Knitting Machine Gauge and Needle Count for Glove, Sock and Flat Machines

What gauge means

ISO 8188:2007 defines the terms. Pitch is the distance in millimetres between the centres of two adjacent needles in the same needle carrier (needle bed or cylinder). Gauge E is the number of needles per 25.4 mm (one inch); gauge F is the number per 25.0 mm. The standard writes gauge as the letter plus the number, so a gauge of 14 needles per inch is E14.

The standard's table converts one into the other. A few values relevant to gloves: E7 corresponds to a pitch of 3.629 mm, E10 to 2.54 mm, E13 to 1.954 mm and E15 to 1.693 mm. A 15-gauge glove machine therefore has needles a little under half the spacing of a 7-gauge one.

Glove and flat-machine listings usually write this as "7G" or "13G". Confirm in writing that the supplier means needles per inch, since the standard also allows the 25.0 mm (F) basis.

Sock and circular machines: diameter and needle count

On a circular machine the needles sit around a cylinder, so ISO 8188 calculates pitch from the nominal diameter and the maximum number of needles (pitch = π × diameter ÷ needles). For circular machines the standard treats its gauge table only as guide values, because construction can cause deviations, and it requires that when gauge or pitch of a circular machine is quoted in a commercial transaction, the total number of needles is stated as well.

A teaching example shows why. The University of Zagreb's Faculty of Textile Technology lists a sock machine with a 3¾-inch (95 mm) cylinder, 108 needles and gauge E9, with two knitting systems. Working the formula gives a pitch of about 2.76 mm, close to but not exactly the 2.822 mm that E9 has in the flat-machine table. Because diameter and needle count together set the pitch, diameter alone does not fix the sock's stitch density.

Listed sock machines in our directory show the same pattern. The WLT-7F X1 is a single-cylinder, single-feed jacquard machine with a 3¾-inch cylinder, and its listing says selection should start with the sock sample, yarn and needle count. The RS-615F / RS-616F have published 3.5- and 3.75-inch cylinder options, so the diameter must be chosen together with the needle count. Where a machine also closes the toe and turns the sock, as described for the HAIRUN-2, the needle count must suit the whole cycle, not only the knitting.

For large-diameter fabric machines, the textbook relation used in NPTEL's knitting technology course (IIT Delhi) is that needles = π × diameter × gauge; its worked example puts 1,885 needles on a 20-inch, 30-gauge machine. A listing such as the 34-inch, 108-feeder double-jersey series names diameter and feeders but no complete parameter sheet, so the gauge still has to be matched to your fabric. More circular, flat, glove and sock models are grouped under knitting machinery.

Gauge and yarn

Because needle spacing is fixed, finer gauges are matched with finer yarns. The NPTEL course notes that raising machine gauge while keeping yarn count and settings unchanged shortens the loop and increases fabric areal density (g/m²).

Published rules of thumb linking gauge to yarn count exist, but they are not universal. The same NPTEL material uses a relation equivalent to Ne ≈ gauge²/20 for single jersey and Ne = gauge²/6 for 1×1 rib, two different results for the same gauge. Treat any such formula as a starting point and ask the supplier for the count range they have actually run on the offered gauge, stated in a defined yarn count system. Count is not the whole yarn description; twist level and direction and whether you use elastic or covered and textured yarns belong in the same brief.

Why one machine does not run every gauge

Pitch is defined by the needle carrier, so a machine's gauge is built in rather than set on the control panel. Builders' ranges reflect this: Shima Seiki's current lineup lists its SFG glove machine in 5, 7 and 8 gauge, the SFG-I in 10, 13, 15 and 18 gauge, and the SFG20 at 21 gauge.

Multi-gauge flat machines work within limits. Stoll's technical documentation describes a 1×1 technique in which every second needle knits: on a bed of gauge E10, the hooks are about E5 for the coarse setting. It requires a larger needle bed gap, an adapted needle hook and adapted holding-down jack control, and Stoll labels such settings E xx.2. In our directory, the ZYQX-01 is a 52-inch platform for shaped and patterned articles with 9G and "357G" variable-gauge configurations on its technical page; ask exactly which gauges and yarns that configuration covers.

Systems, feeders, carriers and selectors

Gauge sets fineness; other parts set pattern capability and output:

• Knitting systems or feeders. On circular machines each feeder knits a course per revolution, which is why NPTEL's production example multiplies speed by the number of feeders. On flat and glove machines the carriage carries one or more knitting systems.
• Yarn carriers. These place different yarns for colour, plating or shaping. The AirMax is described as a 7G/10G/13G range with one carriage, one knitting system and eight self-running yarn carriers.
• Selectors. Electronic selectors choose needles for patterning on sock machines; the WLT-7F X1 lists seven.

Gloves: one gauge, one set of figures

Glove listings often cover several gauges under one model, and the figures differ by gauge. The GK2018 has four gauge specifications with different nominal daily outputs, including a conflicting 18G figure. The SJT2004 shares a brochure with the SJT2000, whose output and gauges are not SJT2004 specifications. Downstream machines are gauge-specific too: the LZ-8400 7G/10G record covers an overlocking version for those gauges, while other machines under the same name address other gauges. Overlocking and other finishing models sit under sewing and embroidery machinery.

What to specify

• Gauge with its basis (E or F), and for circular and sock machines the cylinder diameter and total needle count.
• Product sample, yarn type, count range and package format.
• Number of systems or feeders, yarn carriers and selectors.
• Included functions, listed as options or standard.
• Spare needles, sinkers and other consumables; see parts and accessories and warranty and wear-part terms.

Then compare configurations, not model names, run a trial with your own yarn on the quoted gauge, and write the agreed sample into the factory acceptance test.

Sources

1. "ISO 8188:2007 – Textile machinery and accessories – Pitches of knitting machines" (preview pages: scope, definitions, Tables 1–2, clause 6), International Organization for Standardization, via iTeh Standards, accessed 2026-11-04. (Catalogue entry: is the withdrawn 1986 edition.) View source
2. "Knitting Technology – Module 5: FAQ", NPTEL course 116102008 (document metadata: IIT Delhi), accessed 2026-11-04. View source
3. "Automatic sock-knitting machine", University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology, accessed 2026-11-04. View source
4. "Product Lineup – Knitting Machines", Shima Seiki Mfg., Ltd., accessed 2026-11-04. View source
5. "1x1 Knitting Technique" (EKC user guide), KARL MAYER STOLL Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH, accessed 2026-11-04. View source