From long experience, I know that I’m a loose knitter. Uh, let me rephrase that. I know that I knit fairly loosely, because I pull on the yarn with hardly any force at all as I form each stitch. For worsted weight, I typically use a size 4/3.50 mm needle to get the typical 5 spi.
Tag Archives: Blocking
Swatching: General Considerations
Yes, the s-word. Most of us don’t like swatching, because it feels like a waste of time. In some cases, it probably is. There are plenty of projects that don’t need swatching, as long as we’re willing to live with the consequences. Shawls and scarves don’t need swatching, unless we’re concerned about yarn chicken or really want the FOs to be a particular size or have a particular drape. Even hats, gloves, and mittens don’t need swatching, if we’re willing to find heads or hands that will fit in them—and if we’re not super-concerned about the warmth of the items if our fabric is a little looser that it ought to be.
Record a Blocking-Proof Needle Size Directly in Your Swatch
I first saw this tip on page 141 of Maggie Righetti’s Sweater Design in Plain English (New York: St. Martin’s, 1990).
1 knot = 2.00 mm
2 knots = 2.25 mm
3 knots = 2.50 mm
4 knots = 2.75 mm
5 knots = 3.00 mm
6 knots = 3.25 mm
7 knots = 3.50 mm
8 knots = 3.75 mm
9 knots = 4.00 mm
It’s also on TechKnitter’s blog.
The genius of these methods is that they will survive whatever technique you use for blocking the swatch.
If You Make an Individual Swatch for Each Needle Size
This technique will work for any fabric, from garter and stockinette to very complicated patterns.
Leave a longish cast-on tail, and tie a series of simple overhand knots in it, with the number of knots matching the needle size.
Size 5 for this swatch? Tie five overhand knots in the cast-on tail. Size 7 for that one? Use seven knots.
If you use metric needle sizes, then you’ll have to deal with half and even quarter millimeters. For 3.25 mm needles, you could do three knots very close together for the number of whole millimeters, with a fourth knot a little way away to represent the quarter millimeter. For 3.50 mm, you could do two groups: one with three knots close together plus a group of two (one for each quarter of a millimeter) far enough away that the knots don’t look like a single group of five. (And you’ll have to be consistent about which group is closest to the swatch and which is closest to the free end of the tail.)
If you frequently use the smaller metric-size needles, which go in 0.25 mm increments from 2.00 to 4.00, you could also just make a cheat sheet for yourself: