The colorwork swatch for the Galloway Cardigan has finished drying. A couple of reminders --- I cast on 29 stitches and worked rows 36 through 63 of the colorwork chart. The pattern gauge calls for 20 stitches and 22 rounds in colorwork per 4 inches.

Step 1: Setting borders for measuring. I sewed bright red contrast yarn at: (A) the bottom of a row of stitches at the top of the swatch (B) the top of a row of stitches at the bottom of the swatch (C) the right of a column of stitches on the right side of the swatch (D) the left of the column of stitches on the left side of the swatch.

These will act as borders for measuring. Notice that the threads are sewn in about 3 or 4 stitches from the border. Border stitches are normally irregular, so it's important to measure in a few stitches to get an accurate measurement.

Colorwork Swatch Measure 1 with letters.jpg

Step 2: Measuring for stitch gauge. I usually measure with an opaque ruler.

Lay the ruler evenly over a row of stitches near the middle of the swatch.
Measure from left side to right side and don't include the contrast thread.
Make note of this measurement in inches up to an eighths of an inch. In my example here, my swatch measures 4 7/8 inches or 4.875 inches.

Step 3: Count stitches.

Count the number of stitches between your left and right border. Sometimes it helps to follow a column of stitches with your eye as you count.
You should have woven your contrasting yarn along the edge of a column of stitches. If you by chance wove one of them through the middle of a column of stitches, be sure to count the half stitch that you bisected with the contrasting yarn.
Make note of this number of stitches. In my example here, I counted 23 stitches.

Colorwork Swatch Measure 3 zoom with numbers.jpg

Step 4: Calculate stitches per ONE inch: Even though gauge in the pattern is measured in 4 inches, I knit a swatch wider than 4 inches. The bigger your swatch, the more accurate your measurements, because you are counting over a larger sample. To calculate gauge:

Divide your number of stitches (in my case, 23) by measured inches (in my case, 4.875)
This gives you stitches per ONE inch. (in my case, 4.718 stitches per one inch)

Step 5: Calculate stitches per FOUR inches:

Calculating stitches per four inches is easy. Just multiply your stitches per one inch (in my case, 4.718) by 4 inches. In my example this comes out to 18.87 stitches per FOUR inches.

The pattern gauge is 20 stitches per four inches, so I'm not meeting pattern gauge.

Why stitch gauge is important:

Let's take an example from our pattern. For the smallest size, after you finish the bottom ribbing, you have 216 stitches in the garment. If you are getting the pattern gauge of 20 stitches per 4 inches (or 5 stitches per inch), at this point your garment would measure 43.2 inches (216/5) (this would be without the button band). At my gauge of 18.87 stitches per 4 inches (or 4.718 stitches per inch), my garment would measure 45.78 inches (216/4.718). This would be 2.5 inches bigger than the pattern calls for.

I am getting LESS stitches per 4 inches than the pattern calls for. If I want to squeeze more stitches into 4 inches, I will need to have smaller stitches, which means I need to go down a needle size.

I like to use ping pong balls (stitches) in a box (an inch) to explain this. The pattern says I should have 5 ping pong balls in my box. I can only fit 4.72 ping pong balls in my box. They're too big. If I want to fit my ping pong balls in the box, my ping pong balls need to be smaller. I need to use a smaller needle.

Step 6: Measuring row (round) gauge

Lay the ruler evenly over a column of stitches near the middle of the swatch.

Measure from top to bottom and don't include the contrast thread.
Make note of this measurement in inches up to an eighths of an inch. In my example here, my swatch measures 4 3/8 inches or 4.375 inches.

Colorwork Swatch Measure 2 zoom with numbers.jpg

Step 7: Count rounds

Count the number of rounds between your top and bottom border. Sometimes it helps to follow the color chart provided with the pattern.
Make note of this number of rows. In my example here, I counted 23 rounds.

Step 8: Calculate rounds per ONE inch: Even though gauge in the pattern is measured in 4 inches, I knit a swatch taller than 4 inches. The bigger your swatch, the more accurate your measurements, because your counting over a larger sample. To calculate round gauge:

Divide your number of rounds (in my case, 23) by measured inches (in my case, 4.375)
This gives you rounds per ONE inch. (in my case, 5.26 rounds per one inch)

Step 9: Calculate stitches per FOUR inches:

Calculating rounds per four inches is easy. Just multiply your rounds per one inch (in my case, 5.26) by 4 inches. In my example this comes out to 21 rounds per FOUR inches.

The pattern gauge is 20 rounds per four inches, so I'm not meeting pattern gauge. I'm not going to change my needle size based on this, but in parts of the sweater that involve length (arms, specifically), I'll recheck my round gauge again and decide if I need to knit less rounds.

Both on my Lice Stitch swatch and my Colorwork swatch, it looks like I'm getting a similar stitch gauge, so I may be able to use the same needle for both. I'm going to concentrate now on getting the correct gauge and I'll report back soon on what I decided.