💬 Confession time - I don't swatch

Well, not every time. Do you?

First of all allow me to clarify before the knitting police are unleashed upon me. With my designer hat on - yes I swatch. Being able to accurately assess gauge and recommend gauge options to other knitters is an essential part of my job.

But with my casual, hobby-knitter hat on - I don’t. Well, not often anyway.

Situations where I might choose to knit a gauge swatch include:

• Using a brand new (to me) yarn or one that I don’t use often (eg linen, hemp and cotton - my absolute nemesis because of how hard it is on my hands)

• If the pattern I’m following has an unusual gauge/yarn weight combo. If the sweater calls for a gauge of 14sts per 4” with DK weight yarn you can bet that I am swatching to see what the heck is going on.

• When I want to knit something using yarn held together or I want to achieve a certain drape or texture.

If I am knitting a shawl or socks I have my firm yarn/needle preferences that I have used time and time again so I see no need to swatch for these. A garter stitch shawl in sock weight yarn on 3.5-4mm needles I could do in my sleep. Or a DK yarn baby blanket on 4mm also springs to mind.

There is a school of thought that says gauge swatches lie anyway - particularly if you don’t do a large enough swatch or you don’t wash/block it. Superwash yarn is a particular culprit for this. And then you have the Elizabeth Zimmerman school of knitting which suggests that oftentimes you can just start knitting the sleeve of a sweater - and it becomes it’s own gauge swatch - plus you have the first sleeve done 😂

Always a bonus.

How about you?

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