When I learned to knit about six years ago, under the instruction of a very experienced knitter in my local yarn shop, the concept of knitting in the round never came up. I knitted three sweaters under the supervision of this knitting teacher - who reviewed my swatches with me, which were all flat, and swatching in the round never came up. When I was about to start my fourth sweater, with the other very experienced knitting teacher in the shop first raised the need to swatch in the round. Do people view swatching as optional? My other question is, since I am generally knitting sweaters that have a fair amount of ease, how important is it for me to swatch in the round?
Your teacher was very good to show you how to swatch. Most knitters will tell you that swatching is very important if you want correct sizing/ease.
I dislike swatching. I usually knit a sleeve of a sweater first and use that as my swatch — less to rip out if the gauge is off. If I’m happy with the gauge, then I haven’t wasted any time.
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I almost always swatch and see it as a chance to find out what a yarn feels like to knit (many times changing my pattern choice based on how the yarn acts), see if I like the stitch pattern and various other things, not only the gauge.
I often swatch several times for a single sweater. Occassionally I don’t swatch but that’s generally if I’m using yarn I have used before so already know the gauge I’ll get, but if it’s a different stitch pattern in a yarn I’ve used before I’ll re-swatch to check gauge for the stitch, or for colourwork. So, generally, yes I do value swatches. Several times now (with different yarn brands so I know it’s not limited to a single brand) I have discovered a different gauge and fabric from using a different colour, now I’m even more sure I need to swatch and in the correct colour (I had to remake a full sweater front having gone by a swatch in light grey and worked the sweater in dark grey, the size difference was significant despite same needles, same stitch).
That said, everything in jniting is personal choice including swatching.
It may be worth swatching in the round (there are methods to do it in a swatch size) a few times in different yarns just to get a feel for if your gauge in the round versus flat. The more we know about our own personal knitting the more informed we are, including for if we choose to continue swatching every time, or not.
I like the sleeve as swatch idea and semi did this with my current project. I already had a regular swatch in stockinette but didn’t separately swatch the cables which I know alters the size, so used a sleeve as a swatch, checking early that it would work before continuing with the entire sleeve.
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For me, swatching for projects that are made to fit saves time. I don’t usually swatch for hats, scarves or baby blankets but anything larger like a sweater calls for a swatch or two. That never varies even when I’ve used the yarn or pattern before.
Swatches in the round are worth working if your knits and purls are at different gauges or if it’s a very complicated pattern. This holds even for sweaters with positive ease. The swatch ensures I won’t have too much or too little ease. A time-saver.
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Thanks everyone. I definitely swatch for all projects, except shawls and scarves, where it doesn’t matter that much. But I was so surprised to first learn about the swatching in the round after 6 years and three sweaters!
There’s just so, so much in knitting that it doesn’t surprise me at all to keep on finding new things. I just recently learned a new way to increase on my sweaters and all I make is tops and sweaters, so you’d think I could have known sooner… but there’s just so many different options.
We’re you introduced to a method (or 3) for swatching in the round? I’ve only done one, once, as I don’t really work in the round, but I know the tricks exist. There are various videos for different ways.
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Thank you! Yes, I know of two different methods. I am about to start a new project and I will pick the one that looks easier and see how it goes.
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Hope it goes well for you.
You’ll have to let us know your thoughts after, if it was worth the swatch, and your thoughts on the in the round swatch too. It’s very interesting.
It’s also helpful to compare a swatch in the round to a swatch knit flat. The comparison gives you an indication of whether there’s a difference between your knit and purl gauges. If there’s no difference, you may not need to swatch in the round.
You don’t have to do it for the current project but just something to think about between projects.
I never thought of that! This is a great idea and I am going to try it for my upcoming project! I’ll report back.
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Hello. Just getting back to let you all know that I did a flat watch and a swatch in the around. After blocking, they both came out to the exact same size!
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