Before you knit something with your new yarn, you’ve got to knit a swatch.
You’ve got to see it knitted up – to know what size needles it looks best on, to know how soft it is, and above, to know what gauge you get – before you can know what you want to do with it.
What’s Stopping You From Swatching? Perfectionism.
A lot of knitters don’t swatch because they feel like swatches have to take a long time to knit, or that the swatches have to be perfect – that the little squares have to look good, maybe be useful for a blanket or something some day…
Don’t let this be you! The faster you get to making a swatch and checking your gauge, the faster you can get to the good part: knitting something beautiful.
Lose The Perfectionism And Make A Swatch Already
Here are a few tricks to help you lose your perfectionism and get swatching FAST:
1) Make the swatch only as big as you feel like making it. Two inches across, if you want.
2) Make a one-row garter-stitch edging. Knit the first AND second rows of the swatch in garter stitch before continuing in stockinette stitch. When it’s time to bind off, bind off knitwise on a purl row.
3) Tie knots in the tail of your yarn to correspond with the needle size you used on the swatch. This will help you remember if you decide to try a few different needle-sizes.
4) Quickly block your swatch: stick it in a glass of water with a little soap for 10 minutes, then squeeze it out and lay it flat to dry. That way you can see how the yarn will really look in a finished garment.
Check Your Gauge And Write It On The Yarn Tag
Now, measure your gauge and jot it down on the yarn tag. This way, when you see a pattern you like, you can say to yourself, Yes, I have a yarn that would be perfect for this. And you’ll have the swatch to back it up.
Here’s my imperfect, tiny, quick, and totally adequate swatch of the above yarn. Easy!
Related Tutorials:
- Care For Leftover Yarn: How To Hand-Wind A Center-Pull Ball or Bobbin
- Mattress Stitch: How To Invisibly Seam Knitting
If you liked this tutorial on how to knit a swatch, post in the comments and click the “Like” button!
Tweet this:
Tweet
If you were buying yarn before having a pattern to make it up in, how would you decide how much to buy? Signed, Obviously Not As Addicted As I Thought!
Hi Jill, great question! I usually try to have some sort of project in mind when I buy yarn, so that I buy the right amount. I’m usually thinking to myself, “oh, I’ll make legwarmers with this!” or “this would be great for a cabled beret!” It’s rare that I buy a skein of yarn “just because,” but when I do, I make sure to at least have 150-200 yards so I can make a hat or a pair of mittens or socks.
I wouldn’t worry about making sure to have enough yarn for the swatch – it uses up hardy any yarn, and if you need it at the end of your project, you can always unravel it and use it.
The other concern would be how much yarn to buy even if you have a pattern that you plan to use. The swatch would take up some yardage, too. Would the best solution be to always buy a extra skein of yarn?
Hi Elaine, good thinking! Like I mentioned to Jill in the other comment, I really don’t think the swatch would take up a significant amount of yardage to make a difference for your pattern. The good thing is, you can always unravel your swatch and use the yarn again!
One nice thing to keep in mind: whenever a pattern calls for almost an entire skein of yarn, in my experience the designer will tell you – something like, “Caution: you will have just enough yarn to make the large size of this garment” or something like that. That way you aren’t inadvertently wasteful!
So, you can always do the swatch like this? You don’t have to make it the same stitches used in the pattern? Like if you, for instance, were doing some sort of lacy stitch?
Actually, that depends on what stitch was used to achieve the gauge given in the pattern. The pattern will say something like, “Gauge: 4 sts/in in St st.” In this case you would want to do your gauge swatch in Stockinette stitch (like I did, above).
If the pattern says “gauge: 3 repeats of zig-zag lace pattern in 4 inches” then you’ll have to swatch up a piece of the lace pattern (say 5 repeats) and measure how big 3 of your repeats is.
It’s easier for knitters when designers give the gauge in Stockinette stitch, but it’s easier for lazy designers to give the gauge in whatever pattern they wrote the garment in.
I want to get one of your Stix gauges but cannot find to buy. I went to
The Stix site but get anything there. Thx much & love your videos & learned much! I’m a new knitter.
Letinola
Oh, I know! Their shoppable website isn’t quite up yet. Just give them a call at (406) 566-5786 and they can send you one. I’m so glad you love the videos! Please keep following my blog, I will teach you everything I know!
hello! can you tell me what kind of yarn is pictured?
Hi there, thanks for reading! It’s called Azapa, a bulky-weight merino-alpaca-silk blend from Araucania Yarns.
I adore Araucania Yarn!! It knits up so nice and feels nice while you’re knitting it!
Pingback: How to Get Good At The Provisional Cast-On | Tibia Scoop
Thank You Liat, Thank You so much for giving me permission to cheat at knitting swatches . I hate having to waste time knitting up swatches and never could understand why it had to be so large .
Yay!! You’re so welcome.
Ha! My keenness for swatching was what gave me the clue that I’m a process rather than a product knitter. I will happily knit swatch after swatch in different stitches then tuck it all back into the stash. I should rethink this, maybe…
Haha there is something to be said for just swatching once and then embarking on your project!
I had read a tip about adding yo/k2tog “holes” to indicate the size needle you used. But I almost like the knot tip better. If your pattern is more of a straight stockinette, the lace could change the gauge
Yes, I think the “knots” method is a lot simpler!