I spent a few days playing with swatches. Rather than being tedious, I found the process to be quite a bit of fun.
Now I am excited about knitting new things, even if some of these particular swatches don't end up leading directly to specific projects. The whole process made me think about saving my swatches, about starting a notebook with information regarding yarns and fibers and notes about ideas. I've never been consistently good at this. I start, then abandon the attempt and toss everything away. Why? I really don't have an answer but suspect it lies along the spectrum of not taking my creative explorations seriously enough. That has changed, and so perhaps has my need to just play and record ideas, successful or not. In the past, my need to declutter, to not be overwhelmed by stuff, won out over the need for maintaining notebooks and swatch ideas. Perhaps that dynamic is shifting. At the moment I am as happy with the processes of exploring the nature of knitted fabrics, planning, and techniques as I am with the actual making of wearable garments.
But onto swatches.
The whole thing started with these two -- Noro Yukata (pink) and Nora Kakigori (blue-purple). When I f first saw the Yukata, I thought of Stephen West's Spectra scarf, which I have been itching to knit again, and I bought the Kakigori to use with it in that project. The Yukata is classified as a sport-weight yarn and the Kakigori as DK. I thought the combination would give a rustically casual vibe to the wrap. Since I was uncertain, however, and the scarf is knit in garter stitch, I decided to go the swatch route rather than just plunging in and starting the shawl. I am happy I swatched.
The Yukata, ended up knitting into a thicker fabric and a larger gauge than the Kakigori, the opposite of what I expected. Also, upon wet-blocking, the Yukata grew even larger, and softer, which is good for a wrap, but the Kakigori maintained its size, shape and drape. Since the Yukata sections would be surrounded by the smaller Kakigori, I ended up not liking the way these yarns would work in this project. Yukata, might work nicely on a larger needle, perhaps a size 6 or a 7 instead of a 4 with a different DK or worsted weight yarn. I am thinking Mad Tosh now, but this project is on hold because I also decided that although I love both of the swatches, neither of them says "Spectra" to me, and they are destined for different paths.
I have decided the Yukata wants to be a sweater. Although I have noted a couple of ideas, I have not yet moved forward on those. I do know that I am not fond of the Yukata in garter stitch, at least at this gauge, although I may find it acceptable on larger needles.
As to the Kakigori, I loved the garter stitch swatch, love the weight and the drape and think it would make a wonderful fall cardigan or pullover that would work for many of the cooler months in Tennessee because of its predominantly cotton base. I spent some combing through my pattern books, hoping to find a pattern that was similar to the idea in my head, and in the end just decided to do the math and come up with my own pattern. I determined that I needed one more skein of Kakigori, but alas another skein of my colorway was not available. The other colors in my local yarn shop do not shout cardigan to me, so, for the moment, this project is on hold. I am going to keep my swatch page with my various notes though. In the meantime I have found another shawl that I think will work and will use my one, roughly 700 yard skein.
And so, no current project yet in hand, I moved on to other swatches. The photo above is of Nua Sport by Stolen Stitches. I purchased the yarn in the spring of 2020 to make the Trellis Top by Carol Feller, and it has been at the top of my Ravelry Queue ever since, even though I had developed mixed feelings about the project. Swatching seemed the best place to begin. I started with size 4 needles because I once knit loosely, although that is not always the case today. Carol Feller recommends a gauge of 22 stitches and 33 rows to 4" in this yarn in stockinette. I got 24 stitches and 33 rows. Woo Hoo, I got row gauge, which is rare. I liked the fabric but worried that it was perhaps slightly too firm. I knitted another swatch on size 5 needles and got 22 stitches and 29 rows to 4" in stockinette. This fabric felt too loose. I thought that switching needle materials might make a difference. The first two swatches were knit on Signature Metal needles, and I thought I would try them on a wooden needle, but my only non-metal circular in a size 4, a knitters pride dreamz, was otherwise occupied. I wondered if trying different metal needles would make a difference. It is possible. Sometimes I see a difference, sometimes I do not. This is why I like to have multiple needles in multiple materials.
But I dithered and couldn't make up my mind, so I just decided to knit the pattern stitch swatch on the same size 4 needles and see where that got me. I ended up getting gauge: 26 stitches and 33 rows to 4 inches. Since the bulk of the sweater is in pattern, and I actually would prefer the final garment to be slightly smaller than the listed dimensions for my size, I decided further swatching was not necessary and I could move forward with this project.
Between those two sets of swatches I also swatched another Noro yarn, the aran weight Uchiwa. This yarn is a combination of cotton/viscose/and silk and knit to a light and lovely fabric in stockinette on size 7 needles. The yarn is lightly plied and does bias but is light and wearable. I would not use it in a particularly fitted garment but in something with more ease and drape, and I have a project in mind.
But first, the Trellis Top in Nua Sport. More to come.