Yesterday one of the ladies in my weekly knitting group announced to the others present that I had used, “the S-word” again. Yes – I said it. “You need to swatch to see if that yarn will substitute for that pattern.” Groan. Well, she did the swatch, and the gauge was WAY off. Had she just jumped right in, that infant sweater would have fit a pre-schooler, and she would have been greatly disappointed.
I’ve been called the Queen of Swatch (and much worse, I’m sure). And to be perfectly honest, although I swatch yarn just to see what it looks like knit up, I often have to give myself the Swatch Lecture to avoid immediately jumping in to start a new project. What really changed my thinking about that small square of stitches was being introduced to Amy Herzog’s Custom Fit a web-based sweater design program that uses your swatch as the basis for customizing a sweater pattern (of her design or yours) to exactly fit your body. These are not S-M-L sweaters. They have no size, or rather they are YOUR size. Even though I often design my own sweaters “from scratch,” I sometimes run the concept design through her program to insure that I got the math for the sleeve cap right, or the number of decreases placed to give the best shaping. Amy’s program (along with her wonderful books on customizing sweaters to fit your shape) has completely changed the way I approach sweater construction – and swatching.
But still, why swatch? I’m working on a design right now that is the perfect answer. The plan is for a pullover style with a deep v-neck and elbow-length sleeves. Simple enough since I have been eyeing some yarn in my stash for quite a while, and trying to envision the perfect use. I initially saw this as an opportunity to create something really lacy. What I want is a light-weight cross between a vest and sweater to wear over a shirt or jersey (I usually overheat with full sweaters). The yarn is a discontinued Classic Elite (Telluride), a tweed of linen, alpaca and Donegal in a rich red-orange color. I did at least 7 swatches of different lace designs, ripping each one out as they were finished. Why? They didn’t work. The yarn is too hairy, too rustic, too – whatever, for lace, even using much larger needles than would be normal for sport-weight yarn. The plain, humble stockinette swatch, however, could not be more perfect. On a size 4 needle, the fabric is firm, but the stitches clear and well-defined. On a size 5, the drape is exceptional. If I were knitting a boxy, oversized sweater that I’d treat like a sweatshirt, I’d go for the 5. However, the firmness of the fabric from the size 4 will work better for my planned garment because it will compliment the structure, and help to hold the shape over the wide opening of the V-neck.
I couldn’t have known how to approach this sweater design without swatching, washing, and blocking the sample. I wouldn’t have understood the significant drape of the fabric or how it softened during that process, and I wouldn’t have been the least bit happy with a lacy top worked in that yarn.
The other reason I swatch is less practical. I actually enjoy working with that small rectangle of fabric because it relaxes me. A swatch has no pressure. It will be exactly what it is, and it will tell me what that yarn wants to be. It will also let me know if I have enough yarn to complete the project, or if I’ll need to rethink the design. Before I became a regular swatcher, I often found myself in the position of trying to knit as fast as possible so that I wouldn’t run out of yarn before I finished the sweater (as if knitting faster would help!). More than once I’ve had to rip out the last repeat of a shawl because I was about 6” short of yarn to finish the edge. Bummer!
I’m often asked about swatch sizing. How big? Well, as big as you can manage in the time you have available. I know, that’s not an answer. I have two standard “sizes” for swatches – cast on 36 or cast on 56. Work 4 rows of garter, then maintaining 3 garter stitches on each side, work 30 (or 50) rows of the pattern stitch. Purl a row, Knit 2 rows, and then bind off. This gives you 30 stitches x 30 rows (or 50 x 50) to measure. Do the math from there to get your gauge rather than knitting a swatch to the stated pattern gauge. As long as you have more knitting to measure than is called for in the pattern gauge, your swatch will be a more accurate representation of how the yarn will behave in the garment than just a 4” block. And yes, you must wash and block before measuring or again, the size will not be accurate.
So – like the athletic reference, Just Do It! Let the swatch give you serenity from its rhythmic and repetitive work, and let it give you confidence that it will make the garment you want.
This from the sock knitter extraordinaire turned sweater knitter and now designer! Great information. After you wash you swatch…don’t pin it or you might mess up the counts.
I actually do put in a couple of pins, but unless I’m working with lace I do not stretch the swatch at all. I just like to keep the edges flat so that the swatch is easy to work with and to make sure that the rows and columns of stitches are straight. I take your point, however, and agree that over-pinning can really throw off the count. Good catch!
You are so right Sara!
Thank you Sara!