A gauge swatch is a crocheted square that allow you to measure the size of your stitches. Different yarn weights, hook sizes, and even your own natural tension can make your stitches bigger or smaller. If you use the suggested weight yarn and hook, is doing a gauge swatch before a project really necessary though? I completely understand the excitement of wanting to get started on a new project right away. But I also know the disappointment of making something that doesn’t come out the right size. Gauge swatches are important and worth the little bit of extra time they take. So when a pattern calls for a gauge swatch, most patterns do, make sure you do it.

So where do you find the instructions on how to make a gauge swatch? Most all well written patterns will have the gauge listed. Usually it is near the material list or by the list of stitches used on the first page. Sometimes a pattern will say gauge is not important. Don’t be too concerned. That usually means you will just crochet whatever you are instructed to until your crochet piece reaches a certain length.

Here is an example I wrote up of where and how a gauge swatch may look in a pattern:

Materials

• 6.5 mm hook
• #5 Weight Yarn

Gauge Swatch

With 6.5 mm hook (or whatever hook need to obtain gauge) 11 SC x 12 rows equals 4 in square.

So I made that gauge swatch for you to see. Using a #5 weight and a 6.5 mm hook. I did 11 single crochets back and forth for 12 rows. It measures a 4 inch by 4 inch square.

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Yarn labels will also have a gauge swatch description on it too as you can see pictured below in the middle square. It shows a 5.5 mm (or I-9) hook which is the recommended hook for this yarn. The 12 SC on the bottom refers to 12 Single Crochets. And the 14 R on the right side refers to 14 Rows. So you would crochet 12 single crochets back and forth until you reach 14 rows. And as you may have noticed on the left side and top, it should end up with a 4 inch by 4 inch or 10 cm by 10 cm square swatch.

Now, I don’t generally work up the gauges on the yarn label before a project. I will just work the pattern gauge. But the gauge swatches on the yarn labels can be useful to compare with other yarns labels. If more or less stitches are called for, that could mean the yarn is thicker or thinner. This information can be helpful to know if you want to substitute yarn in the pattern. For instance, lets say the pattern calls for this yarn pictured above. It is a medium weight or #4 weight. But you decide you wanted to use Jean Colors by Lion Brand Yarns instead. It is also a medium weight or #4 weight. Here is what they look like side by side. You can see the pink is slightly thinner than the green yarn.

Let us compare the gauges swatches on the yarn labels of these two yarns.

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The Jean Colors by Lion Brand Yarns has more stitches and rows to get to 4 inches, but it uses the same hook. So with this information, without even doing a gauge swatch, you would know a project using Jean Colors by Lion Brand may come out slightly smaller than if you were to use the Bunches of Hugs by Red Heart.

I made a crochet gauge swatch with the Bunches of Hugs yarn and made the swatch according to the label. And this is what it looks like. I did 12 single crochets across by 14 rows in height. I measured it and it matches gauge perfectly.

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I also made a gauge swatch with the Jean Colors yarn that was pictured above. I made the swatch the same way I made the above swatch. I used the same 5.5 mm hook. And crocheted 12 single crochets by 14 rows. And this is how it came out.

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As you can see, it doesn’t quite make 4 inches. It is about 1/3 of an inch shy. So even though these are both medium or #4 weight yarns, they give different results.

You will not necessarily match the gauge that is given on the label or in a pattern every time. Everyone has their own natural tension. Sometimes you have to go up or down a hook size to obtain gauge. I tended to crochet on the tighter side. So sometimes I have to go up a hook size to compensate for this. But that is why it is always beneficial to do a gauge swatch first.