I was talking with someone recently about their knitting. She was trying to figure out why her sweater was not turning out to size. We talked about gauge and the many gauge related tips and tricks. One of the most basic things you can do is to swatch and measure that swatch. But you’ve got to use the right ruler for the job. I knit for 10 years before I found out that I was not measuring my swatch or knitting correctly and that it affected my gauge.

Let’s Talk Tools

There are many kinds rulers we can use including gauges, yard sticks, quilters rulers (I love those!), measuring tapes, string, and dollar bills (it’s 6” long). We could put those into two categories: hard and soft. Nothing beats a soft ruler for going around 3D objects and humans because they can bend over and around all our curves.

Unfortunately, bendiness can distort the final measurement resulting in an incorrect gauge. This means you’re going to be fiddling around with another needle size, when in fact, maybe you did get gauge. Or you’ll think you got gauge, but you didn’t and are about to have a knitting disaster.

Hard is Better

Lucky for us, there are many hard rulers and just like their soft counter parts, they are cheap. These are better for measuring flat objects and things like your knitting. First, they don’t bend. This means that a hard ruler won’t add the dimensions of the crevasses and valleys (think bulky and texture stitches) of your knitting into your gauge measurement.

Second, they won’t stretch out like a soft ruler will. My personal favorites are the quilters rulers. Their various markings and transparency make them ideal for blocking things like sweaters where you want straight edges and 90° corners.

How to Measure Your Knittng

To accurately measure your knitting or swatch, first be sure to read the schematic and follow the pattern instructions. Take your preferred hard ruler and place it on top of your knitting or swatch. Line up the edges of the ruler with the knitting. DO NOT force it down onto your knitting. Squishing those stitches under the ruler will distort the gauge. This squishing. This is what I was doing wrong. Oooops. Two easy changes: use a hard ruler to measure your knits and don’t squish.

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Extra tip: As wonderful as the tape measures are, I’m always having to replace them because they do stretch out and become longer. Not only that, my cat Sparrow loves to chew and destroy all my tape measures! Replacing them regularly will help you with accurate body measurements. I would love to know what your favorite knitting gauge tips are.