Tag: swatch

The Night and Day Cowl is Wearable Texture

After seeing the Night and Day Cowl in person at Harrisville Designs in Harrisville, New Hampshire, my daughter requested that I knit it for her. The designer (Andrea Mowry) is not one of my personal favorite designers, but I looked at the cowl and thought it definitely looked easy enough to knit.

The Night and Day Cowl (pattern page on Ravelry) is knit using two contrasting colors of a DK weight yarn. The cowl is knit flat (back and forth) and when finished knitting, one of the short sides is seamed to create the neck opening.

Knit a Swatch

I’ll admit that I do not always knit a swatch, and especially for something like a scarf or cowl. In this case, I suggest you do make that swatch. I had plenty of yarn and it is one reason I decided to swatch. But, making this swatch also gave me a chance to try out the design using the two colors and creating the texture. This is good practice. Also, if your measurements are way off, change the needle size.

I decided to knit a swatch to make sure I was close to the measurements. I used the recommended needle, size 6US. On page 4 of the pattern, we have a section called Stitch Pattern for Swatching – but the swatch gauge numbers are listed on page 2. I’m not sure why those numbers couldn’t have also been included where the swatch knitting rows are listed. So, be sure to look at page 2 for all details of the project.

I cast on 27 stitches (20 needed for the 4 inch measurement) and knit about 34 rows, which is the number needed to measure 4″ tall. The swatch really curled up, but after washing and blocking it was fine. (Knitters complained about this for the cowl, but also mentioned blocking helped.) My swatch measurements are pretty close, so I will use the size 6 needle. (Do you see my mistakes?)

Knitting swatch in two colors for the Night and Day cowl project

Casting On To Begin the Cowl

Once the swatch is finished, it is time to cast on and knit. I chose to use yarn from Pascuali. The Sayama yarn is half llama and half wool. It feels very soft and I think it will be perfect for this project. My colors are black and light blue-gray. My daughter chose the colors which are Black and Glacier.

Andrea Mowry (the pattern designer) chose Harrisville Designs wool to make her sample cowl. I love HD wool, and use it often, but it is not the softest for something worn close around the neck – in my opinion.

The project begins at a corner so the cast on is small and then expands outward. My needle choice is size 6US (4mm) and I’m using a 32″ long circular needle. *To have more control over the yarn, I suggest using wooden needles, even DPNs would work, for the cast-on and first twelve rows.

Night and Day cowl beginning rows 1-12

Another hint I want to offer is to count your stitches for each increase row. At the end of the twelve rows there is a count given, but I counted each increase row just to be sure I hadn’t messed up.

I had to concentrate on making these rows. You will be making one left – M1L and making one right- M1R, knitting, purling, slipping stitches, and holding yarn either to the front, or back. Check the abbreviations on page 4 which explain the stitches.

An I-cord edge is made along one side as you knit. All that means is that the last three stitches are slipped and when they are knit on the next row, they create a corded edging. It creates a nice finished look. The other edge, for now, is not an I-cord edge because it will end up being one of the cowl edges that will be seamed at the end.

More About the Pattern

After reading through the pattern, I see that it is divided into Sections. I think that is because you do something a little different all the way across this knit. In some places increases are made and in others we decrease. Just follow along and complete the number of repeats in each section.

Whenever we change colors the directions say “drop A (or B) to WS” which means just take that yarn and put it to the back of the work. Forget about it, and add the new color as stated. DO NOT cut the yarn, it is carried up the side.

So far, I am finding this project to be interesting and fairly easy to accomplish. I stopped buying patterns from this designer because of the lack of explanations and clear instructions. In a past pattern I tried knitting the Oxbow Cardigan. It was a nightmare. I ended up frogging the whole thing and decided to move on to other designers because of it.

If I find some questionable or tricky parts in the Night and Day Cowl as I knit, I will be sure to include them in future posts. Have you knit this? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Happy knitting friends!

Other stories from the blog…

Considering a Cable Knitting Project

Knitting a cable vest swatch for size reference and cable chart practice. The Rockhound Vest is a beautiful cabled knitting project.

Cable knitting is not something I have much experience with. I tend to buy cable patterns and then file them away thinking “maybe one day”.

The biggest cable projects I have done were hats (Skiff and Habitat). Now I am looking at knitting a vest with cables on the front and back.

The Rockhound Vest is a pattern by Wool and Pine designs. The company was offering a discount on their patterns and I thought I would see what they had to offer.

You would think that a vest would be a simple and quick knit. This one has a section of cables that comes down from the shoulders and goes down the front. Cabling takes time, but it can be so pretty.

