Sweaterday is back and I’m talking Bronwyn Sweater swatching! Swatching is one of my favorite things to talk about. So yes, I am officially that weirdo.
Why do I love swatching?
Well, I don’t necessarily love the process of swatching itself. But I do really like to talk about swatching and in particular, how everyone should be swatching for garments. Swatching is your best bet, unless you have a time machine, I guess, to making sure that all the time and energy you’re going to spend making a sweater is going to be worth it. I’ve got more in-depth thoughts on swatching in another blog post (that’s right, I’m going to save you the full talk this time).
The reason that swatching is especially important in the case of the Bronwyn Sweater is that we’re substituting yarn. (Choosing a yarn is also discussed in that other blog post if you have some questions about that.) We chose a yarn that is pretty close to the original, so I didn’t think there’d be too much to worry about, but swatching is important to ensure successful sweater knitting!
How I Swatched for the Bronwyn Sweater
This pattern’s gauge uses reverse stockinette stitch as well as the two main cable charts. And while I preach the benefits of swatching, I’m also not so in love with the process of swatching that I’m willing to do quite that much work. I cast on 100 stitches, reserving 46 stitches to work one of the cable patterns and working the other 54 in reverse stockinette stitch. A few rows of garter stitch at the bottom and top of the swatch help keep it from rolling too much. I started with a US size 7 needle, one size smaller than the called-for needle, as I tend to knit on the looser side.
After I finished knitting the swatch, my gauge was a little tight. But I knew this yarn would bloom, so I went ahead and washed it. My final gauge is spot on for the cable repeat, and one stitch over the recommended gauge for reverse stockinette stitch.
I’m going to live with that.
That’s right. You don’t have the get the exact gauge all the time. It’s absolutely something to strive for, but not to lose your mind over. In this case, reverse stockinette stitch doesn’t make up the main body. You only use it in the sleeves and at the sides of the body. As long as the cable patterns are working in gauge, you should be fine! And even if it’s just close enough, well, that’s what blocking is for.
On to the knitting!
So now it’s time to start knitting Bronwyn. Our Executive Sweater Committee, as Jen dubbed us, has a rough timeline for knitting the sweater, with the actual knitting beginning next weekend. I’m completely ignoring it. (In my defense, I am also about to start test knitting another sweater, so I want to get going on this one.)
What are you working on these days?
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Ginette