Knitting a Gauge Swatch

by MJ ROLLERI
(Ventnor City, NJ USA)

I am knitting a sweater in rib pattern (K1,P1) all rounds.

I do not know how to measure the 4 x 4 gauge swatch horizontally. Do I stretch it out or measure it without stretching. I have tried a no. 2, a no. 3 and a no. 4 needle.

Measuring vertically the length is no problem it is the horizontal measurement that has me baffled.

Can you help?

Measuring it horizontally the measurement seems to only go from 2.5 to 3 in.

YOUR ANSWER

The first of your questions seems to be whether to measure your swatch stretched or in its resting state. Personally I always measure my tension with the knitted fabric laid flat in it's resting state.

With no stretching, as this distorts the tension measurement.

The second question seems to be how to measure your tension if your knitted swatch is smaller than 4 x 4?

What I would do is measure across 2 inches. When you have counted the number of stitches within your 2 inch measurement, just multiply the number of stitches by 2 to check your tension against the tension recommended in your pattern.

I hope you have found this answer helpful.