The Journey of a Thousand (or More) Stitches

The completed loooong scarf.

No...the journey does not begin with one stitch but with a really good swatch.

Swatching is despised by many but for me it is a necessary evil.  Not only did I need the swatch to figure out how many stitches I really needed to get the correct width, but I needed to know how loose or tight the stitches would be so that I could manage the amount of stretch the finished garter stitch would likely suffer.

This yarn is not terribly elastic.  I THINK that I knit this tightly enough to minimize stretching.  I do know that I knit it loosely enough so that the fabric would drape the way that I wanted it to.  I hope, like Goldilocks and the perfect porridge, that it is just right.

Every once in awhile, it is good to do a massive garter stitch project.  Why?  Because it gives a good chance to figure out how the finished knitting works and a lot of practice achieving nice, even knitting at varied (daydreaming happy to nutty stressed) levels of body tension.   Why do I care about the latter?  Because, when I start a project then put it down for a month or so I want the gauge to be the same.   For me, this has been an issue.

My reward for finishing this is the Tofte Hat.  I hope to knit that this weekend.