The V-neck and armholes have to be picked up and knit after, and I’m not looking forward to that. Also, the charts look a bit intimidating.

Knitting a Cable Swatch

The Rockhound Vest pattern (link at the bottom of this page) comes with a Swatch Chart, which is a section of cable that needs to be knit, washed, blocked and measured as a swatch – both flat and in the round.

This pattern is charted, which means you must knit following a cable chart!

I decided to knit the swatch using Rauma Finull yarn because I had a skein, and I already know I love this fingering wool.

Helpful

First thing I do when knitting cables is color code them! I also write a short description of each cable next to each cable diagram. I have no idea how to read a cable stitch, so the color helps me find the description quicker.

colored pencils

Use stitch markers!!! This helped me a great deal, even though I had to keep moving some of them because the cable section would move. I made small sections on the row to prevent a lot of ripping back.

cable knitting with stitch markers
Use stitch markers to knit a flat cable swatch

Get a better cable needle!!! I was trying to knit using my old, metal cable needle and had my usual problems. The thing would slip out and leave my stitches hanging, or I had to clumsily hold it to be sure that didn’t happen.

Then, I searched for new types of cable needles. I just couldn’t understand why cable needles couldn’t work better! Low and behold… I discovered the Brittany short wooden cable needles (Amazon paid link). Amazing!

short wood cable needle
New Brittany wood cable needle – LOVE!

This set of cable needles comes in three sizes, and I used the middle size for this project, which is fingering yarn (picture above). The short, wooden needle is thinner in the center so the stitches stay put. The shortness also helps when knitting off the cable needle. This has made cabling a lot easier for me. I highly recommend them.

Swatch and Sizing

After looking over reviews, at Ravelry, written by previous knitters of this vest pattern, I see that many finished projects have turned out to be too tight. Even when a seemingly larger size was chosen, the vest seems to end up with a smaller circumference than planned. Maybe knitters did not do a swatch in the round???

I have added six extra stitches (3 on each side) to my swatch. Those stitches are not part of my gauge.

swatch rows measuring
Measuring rows
measuring swatch
Measuring stitches

Knitting a swatch is very important and swatches should be knit flat and in the round, because that is how they are knit in the pattern. I’ve only done the flat swatch. The finished swatch size will be larger than normal 4×4 inches- according to the pattern. My swatch was nearly exact, but a tiny bit larger. Going down a needle size would most likely make this too small, and having things a little larger might be good with this pattern.

If I decide to knit this pattern, I need to buy the same kind of yarn, in a different color. I may knit a swatch in the round with my new yarn and see how that turns out. It is possible that the gauge is tighter in the round. That would explain why knitters were getting tighter vests. Maybe they never checked gauge in the round.

cable swatch blocked
Blocked
Rockhound vest swatch
Swatch done and tagged

I definitely made some mistakes in this cable swatch, but it wasn’t that bad to knit. This swatch shows only part of the cable pattern which goes down the middle of the front and back. If nothing else, it was good practice at knitting from a cable chart.

See the Rockhound Vest pattern page at Ravelry.
More Knitting From Me

Knitting a Swatch For Trove

Knitting a gauge swatch for the Trove slip stitch sweater pattern.

I’m always on the lookout for interesting sweater pattern to knit. I’m not an expert so I’m always looking at difficulty too.

The Trove pullover pattern is made up of slip stitch rows with alternating colors. The pattern interests me because I can use up some of my J&S wool.

I bought the pattern and knitted up a swatch. The pattern says to use Sport weight yarn, but I want to use fingering and DK. I went up a needle size to do the swatch, hoping this will work out.

measuring a swatch

After knitting a few rows, I wanted to see if the knitting was close to 4 inches across, and it is. The real measurement will be done after washing and blocking, but if this was really off, I would not continue with this needle size.

The colors I grabbed may not be the ones I use to knit the sweater. This is a trial piece, and a good time to try out colors.

How I Knit My Swatch

It took me a bit to figure out how to knit the swatch, so I will share how I did it here.

I cast on 23 stitches. The gauge swatch should be 22 stitches across, but the swatch needed to be an odd number to work out knitting flat (or so it seemed to me).

Knitting swatch for Trove
Swatch for Trove, after washing

Each section is four rows of knitting, and rows can be easily counted when you remember that. 40 rows long should be 4 inches, so do 10 repeats of the 4 row count to equal 40 rows. In my swatch you may be able to see the 10 colored rows (those colors are actually 2 rows of knitting).

