That my loneliness
Is killing me noooooowwww
Don’t you know I still believe
That you will be here
And give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time
Britney Spears is timeless, right? This brings me to my topic today, another Knitting Confession 🙂
Like most things in the world, knitting has a set of rules and conventions. Sometimes, we knitters break them. This is my knitting confession.
Gauge swatch? What gauge swatch…That’s right. I don’t knit them. I’ve knit one gauge swatch in all my knitting adventures. It was the little guy for the Whispers top.
I didn’t even block it. But I knit it. Since I was creating a project that was supposed to fit me.
Otherwise, I just cast on and go. It has bitten me in the buns a few times which had me ripping out and restarting my project a time or two. Most recently, that was the Midsummer Baby Blanket. I cast on and started that project 3 separate times with differing needles and a different number of cast on stitches until I finally found one I liked for the width and the stitch definition. Maybe I did a little extra knitting, but I truly didn’t mind.
I think the part of me that doesn’t knit gauge swatch is the forest type of person. You know what I mean? There are tree people and forest people, meaning people who live in the details and people who see the whole picture. I have a hard time seeing all the little details, but I can see how the big thing is going to turn out and fit together. The gauge swatch seems like such a tiny detail that is too minute for the big picture.
I will say that knitting the swatch for the sweater was valuable. I knit one swatch on size 7 needles and didn’t like the fabric. So I knit another on size 6 needles. I measured that and noted that I would need more stitches to get the measurements for the top, so I went up a size on the pattern.
It is coming along…I’m about to start a little shaping 🙂
Do you knit gauge swatches or just wing it?
v’s & bumps,
Jenna
Linking up with Brandy at Stitched Up in Toronto.
hardknitlife 
I swatched once, for the first sweater I ever knitted. I did very careful math and everything. That sweater ended up skintight on me. After that I’ve never been able to trust gauge swatches again.
Ahhhh, now I understand your distaste for the lying gauge swatches! It’s all starting to make sense…
lol – I hate swatches. But I do knit them if I am making something that I want to fit, or that is using a whole lot of yarn (i.e. an expensive project) I don’t want to waste all that yarn and effort.
Agreed. That could be a great rule for me moving forward 🙂
I try to be a good little knitter and make swatches, but I really dislike it for some reason. And I only do it for sweaters or cardigans, not for shawl, hats, mittens etc.
At least you are making an effort 🙂