Swatching 101

It was more important then usual for me to knit a gauge swatch for this project because I have never knit with Linen before.  This is Louet Euroflax Wet Spun Linen in the Terracotta colorway. 

When I swatch I am sometimes guilty of knitting an itsy bitsy square and calling that a swatch.  Unfortunately that kind of slacker attitude defeats the purpose.  When I do it correctly I do a swatch of at least 4 inches with a couple of garter stitches beginning and ending each row.  I also knit at least 2 to 3 rows of garter at the beginning and ending of the swatch to help it lay flat. 

This is my swatch after washing by hand with Soak and laying out to  dry.  The 8 knots in the tail of yarn denote that this swatch was knitted on size 8 needles.

This is the swatch after blocking and washing.  When dry it was 18 stitches and 23 rows in 4 inches just like the pattern gauge.

Tonight I started the project and will have to look at the first five rows again tomorrow before I knit anymore.  It looks awfully irregular to me!

Swatching for greatness!

I am swatching for this summer sweater.  This is some linen from stash and the pattern is one I have wanted to knit for a long time.  The new Knitscene has a wonderful article on swatching and I am going to follow every step.  I usually do a swatch and wash and block it before starting the project.  This time I am going to do before and after blocking measurements and pay close attention to row gauge.  Tomorrow more pics of swatching, measuring and blocking.  Exciting stuff huh?