After casting on, I knit back and forth, then did a purl row so the “Dotted Stripes Stitch” begins on the right side (RS) – as it will when knitting the sweater. Usually I have 3 extra stitches on each side of my swatch, but I did not do that this time.

Measuring My Gauge

This is my Trove sweater swatch after washing and blocking to dry. Gauge in the pattern is 22 stitches by 40 rows in four inches of knitting. My stitches are pretty much exact. I have one extra (23 total) stitches in my swatch.

The row gauge is short, so I will have to watch the length of things when I knit. It is better to have stitches correct, as the length can be dealt with more easily.

The Advantage of Knitting With Wool

When, and if, I do get around to knitting the sweater, I will alternate skeins of wool – Jamieson & Smith, and Rauma – by spit splicing (no ends to weave in!) to alternate the colors. I will be using more than the 5 colors suggested.

The main color will be Jamieson’s lavender – pink color. I bought a bunch of skeins to knit something else, then decided I didn’t really like the yarn for that project. I think it will work well for Trove.

wool yarn skeins
Wool colors used in the swatch
Jamieson’s DK yarn pink lavender
Main Color

Notes and Suggestions From Knitters

I’m always grateful for knitters who bother to leave truthful comments about their experience with knitting a pattern. Some things I noticed while reading comments about Trove were that the sleeves are too wide. Also the neck tends to be too loose and wide. These are a couple of things I can be aware of when knitting my own sweater.

Can a Beginner Knit this Pattern?

If this is your first sweater, or you have not been knitting long, this one might be a challenge. I mainly say this because if you need to make changes to the pattern, a beginner might not know what to do. I have not knit it yet, but maybe a solid color pattern would work better for a beginner knitter. I’ve had a lot of luck knitting the free sweater patterns by Espace Tricot.

Link to Trove pattern page at Ravelry. Have you knit Trove? In the midst of knitting it? I’d love to hear what you think.

Lots of Changes This Year

Writing a blog, sharing photos, and doing research and making links takes time. Lately I don’t think the time spent doing all that is worth enough to continue. I have stopped writing my…

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Why Knitters Need to Swatch and Get Gauge

Learning the importance of knitting a swatch and keeping that info for later. It’s not a waste of time, but a necessary part of knitting patterns.

I’ve been seriously knitting (as much as possible) for a couple of years now. I still consider myself a newbie to the knitting world. The more I knit, the more I realize I still have a lot to learn. (Photo at top: Miss Babs sends along this little bits of yarn to try out whenever I place an order, which I think is so cool!)

I want to say that I am a beginner in many ways. Swatching and getting gauge is still something I need to work on. I am searching for information on these subjects myself. This page is full of good links to help me as much as any reader.

Swatching is Not a Waste of Time

When I first began to read about swatching I thought it was going to be a tremendous waste of time. And then I would just have to unravel the swatch before I began knitting the item. What was this gauge thing and how off could I be? Plus, I really didn’t understand how to make a swatch.

This Very Pink Knits video was very helpful in making me understand more about making swatches.

Tie Knots For Needle Size Used When Swatching

In the Very Pink Knits video above, around 7:15, she will show you this handy trick to remember needle size used when swatching. Leave a long tail and tie one knot for each size. In my swatch samples below you can see I have 5 and 7 knots tied which means the dark green swatch was knit in a size 5 (US) and the lighter was knit with a size 7.

knots for needle size used in a swatch
Knots in the tail represent needle size used

I was thinking about swatching incorrectly. Each swatch can be kept as a reference to go back to and use when knitting something in the future. A swatch, made correctly, can be stored with other swatches to build an inventory over time. Of course labeling each one is important to remember the yarn used, needle size, etc.

using tags to save swatches
Tags can be used to save swatch info, but must be attached to each swatch

Gauge is found by counting stitches across and also rows (up and down). Rows aren’t as important for scarves or items that can be a bit longer or shorter without a problem.

Changing needle size will help with gauge. Most times I need to go up a needle size to get gauge. This means I knit tightly and get more stitches in my 4 inch swatch count than there should be. When I go up to a bigger needle my stitches are bigger so there are fewer within the measurement. The type of yarn can also be a factor.

As you can imagine, not all knitwear designers knit the same, and they probably don’t knit the same way you do. And if you change yarn type – that matters too! This is why gauge is important to figure out before knitting something like a sweater. Pattern designers will give you the recommended gauge and you keep trying to knit swatches until you get that gauge – or very close to it.

Convert suggested needle sizes using this excellent chart (link below) which lists US, metric, and UK / Canadian sizes.

Knitting Needle Conversion Chart

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