Tool School: Swatch Ruler and Needle Gauge
What is it?
We just left our favorite knitting shop with a very cool new sweater pattern and yarn so beautiful that it defies description. We weren’t planning on starting on a new project today, but when inspiration strikes what can you do? You tell yourself you have no choice but to start right away.
Every other priority is relegated to the proverbial back burner. We grab our favorite chair, flip on the lights and immediately start to cast on. But it seems there’s a step we’re skipping somewhere but the urge to see that beautiful new sweater completed pushes us on. Now, however, after we’ve spent countless hours completing our dream project we find that it doesn’t fit.
Oh no! Wait a minute, what was that step we skipped? Gauge, that’s it. We forgot to make an accurate measurement of our gauge. And it was a fatal mistake. Correct assessment of our gauge is a necessary step to ensure that our finished project matches our pattern.
How do we determine our gauge? We knit a swatch to simulate the fabric of our new sweater. Once complete, we lay the swatch on a flat surface and measure the number of stitches in four inches across the fabric and then measure the rows vertically across four inches. Now that we have determined our stitch gauge and row gauge we can compare them with the pattern.
If we have more stitches per inch we’ll have to do another swatch using larger diameter needles. If we have less stitches per inch we’ll have to use smaller needles. Once we have the appropriate gauge we’re good to go with our project. It goes without saying that an accurate measurement of our swatch is vital to making the correct adjustments.
It’s equally important to ensure we’re using the correct needle sizes. We might not always be familiar with the size designations on needles or hooks or maybe they’re not visible. How do we know what the true size is? We have a gauge for that too. In fact, we’ve designed a tool that both measures our gauge accurately as well as determines exact knitting needle and crochet hook sizes.
What does it do?
The Swatch Ruler and Needle Gauge is the ultimate tool for any knitting or crochet aficionado. This one tool allows us to measure both gauge and knitting needle or crochet hook size.
Swatch Ruler & Needle Gauge
Art No. 3200
Swatch Ruler
It’s so important to anything we do in knitting or crochet that we have an accurate measurement of both stitch gauge and row gauge. Once we have our knitted or crocheted swatch we need to measure stitches and rows across four inches to get a good average. Proper adjustments rely on this accuracy. The four-inch square Swatch Ruler allows us to lay the ruler on our fabric and count both stitches and rows ensuring that accuracy and without ever moving the gauge. We don’t want to measure rows in one place and stitches in another.
Knitting Needle and Crochet Hook Gauge
Using the correct size knitting needle or crochet hook is essential to achieving our creative intent. Why do we need to measure them? Two reasons. First, we now live in a small global community. Knitting and crochet patterns are available worldwide and the size designations on them might not be familiar to us. The knitting needle and crochet hook gauge shows all sizes in US, European (metric) and Japanese sizes making conversion easy. We’ll always have the right size. Secondly, we might not always have sizes marked on our needles or hooks. Some get old and are worn, some we get from family, friends or even more obscure sources and we just can’t find the size. Now we can measure. Takes all of the mystery out of needle or hook selection.
How do I share it?
The Swatch Ruler and Needle Gauge is a multipurpose tool that does all of the knitting and crochet math for us. It allows us to accurately determine our stitch and row gauge and ensure we’re using the correct size knitting needle or crochet hook for our corrections. Start every class with a demonstration of how this tool applies to everything we do in knitting and crochet. It will be easy for everyone to see that the Swatch Ruler and Needle Gauge belongs in every knitting or crochet studio.
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