Seduce: to win over; attract

Yarn seduces me with her siren call. "Pick me! Pick me!" I am hopelessly enchanted by yarn and am delighted by the endless choices.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

WIP Wednesday

To Swatch or Not to Swatch....
... that is the question

My answer...
... it depends
... it depends on what the project is

future baby sweater

future beret

future baby bib
A gauge swatch can be a good thing.   It can tell you if the yarn/color is right for the stitch/project you're planning on knitting.   It can tell you if you'll like knitting with the yarn.   

You definitely do NOT want to knit a sweater and sew it all together and try it on and find out it doesn't fit!  

A gauge swatch is your friend.   So I've heard.  
But I know I am not the only one out there who has knitted a gauge swatch, danced with glee when the gauge is correct, knitted the project and then find something is not quite right. (the fit, the color, the pattern, etc)

But I still persist in knitting a gauge swatch for certain fitted items. [sigh]

             and finally for today...
 update on fingerless "Woven" mitts


9 comments:

SissySees said...

I usually just start knitting and then stop and measure my gauge after a few inches. Not ideal, but that's how I roll...

They all look wonderful!

Connie said...

I'm not a knitter, but I have crocheted in the past. It seems like a swatch is a good idea for any clothing that is fitted. For something like a blanket, it may not be as necessary. Your work is lovely as always. :)

Anonymous said...

Your projects look great. I'm not a swatcher on most things though. Probably will bite me in the arse one of these days.

Unknown said...

Oh, you know how I feel about those gauge swatches. Filthy, lying things. I have better results if I use the first few inches of my project to check my gauge and go from there.

Nancy said...

I don't think I've ever done a swatch. Of course, most of the time, I don't knit projects that really require one.

Sigrun said...

ToSwatchorNottoSwatch--that's my blog title.☺☺☺

Katherine said...

Only once in a blue moon will I swatch. I do check gauge off and on during the knitting but if the finished project turned out to be horribly off I would probably just give it away to someone it fits. I know, I'm an ostrich with my head in the sand!!

kathy b said...

there once was a knitter who swatced
her dog sat right by her and watched
she knit the wrong page
though she had the right gauge
so she opened some wine and got sauced.

hee hee just made that up for the coming holiday!

Janet said...

Love the color of the baby sweater and your mitts are coming right along. I really don't like to swatch and have had to frog more than few projects because I didn't. I tend to check gauge after I get started.