I will admit, I have not always been a loyal gauge swatcher....when I was new to knitting, it felt like FOREVER to knit a gauge swatch....so I just knit a little, measured my gauge, and continued on OR made something that was the wrong size and gave it to someone who was that size. Most of the time my gauge was close (or I was lucky) and I had this cocky attitude that I didn't need to gauge swatch. But the thing I did NOT take into consideration was that I was primarily knitting with acrylic yarn.
The one amazing thing about acrylic is that it bounces back to where it is placed. This means if you knit it, wash it and block it pretty aggressively....it will bounce back to where it was knit. This means that you really can rely on that little bit of hat you have knit to tell you how big it will be when you are finished.
The problem that we all encounter is when we use a natural fiber and we don't take into account how this fiber reacts when it gets wet or when it is blocked. THAT is the most important part of blocking.
Let me say that again for the people in the back...
**clears throat**
Blocking a swatch tells you more about your finished product than just gauge!!!! It will also let you know the feel of the fabric when it is blocked.
ESPECIALLY if you are dealing with a superwash product that you haven't used before, it's important to discover how much it grows when it gets wet, and what it returns to when dry (many a panic attack could be avoided if you know that Rios is INSANE when it gets wet, but goes back to normal when it dries!!)
If you know me, I LOVE math!!!! I love running numbers and comparing them and it's so thrilling (yup, I said that). So I knit up a few different swatches to show you with math where we can go wrong when we swatch...
This is the Ivan Sweater and it calls for Worsted Weight Yarn and a gauge of 18 stitches and 25 rows = 4 inches in stockinette using US7 needles.
I plan to use Rios, so I grabbed the yarn and a US7 needle and started gauge swatching (below you will see my three US7 swatches, one still on the needles, one off the needles and one blocked).
When my gauge swatch was still on my needles, I did a little measuring...I had 5 stitches per inch! I did the math and that would be 20 stitches to 4 inches, so that means my stitches are a little smaller than the pattern writer. If this truly is my gauge, my sweater will turn out smaller than I expected. So I decided to go up a couple needle sizes to US9 and do another gauge swatch. I knit for a bit and measure while my work is on the needles...I got 18.5 stitches to 4 inches! That's good enough for me and I decide to do my whole sweater with the US9 needles. Yes, the math is almost a perfect match, but what I didn't mention is that the fabric is so loose that I can almost put my finger through it!
If I had taken the time to wash and block my swatch, I would have learned that the original US7 swatch would grow to 16 stitches per 4 inches when wet (WOW!) and go back to 18.5 stitches per 4 inches when dry....with a fabric I really enjoyed!!!!
Instead, my sweater on US9 needles will grow to 13.5 stitches for 4 inches when it is wet and settle into 16 stitches per 4 inches when dry.
All this math is great for a nerd...but what does it mean in the REAL WORLD???
For the size sweater I wanted to make, I would have 231 stitches at my bustline. If I used the US7 needles I will get a sweater that measures the same as my bust measurement, if I use the US9...I will get a sweater that is SEVEN INCHES bigger at my bust line!!!!!! This is mostly due to how the yarn reacts when it is blocked. But without blocking your swatch you will never know this!
When I hear time and time again that people are knitting sweaters that are too large, this is the reason.
I'm not saying this is a black and white issue and that you must ALWAYS do a gauge swatch. Items that are a smaller circumference (like a hat) will have less of an issue (with my US7 needles I'll get a hat that is 20" and with the US9 I'll get 23.125"....will be even less of a difference if I was doing a baby hat!) but my main take home message is this....
If you are taking the time to do a gauge swatch, go the whole way. Bind it off, soak it and block it (you don't have to aggressively block it, just let it dry flat the same way you would dry your sweater flat)
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