Good thing I love writing almost as much as I love knitting. I still have to stay disciplined today, but at least the weather forecast is for a 40% chance of rain....
Meanwhile, I give you swatches. (I know -- I'd rather look at holiday pictures, too!)
But these swatches are very important swatches because they are proof of the necessity of swatches. Even a few short months ago, I'd have just picked up the needles and started knitting (which explains why I knit myself 6 sweaters last year, and I don't wear any of them ... but I digress...). So I'm 'sold' on the benefits of creating swatches now, and these are a case in point.
The navy blue one is for a hoodie that I have in mind ... it's composed of alternating strands of a pure alpaca and an elann.com peruvian wool on size 5mm bamboo circular needles, and it's lovely and soft and drapes beautifully. And it was my third swatch.
The purple one is for this test knit top-down sweater I'm attempting to start. It's an Italian cotton/acrylic blend, and that's also my third swatch -- and it's still too loose! I'm going to re-knit it now in size 4mm needles -- I started out with size 5.5, and then tried 5's. If the 4mm doesn't work, then... well, then, I'm not too sure what I'll do, because I don't think I'll like the texture if it's knitted in anything smaller. And I have 20 balls of the stuff!
I'll keep you posted on the swatch wars, but I better get back to work now.
2 comments:
I have a problem with swatching, tho I don't mind doing it. However, while I am, I am so conscious of what I am doing; the swatch is different from when I am knitting a sweater or socks. How weird is that? Sometimes I wonder why I bother. . .
I don't have a lot of patience for swatches, although I always do one for sweaters. I agree they are useful. I admit though, that I tend to do them short and on the needles.
And now I must get back to my own writing!
-kate
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