Another Lesson in the Importance of Swatching

Most professional knitters — and many other dedicated stitchers — will tell you how important it is to swatch beofre starting a project if you actually want it to fit the body for which it is intended.

Ball bands offer a suggestion of what needle might get you a reasonable gauge, but we all knit differently with different needles and under different circumstances, so it’s important to swatch so you know how many stitches per inch you are getting and how that compares to what the designer intended.

Berroco recently did a swatch experiment with nearly two dozen knitters using the same yarn and the same sized knitting needles. While six knitters got the same stitch gauge as the ball band suggested, fully 18 of them did not, and no one got the same row gauge as the ball band suggested.

The difference between the tightest and the loosest swatches was more than an inch in all directions, which would make a huge difference over the course of a garment.

We know knitting swatches is not that much fun, but it’s kind of like getting a flu shot. Getting a shot is far better than getting the flu; likewise, knitting a swatch is better than knitting a sweater twice because you didn’t get the right gauge the first time.

Do you have any gauge horror stories or times when knitting a swatch saved your bacon? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Berroco.]

Next Pattern:

It’s been well documented that I love a knitting pattern with a bit of whimsy, so when I saw the Mine! Pullover from Sarah L. Kelly recently I knew I had to share it with you.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to knit a sweater with a yoke full of seagulls? And another seagull at the waist? Chasing little crabs?

The story behind the sweater (and you knew there had to be one, right?) is that while Sarah was traveling around Europe there were a lot of cheeky seagulls about. They reminded her of the scene in Finding Nemo where the seagulls say “mine, mine, mine” and thus the Mine! series of patterns was born.

Oh yes, there’s a whole set. It was the sweater I saw first but there’s also a pair of socks (and the pattern says there’s a cowl, too, but I couldn’t find it as of this writing. If you see it let me know and I’ll add the link here!) so you can totally deck yourself out in pesky seabirds if you want.

But back to the sweater for now. This is worked in DK weight yarn from the top down in the round. The yoke and a section at the bottom are worked in stranded colorwork, with stripes on the body, though you could make the body a single color if you wanted. Details like the beaks and eyes are added with duplicate stitch to make the knitting a little easier.

The colorwork sections are charted. The pattern comes in 10 sizes, with a finished chest circumference ranging from 32 to 68 inches, or 80 to 170 cm.

The socks are worked in sock yarn and come in three sizes. There worked from the cuff down and change needle sizes to accommodate the less stretchy nature of stranded colorwork. You can choose from a side profile or a seagull that’s looking out from the sock. Make a matching pair or mix it up.

Both patterns are available on Ravelry: sweater and socks. If you make them I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sarah L. Kelly]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?