I think I have said it before but I will repeat myself-
adding machine knitting to my skill set has improved my hand knitting also.
This is a great way to make a swatch, especially for hand knitting.
The gauge I am to attain is 26 stitches in four inches, so as I knitted the swatch,
I placed a stitch marker for the center 26 stitches.
(I added 7 stitches extra on each side so I wouldn't be working with edges!)
When I finished knitting, I made sure I was way past the 35 rows stated in the pattern for row gauge.
Now it was time to measure; I used the stitch markers to know where to place the vertical rows of
loose contrasting yarn to mark those spots and then did the same to the rows.
The quilting ruler easily shows me that I am spot on for the rows but too loose for the stitches.
I do like the fabric of this swatch so I will save it but will knit a second one with smaller needles to see if I can hit their goals as stated in the pattern . If not, I will do a bit of math to give me a conversion number to alter their numbers-stay tuned!
Wow....a machine that does your swatching for you!
ReplyDeleteLook at you, being all mathy. This is such great information and a great technique!
ReplyDeleteI've never thought of using quilting rulers for measuring swatches! How smart!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really complicated! Thanks for visiting my blog even though I've not been a faithful blogger lately.
ReplyDeleteYou make even swatch-making sound like fun! 😁
ReplyDelete