Knitting Calculators
“Decrease one stitch every 4th row” is what a lot of patterns say — and it almost never comes out even. You are left with a remainder, and the last decrease suddenly sits somewhere else. These four calculators take that off your hands: they spread decreases and increases over the rows you have as evenly as whole numbers allow. If a remainder is left, you get two spacings that alternate instead of sitting one after the other.
Everything is worked out from your gauge, not from standard figures. That is the difference between a sock that fits and one that slides down the first time you wear it.
The four calculators
- Shaping — straight slopes, spreading across one row, top-down raglan, neckline curves and short rows
- Gauge converter — rework somebody else’s pattern to your own swatch
- Sock calculator — cuff, leg, heel flap, heel turn, gusset, foot and toe, round by round
- Colour blend — fade two or more colours into one another over a given stretch
Common questions
How do I measure my gauge properly?
On a washed swatch at least 15 cm across, worked in the same technique as the project. Count over 10 cm in the middle, not at the edge. Everything else hangs on that one number, so it is a poor place to cut corners.
Can I convert somebody else’s pattern to my gauge?
That is what the second calculator is for. Enter the pattern’s gauge and your own, plus the stitch and row counts from the text, and you get the numbers that give you the same measurements.
Which heel does the sock calculator work out?
Top down, with a heel flap and a heel turn. The flap is square — it gets as many rows as it is stitches wide, converted through your row gauge rather than measured in centimetres. The gusset decreases and the toe follow from that.
What does negative ease mean?
Socks are knitted smaller than the foot so that they stay up. Ten per cent is usual. The calculator subtracts it from the measured circumference before working out the stitch count.