In the month since starting my subscription to Amy Herzog’s Custom Fit, I believe I have done more swatching that in the whole past year. Mostly this is because after you get your measurements in, the process starts with your swatch. So if you want a pattern, get swatching!
“I hate swatching!” You might say. And that is totally legitimate. But the point of this exercise is to get a sweater that fits YOU and suits you as a knitter. If you don’t let the program know what your stitches are going to look like, it won’t work. So swatch you must! The good thing about them is you can knit them in the car or waiting for appointments or oil changes or whatever. They don’t actually take that long to knit, unless you go way overboard with them.
And boy have I swatched.
In addition to what you see here, I tried several others that I decided weren’t going to work out with what I’m planning to make. And there’s another one on the needles right now, and another skein wound to go next.
What’s the hurry? My subscription allows me two patterns a month, and I’m all excited to generate them for future knitting needs. Of course this then causes the problem that I want to KNIT ALL THE THINGS NOW! And of course that cannot be, so I’ll get to them one at a time. In the meantime, there are swatches to get to – I better get busy!
Swatching is a necessary evil:) It’s the best way to get a great finished sweater but the delay of instant gratification is so hard. I can’t wait to see which sweater you’re going to knit first:)
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All true! It is hard not to just launch into a project, but worth it! Me too 🙂 Maybe a cardigan, maybe a tee – no idea yet!
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Definitely a necessary evil. I think I only learned my lesson after being burned by a weird fitting first sweater – I just have to remind myself that waiting 30 minutes to swatch is worth not wasting a month of knitting on a sweater I can’t wear!
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Very true!
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I usually swatch…..a sleeve! LOL. But I need to be better about knitting, washing, and blocking swatches to truly know how it’s going to knit up in a pattern. So maybe I will change my ways?
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I’m hoping this experience will make me better at it. I’ve made one sweater from a Custom Fit pattern so far, and it could not fit better. So maybe I will become a swatch believer. I still probably won’t do it for hat or shawls, though. 😉
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