Swatching....how I have grown to love it...

 Swatching.....some knitters cringe just hearing the word.   For some, the word is profane and should not be uttered in polite company.   Some....some look at swatching as the audition for the chorus line of yarn that will perform on one's needles.

Me....I used to be swatch avoidant.   It was not fun...it was often disappointing...and sometimes lied.

YouTube...the knitting part of it...has given me a lot of different ideas about swatching....and the realization of just how much I can learn from a swatch.

Now I do real swatches.   Larger than one inch by inch.   Enough of a swatch so that I can see what the yarn is REALLY going to do before I put it into a project.   

What have I not done yet...and should?   Launder the swatches in order to see how the yarn behaves when it is washed.   Does this make a difference?   Two words.....superwash wool.  The most recent experience is still too raw to discuss...and resulted in hacking the knitting off a hat and re-knitting it so that it would work for the wearer.

While it is easy to be to impatient to swatch.....or too eager to start the project to swatch....I have learned that taking the time to know the yarn better before using it makes working with it so much better.

Maybe I should have a 2026 resolution to launder swatches..........

Peeves about knitting patterns....

 One of my favorite ways to procrastinate is to look at knitting patterns.   I can "invest" hours this way and my pattern files reflect just that.

There are some things that irritate me....here are a few.

A pattern that does not have a picture:   Now...with the technology we all have this is not a hard thing to accomplish.   If I like the pattern enough, I will grab the picture from the ad or listing and add the picture to my file copy.   When I look at the pattern again, why I saved it will be less likely to be a mystery.

A pattern with uncorrected WRONG instructions.   This one hit me again a few weeks ago when a friend needed help with a pattern she had gotten free with a yarn purchase at a store.   I looked at the pattern...and looked at the picture.  I thought I must be missing something.  I knit it to check what I was seeing.  What was I missing?  Instructions that would create the cowl in the picture.   My thought is that if a pattern is produced it should be tested...and proofread.   Typos are annoying.... but instructions that don't instruct....BAH!   I have the name of the designer tucked away in my mind and when I see one of her patterns I move on by...fast.

Bad pictures in patterns are also really annoying.  Not hard to take a picture which actually shows the object.  Not hard.    Also....when the knit piece is not prepped well for photography....a little annoying.

Those are my big ones....

Once in a while I do write a pattern.   I do a draft.   I put it aside.  I read it again.  I take care of the pictures.   I read the finished pattern again.   I try to avoid doing the things that I dislike in a pattern....practice what I preach.

The More I Know....

 The more I know...the less I know.

I was struck by a review of a course given on Anne's Norwegian Knitting.  The student said that she thought she knew how to knit before she took the course.   What did this mean to me?   No matter how much one knows...one can learn a lot more.

My adventures in YouTube tutorials and test knitting have taught me that.  Over the last year I have learned a lot.   I have learned from new knitters - Savan Knits - and knitters, who like me, are more seasoned.  Clo Knits, Roxane Richardson, Jessica McDonald, and Suzanne Bryan are all wonderful teachers. From these teachers, I have learned new techniques and actually tried them.   Best of all, I have new ways to think about knitting and how to do it.

The world of YouTube knitting is as varied as any community.  Some are very good at what they do, some...are less so.   Approaching all of these with an open mind...and a beginner's mind....has been as useful as attending a class.   

A few more I have been listening to:

• Made by Moomeeno
• Cozy Meadow Knits
• Ali Makes Everything
• Where We Knit
• Thank You for Knitting
• Knitting Up North with Jenn and Corrina
• Summer Lee Design Co
• Karlie Paige
• Crazy Sock Lady
• Knit in the City
• Stitches in Stem
• Whisky and Wool
• Wool Needles Hands
• Not the Worsted
• Colorado Knitter
• Fiber and Floral

There are others.   

Do I do much beside knit and watch podcasts?   Sometimes.....