How to count rows on an eyelash yarn swatch

#1

Hello. I am a fairly new beginner knitter. Trying to make a bolero with a bulky eyelash yarn. Never knitted with it before. Just made a swatch to check on my tension. Having great difficulty trying to count the number of rows and number of stitches within my 4” square. Any tips or advice on how to do this and how to alleviate the problems of working with this type of yarn in general?

Also, is it necessary to block my swatch with this yarn? It is 100% polyester.
Better to steam block or water block?

It was very awkward for me in the beginning knitting the first few rows with this eyelash yarn. Some of my stitches were very loose and others were tighter. So I suspect my swatch may not accurately reflect my real tension.
Would you recommend I make another swatch which might be closer to my real tension? I can see the swatch is kind of loose in some areas and dense in others.
I also wonder if the finished item with this yarn is supposed to be tightly knit or is it supposed to be kind of loosey goosey?
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

#2

I think for this particular project, unless the pattern states to do a certain number of rows then it may be better to go by centimetres.
I have found with my own eyelash yarn projects (granted, not many!) you can see the rows better on the less fluffy side, if you’re working in stocking stitch and the colour isn’t obscuring the stitches too much.
As for blocking, I’m not sure how possible that would be with 100% polyester.

#3

I don’t care to work with eyelash myself, as it’s quite tricky to see the stitches. Can you count the rows by feel, rather than trying to see the stitches clearly?

Maybe make the bolero in another yarn first, so you’ll have a better idea of the shaping?

#4

What pattern are you using? All I can offer is that however you intend to wash and dry your FO is how you should treat the swatch. I’ve never used eyelash yarn, it seems too finicky to work with.