Kelbourne Woolens is doing a really interesting series on its website with different knitters working up swatches in their yarns, comparing them and then looking at how those different knitters would fare making a garment with that gauge if they hadn’t knit a swatch before starting.
For instance, knitters working with the company’s Arranmore yarn would have ended up with garments ranging from 8.25 inches too small to 1.5 inches too large, and indeed none of them hit gauge for the pattern in question (one did before blocking the swatch, but it came out bigger after washing, which is why it’s important not to skip that step).
I really liked the general post on gauge they included in the series, which discusses tight knitting and loose knitting, and why you still have to knit a swatch even if you think you “always” knit loose or tight as the case may be. I know that I knit somewhat loose, so if you’re knitting from one of my patterns and you think you need to change needle sizes automatically because of how you knit, you’re likely to end up with a garment that doesn’t fit.
Knitting loosely or tightly doesn’t mean there’s necessarily anything wrong with your technique or that you need to change anything; it’s just something to be aware of as you swatch and something that reinforces the need to swatch.
Do you swatch? I’ll admit I don’t when I’m making a scarf or something, but anything that needs to fit a body I do. It’s so important for the success of your finished items!
[Photo via Kelbourne Woolens.]
