Can't get gauge? If your gauge swatch fabric will suit your pattern, you must adjust your pattern to a different knitting gauge.
How do you figure out how many stitches you need? Even if you fear knitting math, there's a way you can figure things.
Choose whichever way makes sense for you.
Say what? Perhaps you can figure the difference per inch.
What if your pattern expects a gauge of five stitches per inch but you get six? You might go through the pattern and change every five stitches to six.
Perhaps you better understand the percentage difference.
It's just another way you can figure how many stitches you need.
You might increase all the pattern's numbers by 20% for the correct sweater size with your gauge.
Maybe you invent another approach that makes more sense to you.
If you don't trust your math and would rather draw a chart, do that.
I've made drawings and lined up match sticks when working out how a design repeat works with however many stitches I need.
What if my gauge includes a half stitch? Do I ignore it? No way! Your finished sweater won't fit right.
If you get 6 1/2 stitches per inch instead of the 5 your pattern expects, just grab a handy calculator for ease in figuring.
Substitute 6.
5 stitches for every 5 stitches in the pattern.
Or you might increase the number of stitches by 30 percent throughout your pattern.
Or draw a picture.
Or lay out match sticks.
Whatever way you understand the problem works--even counting your fingers.
What a difference your gauge makes! Your new numbers might LOOK like they'll make a sweater 20 or 30 percent bigger than what you want, but it won't.
Because you adjusted your pattern to suit your new knitting gauge, those new numbers will give you a sweater the same finished size your pattern originally said.
Not too small, not too large--just right.