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A Lot of Wisdom About Swatching

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importance of swatching knittingI was wandering around on Twitter the other day when I found a link to this post from Shibaguyz Design about the importance of swatching. It’s called a tangential post because originally it was supposed to be about blocking, but it ended up being about swatching.

No matter where it started, it ended up in a really good place.

You probably know that I’m pretty passionate about swatching and I know a lot of people aren’t, but it’s really, really important if you want to knit garments that fit.

This post talks about common complaints about swatching/reasons people say they don’t swatch — they don’t have time, it’s a waste of expensive yarn, they always get gauge, etc. — and provides great arguments against them.

I particularly love the idea of knitting a swatch in your luxury yarn, not binding off, blocking it and then unraveling the swatch to use for the cast on edge or for sewing seams. Such a smart idea and no “waste.”

There’s also a really great story about how “I always get gauge” can backfire. This is a post you should definitely read if you’re in the no-swatch camp, and if you do swatch it will give you some great ammunition the next time someone tells you they don’t.

Which side of the swatch battle are you on? I’d love to hear why.

Comments

  1. I think swatches are important but I can never get it right then I can never count the stitches. I wish I knew the secret. This is why I make scarves and afghans. They don’t have to be any certain size. I will have to read some more about how to do swatches.

Have you read?

Knit a Log Cabin Blanket with All Your Scraps

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn. 

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small. 

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches. 

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come. 

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you. 

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?). 

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry. 

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns. 

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]