6 reasons to swatch
We all know that we should swatch before every project. But most of us don’t. Myself included.
Swatching is a tool, just like needles, rulers and books, and not every tool needs to be in every project.
But if I have a question, swatching is usually one of the fastest ways to find the answer. (It’s certainly faster than finishing a whole project.)
I swatch…
- … to figure out how large a piece will be.
- … to see how the final fabric will feel.
- … to clarify a design.
- … to have a record of an idea I don’t have time for at the moment.
- … to try out a color combination.
- … to learn a new technique.
And maybe most importantly I swatch to play. I see swatching as a place to experiment and try new things out with no strings attached.
There are certainly “best practices” when it comes to swatching, but there’s no wrong way to swatch, just plenty of right ways.
This is a snip-it from a larger article in Shawls to Play With, which has 4 patterns and 5 articles all focused around playing and experimenting with your knitting.
A Pile of Yarn
Who doesn’t love a big pile of yarn sitting on their desk?
From top to bottom, left to right:
1. Reywa Fibers “Bloom” (50%/50& yak/silk) colorway ‘Wild Orchid’
2. Koigu “Lace Merino” (100% merino) colorway ‘L3667’
3. Julie Asselin “Merletto” (75% merino/15% cashmere/10% silk) colorway ‘Dapple Grey’
4. Sweet Georgia “Merino Silk Lace” (50%/50% wool/silk) colorway ‘autumn flame’
5. Cascade Yarns “Forest Hills” (51% silk, 49% wool) colorway ’16’ (I did a review of this yarn a couple months ago)
6. Fiberspates “Scrumptious Lace” (45% silk, 55% merino) colorway ‘80502’
I agreed to knit a some lace swatches for my LYS, so I have this pile of lace weight sitting on my desk waiting for me to swatch and play with. yay!
Introducing the Self-Made Wardrobe
I want to tell you about a kind of crazypants, new project I’m doing. I mentioned it in Friday’s finished object post, but I want to tell you more about it.
I am going to wear an entirely self-made wardrobe for an entire year. That means, for a year, I’m going to only be wearing clothes I’ve made.
Yea, only clothes I’ve made. For an entire year.
I said it was a little crazypants, didn’t I?
The project is called The Self-Made Wardrobe, and it’s got it’s own blog over at SelfMadeWardrobe.com, where I’ll be posting all about making clothes, loving your wardrobe, fashion, identity, and wearing things we love, along with the clothes I make, and the clothes I wear. All focused around building a wardrobe to house the world that is me, and all written in a non-shallow, non-fussy way. I’ll also be writing a serial book, all about helping you build a wardrobe to house the world that is you.
I’ll still be here knitting my crazy shawls, writing patterns, writing books, but I’ll also be posting some sweater knitting as well, and maybe only working on one or two shawls at any one time (instead, oh say, five.)
I’ll also be pulling out some seriously old works in progress.
Like this sweater. And this one. (which I last blogged about in June of 2012…)
You can read more about the project here.
And get self-made wardrobe blog updates straight in your inbox here.
Come over and check it out, or at least look at the oodles of fabric I picked up this weekend.
