I have been doing a lot of swatching lately – for Cape Christmas and the One-Needle Q’mitl (which will get a less Seussical name when we get around to thinking sensibly).  And I have a few thoughts I would like to share about swatching – whether in a design process or working from a printed pattern.

1)      Swatching for Numbers

The usual focus, of course.  Getting gauge. Very important – whether you are following a written pattern or designing one.  How many stitches/rows per inch, what needle size to use.  Basic.

2)      Swatching for Yarn

I think of this part as the yarn’s audition.  It is also my opportunity to learn what will bring out the yarn’s special characteristics.  Bumpy stitches (like seed stitch), smooth stockinette, ribbings, lace, cables – all play up or play down a yarn’s coloring and textures in different ways.  How does the yarn look and feel at the required gauge?  It might be too drapey or too firm.  In which case, I would change the yarn or change the gauge (the second option being more practical when I am designing a piece than when I am working from a printed pattern because that would involve changing a lot of numbers that someone else has already figured out for me!).  Sometimes adding a second yarn (held with the first yarn) or changing the stitch pattern will improve the situation. 

3)      Swatching for Stitch Pattern

Frequently a pattern will give the gauge in the stitch pattern to be used in the piece.  Sometimes it gives the numbers for stockinette (as being a reliable stitch to measure), but I try out the stitch pattern in the yarn I plan to use anyway.  I want to see how the yarn and stitch work together.  Of course, when I am designing a piece, I will try a number of stitch patterns.  When  I use several different ones in a piece,  I choose stitch patterns that have similar lines (straight lines, scallops, circles or triangles, etc.) and I like to see them worked up next to each other.  I may play around with needle sizes, too, as the gauge affects the stitch pattern’s appearance.  Sometimes a stitch pattern will really surprise me when I swatch it up – it may be huge! or kind of mushy and difficult to see or it may be a lot more stunning in person than on the printed page.

4)      Swatching for Color

Seems kind of obvious – and green yarn will knit up green whatever stitch you choose, of course.  But swatching will give you a sense of how a variegated yarn will look in your project (bearing in mind that it will play our differently on rows of, say, 90 sts than it will on swatch-sized rows of 20 sts or so).  And when working with several colors of yarn (in Fair Isle or slipped stitch patterns, for example), you can play around with the color arrangement in a swatch to get the effect you want.  I also like to know that the lace or cable pattern I plan to do will show up clearly – esp. in a variegated or dark colored yarn.

5)      Swatching for Procedure

Practicing a difficult stitch (like nupps!).  Determining what kind of needles to use (metal or wood, circular or straight, etc.).  Re-writing a chart so that the symbols make sense to me.  Deciding to use a fish-hook style rather than a straight cable needle (or vice versa).  There are ways to smooth out the process and swatching helps me make these decisions.

Finally, I try to regard the first 2-4 inches of my actual knitted piece as a swatch – because even with all that useful information you gleaned from swatching you just don’t know how it is going to play out on the full rows of stitches until you are, so to speak, in the game.  (yeah, you are not going to want to pull back several hours of work, but better that than continuing on a doomed road – I usually get someone else to pull it out for me while I sulk in another room, but I am always glad I made the course corrections early on).

These are mostly problem-solving (and problem-avoiding!) techniques.  Swatching is also the greatest tool for creativity in knitting – a chance to play around with any “what if” ideas that catch your fancy.  Unusual color combinations, wacky gauge ratios (like wispy mohair worked in cables on size 15 needles….), intriguing stitch pattern combinations. 

So, swatch on!