The gauge of a hand knitting pattern will indicate what machine you should use with the recommended yarn.
This stitch gauge is a very popular gauge for hand knitting with “worsted weight” yarn.
Looking at the chart below, you could knit this yarn with a mid-gauge or bulky machine.
Use this chart as guide to determine what machine you could use with a specific hand knitting pattern.
| Yards per Pound | Meters per 100 grams | sts per 4″/10cm | Machine | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Lace | 4000 – 10,000 | 972-2430 | 33-40 sts | Standard (stranded) |
 |
Super fine | 3000-4000 | 729-972 | 27-32 sts | Standard (stranded) |
 |
Fine | 2000-3000 | 486-729 | 23-26 sts | Standard / Double Bed |
 |
Light | 1000-2000 | 243-486 | 21-24 sts | Mid-Gauge/Standard |
 |
Medium | 800-1000 | 194-243 | 16-20 sts | Mid-Gauge/Bulky |
 |
Bulky | 500-800 | 122-194 | 12-15 sts | Bulky |
 |
Super Bulky | 100-500 | 24-122 | 6-11 sts | May not be appropriate. |
| *ypp = yards per pound | |||||
Video: Learn to match gauge with your knitting machine
Would be really nice if *ypp = yards per pound were also calculated into meters/100g as I think we are lots of Europeans in here 🙂
Updated the chart to include meters per 100 grams. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for adding the meters per 100 grams as well 🙂
Very nice reference sheet for deciding which machine to use. I’ve been collecting data from projects for awhile, but this is all in one place. Thanks, Sue!
Great info! Thanks, Sue.
What I would love to know is the relationship between a KM’s tension dial settings (both whole numbers and dots between the numbers) and US hand knitting needle sizes. Probably will have to do it myself someday because individual KM tensions do vary from machine to machine.
I’m not aware of any relationship between the stitch dial and hand knitting needles. I’ve heard that the LK-150 was calibrated to imitate hand needles sizes. Swatching is always the best bet.
On my sr860 a yarn being HK on a 4mm knitting needle can be used at tension 4 for a fluid material. For a brick like fabric one goes down – 1/2dots. I use that system for testing the appearance of the knit and it has worked well. A 5.5 mm needle setting KM at 5./. Made a very pretty cabled dog sweater.