Knitting gauge converter
Your gauge does not match the pattern? Convert its stitch and row counts to your gauge so the finished size stays correct, and see the real size drift honestly. Instant, in centimetres or inches, and it runs entirely in your browser.
How the gauge converter works
A pattern is written at the designer's gauge. If you knit at a different one, the same stitch count makes a different finished size, which is why a sweater can come out a size off even when you follow every line. The fix is to keep your own gauge and convert the pattern's counts to it, so the finished measurement stays what the designer intended.
Your stitches equal the pattern's stitches times your gauge divided by the pattern's gauge. A pattern at 20 stitches per 10 cm casting on 100 stitches makes a 50 cm width. At your gauge of 22 per 10 cm, 100 stitches would only reach about 45 cm, so you convert: 100 times 22 over 20 is 110 stitches for the same 50 cm. Rows convert the same way with the row gauges.
Method: standard adjust-for-gauge resize, as taught in Vogue Knitting and The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns (Ann Budd).Because you knit whole stitches, the converted count rounds, and a rounded count rarely lands on the exact intended width. The tool shows the real width your count produces and the drift from the pattern's size, so you decide whether to accept it or nudge the count. Set a stitch-pattern repeat and the cast-on rounds to a whole repeat.
Just need stitches from a gauge and a measurement? Use the knitting gauge calculator. Resizing a whole multi-size pattern with shaping? The pattern grading generator recomputes every size at once. And for the full picture, read what to do when your gauge doesn't match the pattern.
Frequently asked questions
What does a knitting gauge converter do?
It takes a pattern written at one gauge and converts its stitch and row counts to yours, so the finished size stays what the pattern intended. You enter the pattern's gauge, your gauge, and the counts the pattern gives, and it returns the counts to cast on and knit at your tension.
My gauge does not match the pattern. Do I have to start over?
No. You have three choices: change needle size to hit the stated gauge, knit a different size that lands near your finished measurement, or keep your gauge and convert the counts. This tool does the third, converting each count by the ratio of your gauge to the pattern's.
How is the converted stitch count calculated?
Your stitches equal the pattern's stitches times your stitch gauge divided by the pattern's stitch gauge, both measured over the same length, then rounded to a whole stitch. For example, a pattern at 20 stitches per 10 cm that casts on 100 stitches, converted to your gauge of 22 per 10 cm, becomes 110 stitches for the same width.
Why does it show a size drift?
A whole number of stitches rarely lands on the exact intended width, so the tool shows the real finished width your rounded count produces and how far it sits from the pattern's size. That honesty lets you nudge the count or accept a millimetre or two, rather than discover the drift on the needles.
Should I convert every number in the pattern?
Convert the counts that set finished measurements: cast-on stitches, body and sleeve widths, and the row counts for lengths. Shaping that is given as a stitch count converts the same way. For a full multi-size resize with even shaping, the pattern grading generator handles every size at once.