About KnitGrader
KnitGrader is a small set of free knitting tools built around one idea: the math should be right. Grading a pattern and reading your gauge are simple in principle and easy to get wrong in practice, so we built tools that do the arithmetic the way a designer does it by hand.
What we make
Two tools, both free and both running entirely in your browser. The pattern grading generator takes one base spec and produces a full size range: per-size stitch counts, row counts, and evenly distributed shaping, plus a printable grade sheet. The gauge calculator turns a swatch and a target measurement into the stitches to cast on and the rows to knit.
Why we care about the numbers
Grading is fussy. Each size needs its stitch counts rounded to a whole number, and to the pattern repeat, and its shaping spread so the count lands exactly on target by the right row. A small rounding slip or a lazy "every N rows" instruction leaves a sleeve a stitch short or a chest half a size off. General chatbots get this wrong all the time, because they pattern-match the words without tracking the arithmetic.
How we check the math
We wrote the formulas the careful way and put tests behind them. The stitch math is gauge times measurement, rounded properly. The shaping uses the standard even-interval method, splitting into two intervals when the rows do not divide evenly, so you get clean instructions and exact counts. Every formula has hand-worked test cases behind it, and before a change ships, an automated check drives the built tools in a real browser and compares the numbers on the page against those cases.
The method we follow
Nothing here is invented. Cast-on counts use the standard swatch-to-garment method: width times stitches per unit, rounded to a whole stitch and to the pattern repeat. Shaping is spread with the even-interval method knitters call the magic formula. Both are the techniques taught in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd, and our ease guidance follows the Craft Yarn Council's published fit standards (craftyarncouncil.com).
Who it's for
Knitters whose gauge never quite matches the pattern. Designers grading a size range without a spreadsheet of fragile formulas. Pattern writers who want their arithmetic checked before a tech edit. If you knit from your own numbers, the tools are for you.
What we do with your data
Nothing leaves your browser. The tools compute locally, there is no account, and we do not collect your measurements. If you send a message through the contact form, we store it so we can reply, and that is all. Our privacy policy spells out the details.
Free, with no catch
Everything on the site is free and needs no account. We may add a few ads one day to cover hosting, and the privacy policy already explains how that would work. The tools themselves stay free.
A note on trust
These tools are a strong starting point, not a promise of fit. Gauge varies with yarn, needles, and hands, and it changes after blocking. Always knit and block a swatch, measure it, and check the fit before you trust any graded number. We will tell you when a result depends on an assumption, so you know what to verify.
Try the pattern grader or read the guides to get started.