How to measure finished sizes for your pattern

Listing measurements for your finished object should be accurate to give knitters a starting point to choose sizes and troubleshoot errors during knitting.

HOW MEASUREMENTS ARE USED

The biggest reason measurements are taken and provided, is to allow the knitters to choose the correct size for them and also make modifications to their preferences. If you do not give them an accurate starting point, then their finished object may come out in the wrong size or proportions than intended. Especially if a knitter wants to make a modification, such as making a sleeve longer or shorter, they need an accurate number to work from.

HOW TO TAKE MEASUREMENTS CORRECTLY

You should always start a pattern with a gauge swatch. The gauge swatch tells you what you need to know as far as numbers and measurements go. When patterns are graded for different sizes, it is all based off the gauge given. Therefore, you should provide measurements for your finished item based off the gauge.

Let's take a hat pattern for example. For each size, you need to know how many rows there are from crown to brim to give a measurement for the hat length. Then you need to know how many stitches there are in the brim to provide the circumference measurement for each size. With those numbers, you will use a formula that uses gauge to find those measurements.

HOW TO NOT TAKE MEASUREMENTS

Recently I've seen a surprising number of designers who take their measurements differently. Instead of calculating finished measurements, they measure their actual finished object with a physical tape measure. Doing it this way invites problems for the pattern and those who knit the pattern. (This is different from taking a gauge measurement.)

Every person has a different tension, everyone knits differently. While we all may reach the required gauge for the pattern, it is inevitable that each one of the finished objects from one pattern will all have different physical measurements, even if it's only by a half inch. This is due to varying knitting tension as one knits, how the yarn may stretch during blocking, and other various things that will naturally cause each persons finished object to be different.

WHY ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS ARE IMPORTANT

Maybe your pattern says the body length from underarm should be 15 inches, based of calculated gauge. But your finished object's physical measurement is 15.5 inches. You will want to provide the measurement in your pattern as 15 inches, what your calculated gauge says it should be. The size difference is likely due to tension variances during knitting over the course of a few days, or even months.

Giving accurate starting numbers allows the knitter to make modifications - maybe they want to knit their body length to 17 inches. If the gauge says the length should be 16 inches, but you gave finished measurements from the physical object of 15 inches, then when they add an inch to their body length, it will actually be 16 inches, not 17.

On the other hand, if someone wants to knit the pattern as is, they will finish their body and realize it's an inch longer than the pattern says it should be. The pattern says it will be 15 inches (given from the physical measured object), but they got 16 inches, even though they followed the pattern exactly. The 16 inches would actually be correct.

Hopefully that wasn't too confusing to understand! If you take anything away from this section - let it be that your gauge taken in 4 in/ 10 cm needs to be used to get correct sizing.

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