What’s in a swatch?

The skipping of checking gauge is NOT an option according to the knitting police and I am a firm believer of this rule. It is the essential ingredient towards the completion of a finished object that looks right in dimension, texture and finishing.

A swatch made up of stitch and row counts usually never come out as mentioned in the ball band for me. This is frustrating because I end up having to make two or sometimes even three swatches to come up with the accurate needle size to begin my knitting and I am so tempted to just finish the swatch and skip washing and blocking it.

But what with the knitting police watching over my shoulder and knowing in the back of my mind that if not washed and blocked, this garment will probably be better as a dishrag rather than the intended finished object, I swatch, re-swatch and sometimes swatch again and in the end, it pays off!!!

I think that I really like working with thinner yarns at a finer gauge, because the texture or the pattern really stands out with this yarn as opposed to thicker yarns. Also, I think that I prefer finer yarns because of the hot and humid climate we live in which makes knitting with heavy yarns a laborious task and gives me sweaty palms.

Pass the ice tea wudja?