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.]

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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