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Would You Photocopy Your Swatches?

July 10, 2012 by Sarah White

photocopied swatchA funny thing has been happening in the knitting world of Facebook today.

It all started with WEBS, the fabulous yarn store, publishing a tip on its blog about photocopying swatches onto graph paper. The idea is that you can knit a swatch, copy it onto graph paper (so you can see at a glance how many rows and stitches per inch you’re getting), then you have that as a reference should you want to knit with that particular yarn again, or if you’re swatching before you have a pattern in mind, you’ll know what gauge you got when you find a pattern that might suit the yarn.

This seems like a great idea if you want to be able to unravel your yarn after you’ve finished swatching, or if, like me, you can never seem to find a swatch again after the initial making and measuring.

But apparently some people didn’t get what was so great about this idea, so much so that the Knitting Fever blog posted a response to the WEBS blog to offer more detail to its Facebook followers who didn’t understand the tip. This post expands on the value of swatching in general and offers more ideas on how photocopying swatches might be helpful, including having a more portable record of your knitting experience than a journal with swatches provides and being able to swatch a yarn you love, take notes and take them to the yarn store with you when you’re seeking out a pattern so you don’t have to take the whole skein with you.

In that case, though, I’d try to either make a color copy or attach a length of the yarn to the printout so you’d have a clear idea of what colors you’re thinking of working with.

In addition to these ideas, I think having a swatch printed on graph paper would be a cool way to chart out your colorwork because instead of working on a plain grid you could color in actual stitches so you’d know pretty much exactly how your finished project will look even before you knit it.

What do you think? Could photocopying swatches be helpful? Do you keep your swatches, and if so, what do you do with them? Spill it!

[Photo by WEBS.]

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Comments

  1. Ann from KFI says

    July 10, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    Good point about pinning a sample piece of the yarn to the photocopy. I didn’t even think of that! 🙂

  2. Jessie says

    July 10, 2012 at 3:25 pm

    I like the idea. I rip my swatches once I’m done because I usually need the yarn for the project, but a few times, I really needed to refer to the swatch and didn’t have it. I love the idea that you could use it to refer back for future projects.

  3. Sarah White says

    July 10, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    Thanks! It just seems like color would be important on something like this, particularly if you decided you wanted to do something with a stripe or Fair Isle and needed to buy another color…

Have you read?

Textured Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns

There are so many baby blanket knitting patterns out there I could probably do a post a month full of them and not run out for a very long time. This time I thought I’d look specifically at single color baby blankets that are interesting because of the inclusion of textured stitching. This makes them easy enough for new knitters but engaging for knitters of all skill levels. 

Take the Textured Checks Baby Blanket from Janet Dubbelman for example. This project is mostly stockinette stitch, with some what looks like reverse stockinette and garter stitch thrown in to make the ridges. You can use whatever yarn weight you like to make blankets of different sizes. Find the pattern on Ravelry. 

The Seedling from Modern Made Shop is just about as easy as it comes, combining seed stitch with a garter stitch border. It calls for worsted weight yarn and is perfect for beginners. 

The Julie Baby Blanket by Elisabeth Kristiansen is another one with an easy allover stitch pattern that you can knit up in a flash in whatever size you want. (The pattern notes say any gauge but it also says 28 stitches per 4 inches, which would be a superfine or fine weight yarn. Learn more on Ravelry. 

The Oscar Baby Blanket from Snufflebean is another one with an easy repeating stitch pattern that has a really fun, graphic effect. This is also great worked in a bright color, reminding us that babies don’t have to be in pastels! This one uses DK weight yarn. 

If you want to get a little fancier, check out Sammy Bristow’s Georges Blanket. This one alternates blocks of stockinette stitch with boats and anchors made by purling on the right side of the blanket. It calls for DK weight yarn and has multiple sizes for dolls through toddlers. Check it out on Ravelry.

Another cute texture is this heart blanket with diamonds that are a little reminiscent of argyle. Yarn Sonata Patterns has this one, which is worked in DK weight yarn and comes in four sizes. It includes a chart and row by row instructions. 

Or try the pretty Seton Portage baby blanket from Knitted Wishes, which has a border of trees and textured stitches that look like snow falling. The pattern includes different options for snowflakes and doing a mirror image of the trees on each end of the blanket. It’s worked in worsted weight yarn. This one includes charts, written instructions and video tutorials for special stitches.

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