You will sort of work up as if going to use your Knit Leader, Radar, Contour or Tracer with less stitches and rows
So work up as many rows as you need to get the stitch size you like
Have about 10 or more rows in the beginning
Then knit 2 rows of a Contrasting Color yarn
Then go back to your Main Yarn and knit 5 rows on the bulky or upper end of the mid-gauge machines, 10 rows on the mid or standard gauge machine
Now pull out needles Right and Left 6 as well as 11
Hand knit those needles with the CC yarn
Knit another 5 or 10 rows as you did before
Knit 2 rows of CC yarn
Knit 10 rows of MY
If you are using some yarn that may shrink when washed, then bind off and take off the machine. When I am using an acrylic or polyester yarn, I just take it off the machine and let it rest overnight
You can at this point pull the stitches from top to bottom to set them and then measure
Put the left side of the Count 10 on the inside of needles 6 or 11, depending on what you have to go by to get the measurement. If you are measuring 20 stitches, you will divide the number of stitches per inch by 2 to get the correct number.
Same if measuring for the 20 rows. Then you are all set, if you are using a computer program to generate a pattern for you, then input what you have to for stitches per inch or 4 inches