So, You think you can swatch!

My swatch, drying on a foam square. And I didn't even get close to the gauge using the recommended needle size! It took about an hour to knit. My blocking wires have been put in a very safe place which means I can't find them, and now I notice the upper left of the swatch is pinned out crooked. I will fix that at once.

Recently, a designer I did some knitting for and I had a discussion about "knitters". She blogged on March 22, 2010 wondering why some knitters hate seaming - seems she couldn't get test knitters if there was too much seaming (you can interpret this as any seaming), whereas most knitters I know hate swatching.

Apparently, according to them, they always always always get gauge using the recommended size of needles. This is highly suspect, unless they always knit patterns from the same designer, and the knitter and designer knit exactly the same. Hmmmm....I don't think that's the case.

A few years ago I held a class called "10 Things Your Mama Didn't Tell You About Knitting", and the homework for the class was to knit a swatch using yarn and needles supplied by me. Of the 8 people in the class, not one had the same gauge as anyone else in the class, and no one got the gauge specified on the ball band. I knit tightly, and if I had knit a 40" chest size sweater pattern using those needles and yarn, the sweater would have a chest circumference of approximately 28 inches. Thus, the benefit of swatching is apparent. One hour of knitting could save you 50 hours of knitting, ripping out, and then the 35 hours of reknitting. I would have to say most problems brought to me in the shop to solve are gauge related - mostly too loose, but occassionally too tight.

This brings me to the big announcement - we're having a swatch contest. Here's how it will go:

1. Log Cabin Yarns will supply 50 knitters with 20 grams of yarn and a pair of 5 mm needles. You must use the needles provided.
2. You will knit the swatch on 30 stitches and 40 rows. There will be 5 rows garter stitch at the beginning and end, and 3 garter stitch edge stitches on each side (k3, purl 24, k3) Knit rows are always knit every stitch.
3. You will block the swatch either at home, or we can block it here if time allows. We will then measure the number of stitches and number of rows in 4 inches and mark this information as well as your name, address, email and phone number on the label provided.
4. After the challenge is over, we will see who "got gauge" according to the yarn label. The person closest to gauge will win a $50 gift certificate for anything in the yarn shop. If more than one person gets exactly the same gauge and they are the closest to the yarn label specs, then a draw will be held to determine the winner. The two next closest to gauge will be given $25 gift ceritficates.
5. When the prizes have been awarded, our Wednesday afternoon knitting group will stitch 4 squares together to make preemie blankets for Kingston General Hospital.
6. The contest will run all summer - ending on August 21st.

I'm sure I have forgotten something, so if you see any information missing, let me know and I will correct it immediately.

Now, let the swatching begin!