The necessity and nuisance of knitting/crocheting that swatch and obtaining the right gauge so your project comes out perfect.
Many knitters, new and experienced, find knitting a swatch and checking gauge an inconvenience. Creating a swatch can be seen as a waste of time or, even more importantly, a waste of yarn. Patterns have this information for a reason though, and it is important to achieving the desired sizing of the knitted garment. Generally the first knitted project (say, a scarf or a dishcloth) usually doesn’t require swatching and gauge concerns, so it is easily overlooked when the knitter moves on to more intricate projects. However, if a swatch isn’t created and a gauge not obtained, this can only leave upset when the first piece of the project is left misshapen.
Gauge is the number of stitches and rows in order to achieve a desired width and length of a project. If a pattern says 15 stitches and 20 rows will give you a 4" by 4" square, then that is the gauge. The only way to figure out this gauge for yourself, according to your knitting habits and your yarn, is creating a swatch. While swatching can be time consuming, making it will give you practice with the pattern, and will allow you to get a feeling for the stitches, and will allow for making mistakes in the swatch, rather than the garment.
The most important thing to getting that correct size of your brand new knitting project lies in two steps - research and gauge.
Research the yarn that was used on the project. It's common to either not want to use the yarn as described in the project, or to not be able to get it (which makes swatching and gauge of the utmost importance), figure out exactly what that pattern was made of - the actual fibre content of the yarn, the weight of it, and its gauge. All of this information can be found most often via the yarn company's websites, as well as in fibre forums and third-party websites.
Then go to your yarn shop, comb through the yarns, looking for one that not only closely matches the gauge specified by the pattern, but also looking for one that makes you happy. Pay close attention to the labels - all yarn comes with the optimal needle sizes and gauge that this yarn is worked with. Getting one close enough to the pattern goes a long way in obtaining the right gauge in the end.
Following the yardage as specified by the pattern, purchase the new yarn, go home, sit down and make a swatch. Knit the swatch first according to the specifications on the yarn band, using the same needle size, as well as the same amount of rows and stitches. Does it work? Excellent! If it doesn't, then it's time to rip it out.
If the swatch was too large, try knitting with smaller needles, using the same rows and stitches as described on the yarn band. Another way to change your gauge is to see exactly how many stitches reach that four inch mark, and adjust the pattern accordingly. Same goes if your swatch was too small - increase the stitches, and/or increase the needle size.
View swatching as a necessary stepping stone, one that will assure you the right fit and proportion, so as you slip on that garment for the first time, it feels like it's been made just for you - after all, isn't that the point?
Yarndex.com - An online yarn directory with tons of information about all you need to know about your yarn.
© Kelly Gilliam, text and images. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
