Knitting Fault Diagnosis
Measure the spacing before you open the machine. The fabric already knows which part failed.
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Evenly spaced around the machine
Every quantity in this calculation is an integer in reality, so a fractional result is a measurement problem rather than a finding - measure the fault spacing across ten repeats and divide, and take stitch density on the same relaxed piece of fabric. The method assumes the fault repeats evenly, which covers feeder-related banding and needle-related lines but not faults that drift, appear once, or follow a pattern repeat; a fault whose spacing matches the design repeat is a pattern or programming issue and not a mechanical one. Needle count should be the actual count for the cylinder rather than the geometric figure from gauge and diameter, since needles removed for a pattern change the divisor. Faults arising in the yarn, at the creel, or in dyeing have no fixed geometric period and will not resolve to a whole number here - which is itself the diagnosis.
Knitting Fault Locator: Repeat Spacing to Feeders and Needles — free, with the formula and a worked example, at Textile School.