Normally ,all primary elements(those directlyinvolved in the knitting action )in the same machine are set to the same gauge,it should be noted that gauge is measured on one needle bed so a machine of the same gauge but with two needle beds measured at the point of needle loaction is the same as that the point of loop formation.
The pitch,or distance between one needle and another ,is proportional to the needle gauge or thinckness ,The space available,which determines the maximun thickness of the yarn (i.e.the yarn count )that may be knitted,is the gap between the side of the needle and the trick wall as the needle descend to draw a new loop .
Machine gauge can be calculated by dividing the total number of needles into the length of the needle bed. The figure is rounded to the nearest whole number.For example,a 4 inch diameter sock machine has 168 needles. The circumference of a circle is πɗ where π=22/7 and ɗ=the diameter. The circumference is therefore 4×22/7=12.57 inches. The guage is 168/12.57=approximately 14 needles per inch. This may be expressed as “E 14”,E being the number of needles per inch.
The diameter of ysrn id proportional to its count,so a relationship exists between the range of optimum counts of yarn that may be knitted on a particular machine and its gauge.Machine gauge thus influences choice of yarn count and affects fabric properties such as appearance and weight.
For a given machine diameter of width, finer guage machines tend to knit a wider fabric because more wlaes are involved.loop size will naturally be smaller so more courses of loop will be required per centimetre of fabric knitted and production rates in linear meters of farbic will be less for coarser gauge machine.
Also, with more and finer needles there is a higher machine cost and a greater potential for needle damage to occur. A 30-inch diameter single jersey circular mahine might have 1716 needles in E 18 and 1872 in E 20.