Stitch Multiples Explained: How to Read 'Multiple of 4 + 2' in Patterns
A plain-language guide to reading pattern math: what 'multiple of 4 + 2' actually means, how to separate repeat stitches from edge stitches, and how to check your work.
Maggie
Pattern gauge mismatch
Pattern resize calculator: adjust counts for your gauge
When your blocked swatch differs from the pattern gauge, enter the pattern's original counts and your gauge to get adjusted stitches and rows for the same finished size.
Optional: use a different finished size or adjust row counts
Leave blank to keep the pattern's intended finished width.
The original row count you need to adjust.
Leave at 1 if there isn't one.
Leave blank to keep the pattern's intended finished length.
Live gauge preview
5 stitches per inch, 7 rows per inch
Your adjusted count
Based on your blocked gauge. Unblocked swatches lie.
What this calculation does not account for
- Shaping. This converts a flat stitch count. It does not resize an armscye, a sleeve cap, or a raglan rate because those need real garment-construction judgment, and getting them wrong ruins a garment.
- Lace and openwork, which can open up dramatically after blocking and stop matching your swatch.
- Colourwork, where your tension differs from your plain-fabric gauge.
- Ease. The pattern's intended ease carries over unchanged. If the original ran loose on you, so will this.
- Two interacting repeats. If a pattern has both a stitch repeat and a separate colourwork repeat, reconcile them yourself before entering a multiple.
Last updated 3 August 2026Found a wrong number? Tell us.
How to use this
- Enter the pattern's original gauge and count exactly as printed: the stitch count, the span it was measured over, and the cast-on or starting chain you need to adjust.
- Enter the stitch multiple if the pattern gives one. "Multiple of 4 + 2" means 4 in the first box and 2 in the second. If there isn't one, leave 1 and 0.
- Enter your blocked swatch gaugefrom the stitch pattern you will actually use. The result updates to the new count needed to keep the pattern's finished measurement.
- Use the adjusted count at the cast-on or starting chain. If the pattern gives a stitch repeat, the calculator keeps the new count valid for that repeat.
A worked example
Priya has a cardigan pattern written at 18 stitches over 4 inches. She knits at 20 stitches over 4 inches, making a tighter fabric. The pattern says cast on 96, in a multiple of 6.
Pattern gauge 18 sts ÷ 4 in = 4.50 sts/in
Pattern width 96 sts ÷ 4.50 = 21.33 in
Her gauge 20 sts ÷ 4 in = 5.00 sts/in
Raw stitches 21.33 in × 5.00 = 106.7
Valid counts 102, 108, 114 (6n)
Cast on 108 stitches
Her cardigan comes out 21.6 inches wide against the pattern's 21.3, a third of an inch larger, because 108 was the nearest count her stitch repeat allows. Casting on the pattern's 96 at her gauge would have given her 19.2 inches: over two inches too small, and unwearable.
Why it rounds up on a tie
When the raw stitch count lands exactly halfway between two valid counts such as 110, between 108 and 112 for a multiple of 4, this roundsup, not to the nearest even number and not down. A piece slightly too large is still wearable. Slightly too small is not. If you check our arithmetic by hand and get the lower number, that is why.
Adjust pattern counts when your gauge differs
This calculator applies your blocked gauge to an existing pattern count. It turns the pattern's original gauge and count into a finished measurement, then finds the adjusted stitch or row count needed to keep that same measurement in your fabric. It does not calculate gauge from a swatch or grade a garment from scratch.
Keep the pattern's intended measurement
A tighter gauge needs more stitches across the same width; a looser gauge needs fewer. The result compares the original and adjusted measurements so you can see how closely the new count matches the pattern's intended size.
Keep the stitch repeat valid
When a pattern uses a repeat such as a multiple of 4 plus 2, the raw result is adjusted to a count that still fits that structure. The tool shows the nearby valid options instead of hiding the rounding.
Start with a measured gauge, then adjust the pattern
Need to understand gauge or turn a blocked swatch into a number first? Those jobs come before adjusting an existing pattern count.
Need to distribute the stitch change evenly? When a resized section ends up with more or fewer stitches than the row you have, the increase and decrease calculator spaces those increases or decreases evenly across the row.
Learn the method
Guides for this calculator
How to Adjust a Knitting Pattern for Different Gauge
A practical method for resizing knitting patterns when your swatch gauge doesn't match the pattern, including worked examples, repeat constraints, and construction risks.
Maggie