Greetings Unravelers!
On Monday, I promised a tale of some swatches… and a tale it is! I have four different swatches and all tell an entirely different story. (because, of course they do… right? LOL)
Swatch One
Swatch One… my plain old stockinette swatch…. I am off on stitch gauge by 1/2 a stitch and row gauge by 1 row. I might be worried about this except for I am *between sizes* and suggested ease – which means that I should knit the next size up…but more on this in the next swatch.
Swatch Two
Swatch Two… my first cable swatch. I knit one entire repeat of the chart and I am off significantly. Like an inch and a half off… as in my swatch is 1.5 inches larger than hers. This kind of horrified me. I washed the swatch and did not stretch it, I did not push it together, I just laid it flat and let it dry.
But… I think my problem is that I knit some garter rows to start, on each side, and before I bound off. I wondered if those garter stitches were preventing the purl stitches from snugging up nicely with their neighboring knits… as Swatch Three did (see below). So I spent Monday afternoon knitting another cable swatch, gave it a good soak, and let it try to measure again on Tuesday.
Swatch Three
Swatch Three… my ribbing swatch. I matched the pattern gauge PERFECTLY. (Okay, this is good because gaping ribbing is not what I am hoping for!) Note that I knit no garter borders… Yeah. My thought process on this was that ribbing won’t curl and likes to lay flat.
Swatch Four… on the bottom!
Swatch Four… Houston, we almost have lift off! I never imagined that some plain old garter could *eff* things up so drastically! As you can see… one of these things is not like the other! But my all important measurement tells me that I am closer to Emily’s gauge of 6.5 inches, but not exact. My swatch measures 6.75 inches. Sigh.
So after doing some monumental amounts of Knitty Maths on Tuesday… I have picked my cast on size… and with a good bit of trepidation, I cast on. I wish I felt more confident, but there you have it… I don’t think you are ever completely confident knitting a sweater in pieces that you hope will fit! I started a sleeve and will be verifying measurements as I go… fingers crossed!
Gnoah, on the right and Gnicodemus on the left!
But… despite all this Sweater Angst… I do have a wee little Gnoah, who similar to another Noah of Biblical fame, will be gathering up a few more wee little gnomes this month. Gnoah has been pestering me for a friend, so I present Gnicodemus! And not to worry, there will be some wee little girl gnomes as well… I have some brilliant ideas for new hair styles! Thankfully, I have this glorious pile of “yarn crayons” that I am going to use. And… there is no angst in gnome knitting ever!
The Choir can sing all the Christmas Gnome Songs around their Gnome Tree!
Also… The Choir has a TREE! Woo! I love it so much that I think I need a couple of smaller trees adorned with the same bright garland! FYI… Gnome Trees are also Angst-Free Knitting!
The reading this week has been so very good. I finished Horse and Téa Obreht’s new book, The Morningside. Two very different novels, each of which I really enjoyed! I have been listening to the next book in the Max Tudor Mystery series while I plant bulbs… it is a nice gardening companion! And at night I am settling in with Richard Russo’s Straight Man.
But! What about you all? What are you making and reading?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
That is quite the gauge process, and I never could have imagined the effect that garter stitch could have! I’m crossing my fingers and sending all the good knitting juju that it will fit in the end. The yarn and swatches are beautiful and the sweater will be too!
All of your gnomes are wondrous and I’m glad you have some angst-free knitting at hand. (The tree reminds me of Dr. Seuss!)
Gauge swatches . . . so often tell tales! And especially with cables!!! Because those cables will really look/act differently when you have a larger piece of “real estate” to work with/measure. Have faith that your stockinette swatch was so close to “on” — and knit on with confidence!!! I love your gnomes and think you’ll have so much fun playing with your fiber-crayons. And the tree is so great! I’d like to see it close up . . . because I may need some angst-free trees in my life! XOXO
PS — When I knit a sweater in pieces (which is really my preferred method), I knit one of the sleeves first — and use it as a gauge swatch. That works really well for me. . .
A study in swatches! You make such a strong case for it. After reading your post, I must admit I’m almost always willing to ‘soften’ my edges around gauge. Terribly guilty of ‘close enough.’ (I know. *Not* the point…)
I’m so impressed with your growing gnome village. And that Christmas tree…those colors… How nice to have a place to ‘go’ that’s always and without fail delightful knitting.
The gnomes delight as always – and the TREE! It’s too adorable, I just love it.
Your sweater will be gorgeous. Your swatches tell that story. What a pretty color too! With all the swatching and math that you did, I’m sure the fit will be fine. Knit on!
I agree with Bonny that the Gnome Tree reminds me of Dr. Seuss. It is great! And Lady Gnomes yet to be knit – you will be having fun!!
I’ve restarted some shortie socks and wound up a skein for normal man socks. Reading for me has been slow (time is at a premium).
You are so diligent to do all that swatching, but I’m sure it will be worth it in the end! I think it’s pretty much impossible to match every single gauge given, but as long as you are close enough, I think you will be fine.
As always, your gnomes amuse and inspire me!
Your gnomes are delightful, I can see the end in sight for my knitting gnomes 🙂
Oh my goodness, that GNOME TREE!!! How fun & festive!
The pattern allows for 6-8″ of ease, so you have a bit of leeway. Your diligent gauge swatching will pay off!
I would never knit gnomes — too fiddly — but I am adoring yours! Even the little gnome sheet music — so clever. Looking forward to seeing all the gnomes in a holiday gathering! (gnathering?)
Oh, those gnomes! And the tree! We need details on the tree, please. Thank you for sharing your swatches. It’s such a boring part of knitting when we are anxious to just-cast-on-already but it’s so important and I always like hearing how other knitters handle it. I think your sweater is going to fit just fine from what you’ve told us.
The swatch saga was incredible, can’t believe the difference. I’ve too many projects on the go at the moment.. Hopefully I’ll be back next week with a finish or two.