Help with choosing needle gauge, new knitter.

[blarrg]

Hi!
I'm new to knitting and I've realized that I am naturally a really tight knitter. I know the recommended needle gauge is on the yarn when you buy it, but should I be working with a larger gauge to offset the tight knitting? I want to knit a loose scarf so I'm trying to figure out if it would be okay to use a large gauge for that as well.

Thanks!

[suzeeq]

The gauge and needle size on the yarn is mostly to classify yarns into a weight range, you need to match the gauge on a pattern, whatever size that takes which is often different than on the label. If you're just winging a scarf, I'd CO about 20 stitches with a needle a couple sizes larger than on the label and see how you like it; if you think it's too dense, then go up another size or two. A scarf can be looser knit than a sweater so it's drapey rather than stiff.

[blarrg]

Thank you so much!