Saturday, November 03, 2007

Alas, an elaborate swatch

See the photo in the second-to-last post there? The photo of what looks like the cuff of a mitten? This photo? Well, it's actually not a mitten in progress -- it's an elaborate gauge swatch! And boy, it's a good thing I made a swatch; otherwise, I might have just gone ahead and started my mittens for real, not bothering to notice until I was four or five inches into the first one that my gauge was too tight. That sure would have been embarrassing. I might have even considered just carrying on with my too-small mitten, had I not knit this elaborate gauge swatch, since I would have already spent hours knitting the real mitten. Yep, good thing I didn't just go ahead without swatching, especially since Adrian told me explicitly before I'd even cast on that she knits loosely, and I tend to knit tightly; I may have just gone up 0.25 millimetres in needle size and forged ahead. That sure would have been silly.

Now, please excuse me and talk amongst yourselves while I rip out my, ahem, elaborage gauge swatch....

12 comments:

Elizabeth Boyle said...

I have several gauge swatches that are sometimes mistaken for sweaters. Silly, foolish non-knitters! Of course, having knit a mitten recently that resembles something King Kong might use, best to rip now. Good Luck!

Chris said...

Good thing you're a clever knitter, doing those gauge swatches! ;)

Jillian said...

At least it was best to discover this before going ahead and knitting your actually mitten! Still...it is a beautiful swatch.

P.S. I just wanted to say thank you. I bought TKBOY last night. Oh.My.Sweet.Baby.Jesus, it's good. I'm in love with the snail mittens.

Protagitron said...

My silly mother keeps on asking me over the phone about my "finished Poppy sweater" when she really means "very large and informative gauge swatch".

Sarah A. said...

It's always best to destroy the evidence.

Sarah A. said...

It's always best to destroy the evidence.

miss ewe said...

It's a really pretty gauge swatch. I can't wait to see the real thing!

Anonymous said...

Oh, dear. It's a lovely swatch, though. I cannot wait to see your finished mittens. It looks like the yarn is working well in this pattern, too!

Octopus Knits said...

Oof! Well it was a very pretty swatch : )

Anonymous said...

heh, it is all a matter of perspective, isn't it. ;-)

Good luck with the "actual" mittens!

Veronique said...

And another thing that gauge swatches are good for: they allow you to memorize the pattern!

Seanna Lea said...

It was a very pretty swatch. I love all the colorwork I see. It is very inspiring.