your stitches.
So, more rows — closer to the hook. Fewer rows — pull up a little higher.

If you’re completely confused by gauge, or maybe this is the first time you’re learning about it at all, that last part should be your biggest takeaway from this episode. Because, like I said, it’s really that first checkpoint. It’s the first question you ask when you realize something is wrong.

Now, this sure was a lot of information. So let’s do a little recap to make sure it all sinks in.

First and foremost, gauge isn’t something you should overlook because it’s the thing that makes sure your project — the thing you invest hours and hours in, and lots of money into buying yarn for — will fit and that you have the right amount of yarn to finish it.

We do this because it’s something we love, because it calms us, it relaxes us. And there is nothing relaxing about working on a project and it not working out right — when it’s too big or too small, or you don’t have enough yarn.

You don’t need to deal with any of that stuff. Just try to set yourself up for success right at the start. Make sure everything matches so that you can really enjoy the process.

That’s the whole basis for me saying that yarn does more for us than make pretty things. I mean, yeah, it makes very pretty things, and we love to wear and gift what we make. But I think it’s also safe to say that just as much as we enjoy wearing or gifting our projects, we enjoy the process — for me personally — even more.

So if something like gauge, a potentially confusing topic, is throwing me off, that’s not enjoyable anymore. The process isn’t fun anymore.

So let’s just make a commitment here and now that you will do everything you can to understand gauge and its importance. You won’t overlook it just because you don’t understand something about it.

There are so many people in this community who are willing to help and happy to answer questions, myself included. If you have questions we haven’t covered here, or in next week’s episode when it’s available, leave your questions on the show notes page at behooked.com/130. Myself or someone in the community will be happy to help you through this process.

Alright, still recapping here.

The next important takeaway is that gauge is given in stitches per inch and rows per inch. Many times patterns will list your gauge over four inches. Sometimes you’ll see two inches, and every now and then, one inch.

But really, listing it in four inches or bigger is best practice for grading patterns. That way you have a bigger sample size and your measurements are more accurate with more certainty.

I don’t want to bore you with statistics, so all you need to know is the pattern maker knows how to convert that into stitches or rows per one inch.

To do that, take your number of rows or stitches and divide that by your inch measurement.

For example, if your gauge is 16 stitches = 4 inches, divide 16 by 4 and you get 4 stitches per inch. It works the same way for rows.

Sometimes you won’t get a whole number. Don’t round up, because that rounding could be the difference between a project that fits and one that doesn’t.

Just write it out exactly as it is. If it ends up being 3.5 stitches per inch, that’s your gauge, friend. Don’t round up.

We also talked about the two golden rules for stitch count:

1. If you count more stitches per inch, go up a hook size and make your swatch again.
2. If you count fewer stitches per inch, go down a hook size and swatch again.

And the two golden rules for row count adjustments:

1. If you count more rows per inch, work your stitches closer to the hook.
2. If you count fewer rows per inch, pull up a little higher when you work your stitches.

We talked about what to do if you can’t match your gauge. If you can’t seem to match it no matter which hook you use, try changing your tension — how tight you hold your yarn as it comes through your fingers.

Hold it tighter if your measurement is too big, or loosen up if it’s too small.

The final thing I want to recap: when it comes to changing the pattern versus changing your gauge, just proceed with caution.

It can be done, but you’ll be flying solo. Some of those helpful parts of the pattern that give you confidence in size and yarn requirements won’t be there anymore.

With this approach, you’re essentially rewriting parts of the pattern, so only tackle this if you want to improve your understanding or if you like a good challenge.

This will be much simpler with a project like a scarf, so maybe start there first.

Alright, I’ll be back next week with more answers to your gauge questions.

If you haven’t subscribed to the show yet and don’t want to miss it, do that now — subscribe on your podcast player so you don’t forget.

Thank you so much for tuning in today, and a big thank you to those of you who submitted these questions. This was such a fun episode for me to put together. It’s clearly a needed resource.

There are a lot of questions circling about gauge. It’s clearly a fuzzy topic for many of you, and it’s my job to help you get better and be a better crocheter.

Oh yeah, one last thing before I go: if you enjoyed this style of episode — the “what you wanted to know” type — and want to get in on the next one (because you missed submitting your question here), make sure you follow me on Instagram at BeHooked, and watch my stories for the next opportunity.

Okay, great! Have a wonderful weekend. Bye-bye.