Gauge calculator
Count the stitches and rows in your swatch, then get the number to cast on and the rows to work for any size, or rescale a pattern written for a different gauge.
110 stsstitches to cast on
180 rowsrows (or rounds) to work
Gauge (called tension in the UK) is how many stitches and rows fit into a set width of fabric. It turns a pattern's numbers into a size, and it is personal: two knitters with the same yarn and needles often get different gauges.
Your swatch has 22 stitches and 30 rows over 10 cm, and you want a scarf 25 cm wide and 160 cm long in 2×2 rib, knitted flat (a multiple of 4 plus 2). That is 2.2 stitches per cm, so 25 cm needs 55 stitches; the nearest count that fits the rib is 54, which makes 24.5 cm. At 3 rows per cm, 160 cm is 480 rows. Press Try an example to see it worked out.
Yarn amounts, shaping, sizes and counting, for knitters and crocheters.
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CYC weights 0–7 with UK and Australian names, WPI, gauge, needles and hooks, plus a weight finder.
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Check a shop with WebTraceCheckYes. US patterns say gauge and UK patterns say tension. Both mean the number of stitches and rows in a measured width of fabric, usually 10 cm or 4 in.
After. Wash and dry the swatch the way you will treat the finished piece, and let it rest flat before you count. Many yarns grow, shrink or bloom when wet, so an unwashed swatch can promise a size the garment never keeps.
Match the stitch gauge first, because width is hard to fix later. Most patterns give lengths as "work until the piece measures…", so knit to the measurement rather than the row count. Where shaping is spaced by rows, such as sleeve increases, use the adjusted row count from Adjust a pattern to respace it.
Nearly. 4 inches is 10.16 cm, 1.6% more. Patterns treat them as the same swatch, and the difference is smaller than most measuring error. The calculator converts exactly, so on a wide piece switching units can move the answer by a stitch.
Change the needle size and swatch again. Too many stitches per 10 cm means your stitches are small, so go up a size; too few means go down. If a size or two does not get you there, the yarn is probably a different weight from the pattern's.
Edge stitches and the cast-on and bind-off rows are pulled out of shape, so they do not represent the fabric. A swatch bigger than the area you measure gives you an honest middle to count.