Swatching on Saturday

A pile of shape swatches

As I mentioned during the week, I am sort of participating in the Initiate Knit Design Challenge hosted by Aroha Knits.  I say "sort of" for a number of reasons.

Reason 1 is that I really shouldn't let yet another new design jump my queue!  I have some other things that have to be finished on a timeline due to prior promises.

Reason 2 is that the Indie Designer Gift Along is rapidly approaching and my commitment to it this year is to not only have my designs be part of the package, but to knit other designers patterns during the Gift Along (sneaky way of getting my holiday knitting done too!) and be able to participate in the chat threads. (If you haven't played before, it is an amazing experience and the chat threads move at the speed of light...blink and 100 new posts have been made; shower, sleep, eat, work and pages upon pages have been created.)

And finally Reason 3...I don't actually follow the same process in design.

But wait! (you might say) Why would I participate at all in something that isn't my process?  Well, sometimes it is good to shake things up a bit.  The same as there are no knitting police, there are no design police though, so if your process is different that is a good thing. (And that is something to remember when participating in these challenges, there is no one true way.)

My process does not involve hours of soul searching and creating mood boards to come up with an idea.  Ideas are easy!*  Imagining what the finished piece will be, for me is easy...sketching it out isn't as easy and so long as I have a clear picture of what I want, is just one more step that I don't need to take.

There is a Reason 4 and that actually came into play yesterday with the email "challenge" about swatching for your design.

I am pretty opinionated about swatching and why I feel that swatches can be "dirty little liars" , especially if you are swatching to follow someone elses pattern and are trying to make a fitted garment.  The first one is...

DO NOT put garter stitch edges on your swatches UNLESS your finished piece has garter stitch edges.

Why?

Simply put garter stitch behaves differently than lace patterns, cables, texture or plain knit one row, purl the next stocking stitch.  The stitches "squish" together forming those nice rows of ridges but, that affects the neighboring stitches and distorts the gauge.

The same way that putting an i-cord edge on a piece can give structure but might mean that on a long cardigan front, every so often you need to work a few extra rows between the i-cord to stop the piece from "gathering" at the edge.


The second thing that I think a lot of knitters get wrong with swatching is they don't make their swatches big enough!  As you get used to working with the yarn and needles you have picked (and do swatch with the yarn and needles you intend to use!) you may find that you "relax" more in the knitting, so a little 4 to 6 inch swatch doesn't actually represent what a 34 inch piece (or larger) will be.

I understand that might mean you have to buy an extra ball of the yarn you intend to use so that you can make a really big swatch, but it is a small price to pay for a really great finished object that actually fits!

From a designer perspective I would add a third thing...swatch in the general shape you intend to make.  For example, if your design is a top down triangle shawl, swatch as a top down triangle shawl...observe how your shaping at the edges and spine affect your chosen stitch pattern...does it look "wonky" or does it flow?  If it looks wonky...what can you change to bring it back into a smooth design?

I will get off my soapbox now, and let you continue in your regularly scheduled weekend.  Today is "I Love Yarn Day!" so I hope your plans include spending some quality time with your favorite yarn to celebrate!

~M

*To demonstrate this: Find your favorite author, tell them you have a great idea for a book and you would like to get co-author credit for giving them the idea if they write it...watch them laugh at you!  Ideas are easy, execution is hard!