Knitting Gauge Calculator

What this generator does

Multiplies your gauge by the size you want to get stitches and rows, then divides back to confirm what they actually measure. It also converts a pattern's cast-on into the equivalent at your gauge, keeping the finished width.

How to use this tool

1. Measure a washed swatch and enter your stitches and rows per 10 cm.
2. Enter the size you want the piece to be.
3. Read the stitches and rows, and what they measure back to.
4. Enter the pattern's cast-on and gauge to resize it to yours.

Understanding the controls

Your gauge

Stitches and rows per 10 cm, measured across a washed and blocked swatch. The ball band's figure is the yarn maker's gauge, not yours.

Target size

The finished measurements you want, in centimetres.

Pattern cast-on and gauge

What the pattern says to cast on and the gauge it was written for. Together they give the finished width, which is what gets preserved.

Common use cases

• Working out a cast-on from your own gauge
• Resizing a pattern written for a different tension
• Checking whether your swatch matches the pattern's gauge
• Converting a measurement into stitches for a plain piece
• Understanding why a garment came out the wrong size

How this generator works

Stitches are the gauge times the width, rounded to a whole stitch, and rows likewise. Dividing them back by the gauge gives what they actually measure, which will be within half a stitch of the target — you cannot knit a fraction of a stitch. Resizing works through the finished measurement: the pattern's cast-on and gauge give a width, and your gauge turns that width back into a stitch count. Before display all three are checked, and the resized count is confirmed to keep the pattern's width.

Randomness and fairness

Nothing here is random. A gauge and a size give exactly one stitch count.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

• Gauge changes with washing and blocking, so a swatch measured straight off the needles will mislead you.
• This handles plain rectangles; shaping, ease and pattern repeats all need working in separately.
• Resizing preserves the width but not any stitch pattern that needs a multiple — a rib of four needs the count rounding to a multiple of four.
• Row gauge is often further out than stitch gauge, and matters most for anything worked to a row count rather than a length.

Privacy and your data

The calculation runs in your browser and your gauge and measurements are never transmitted, stored or included in analytics.