20 April 2008

the Henley swatch

After learning my lesson with Aranmor I am now a dedicated swatcher. I hope so, anyway. I have purchased yarn & a pattern for a sweater (Henley T-shirt, by Knitting Pure & Simple), and since the pattern calls for it to be knit top down, in the round, I am also swatching top-down, in-the-round. For my swatch I chose a contrasting color of the same yarn, and am knitting a hat. So far I've ripped it back two or three times. Began again today.

The yarn is Classic Elite, Provence, 100% cotton. I cast on with 3.75mm clover dpns and after finishing the increase rounds switched to a lovely 29" 4.00mm Boye Balene II which I bought at Kanawha City Yarn Company specifically for this pattern.

The pattern calls for #5 and #8 needles, with a gauge of 18spi on the larger needles. So far it looks like I made a good call and am getting 18spi on the Boyes (US6). I'll decide what method of wash- and drying I'll be using after the swatch-hat is done.

This incarnation of swatch-hat was cast on as 7 stitches, increasing in the first & every other round to 63 sts. My increases I did as yos which I ktbl in the following round.

Since 63 is an odd number I may increase or decrease 1 st before beginning the ribbing (body of hat, in this incarnation, is stockinette), or --more likely-- use a K2P1 rib pattern.

All I know for sure so far is it's a pretty color and I'm impatient to be done with the swatch and on to the sweater.

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