I hate swatching. It's like you knit so much, but you're not really making anything. But it's totally a necessary evil.
As you can see, I settled on size 2 US needles. Great.
Now, to cast on for Jaywalker. That's another part of knitting that I don't care too much for. You got to pick your cast on and you gotta live with it for the entire project. What if you could have picked a better cast on? Well, you need to rip ALL the way to the beginning.
Sheesh, as you can tell, I'm in a real 'fine' mood. Well, not a bad mood, just busy at work.
That's all folks.
12 comments:
I always use the Twisted German Cast On for socks. It's stretchy, even, and looks beautiful. Unless you want a fancy-looking cast on for some reason, there is no reason not to use it. Long-tail CO works well, too, though I find it not quite as beautiful, a little less stretchy, and harder to get even.
the yarn is beautiful.
Is SWATCH a copyrighted term?
What do knitters in Switzerland call it?
Does a Swatch in Geneva tell time?
Enquiring mind wants to know.
If it's any consolation, the swatch looks nice. I can't wait to see the finished product. Hurry along now, back to work on it. :-)
What yarn is this! I want some.
I can't tell if you did the swatch in the round or not.... if you didn't, bad boy. If you did, good boy.
Another thing you can do for a cast on is a provisional one. I prefer the one where you crochet a chain over the needle then go from their. Then when you are done, you take it out and use a favorite bind off. But for socks, I'd go with a long tail, just be loose.
Good luck!
wow! All these cast on methods . . . i have no idea what I do. Some weird twisty thing that I can't seem to teach anyone else to do.
Swatching is a pain in the ass. I usually don't do it . . . and if there is a really huge problem (and only then) I rip everyhing apart. I've also done really weird things like crochet on the side of knitting because I missed a few inches!! Weird, eh?
Must swatch, must swatch, must swatch. kinda like - time to make the doughnuts.
glory I hate swatching too... I swatched last night and I need to find my ONES (aeiiii)
I am going to do Jaywalker too! I will not swatch and not even be tempted til I get my husbands never ending socks done.
oopsss was I suppose to swatch?? welll I guess I skipped that part.. since Cheryl told me what she was gonna start knitting.. I joined in *lol*..but I didnt swatch nope no way.. but more power to you!!! at least you did it...now I'm gonna look so lazy for not doing it *hehehe*
You can use it as a bookmark.
Perhaps I'm weird, but I actually enjoy swatching. In complex patterns, it gives me a chance to see how the stitches relate to each other, and to see where the tricky parts are, and the places where I'm likely to make a mistake should my mind go into park while I'm knitting. Then I know where I really need to be alert.
I get to see how the fabric will look, and if I wash or steam the swatch, what it looks like when it's finished. Which has helped me avoid unpleasant surprises in a full garment.
It's about process. It's all part of the journey to the finished project.
Now about this casting-on thing. You own Stanley's "Knitters Handbook", right? There's a gazillion cast-ons in there (and as some are only variations or different ways of achieving the same edge, there's only a bazillion) and she makes suggestions for which to use for what. So spend some time experimenting. Try them out, and try them out on different fabrics. A cast-on that looks great on stocking stitch may not look so great on garter stitch, or it may not work so well for ribbing, where the edge needs to flex or stretch and recover. Put some time into learning about knitting -- how it works -- and start to develop your skills.
No-one has ever said that knitting -- or anything else -- is always fun. But if you can find a way to make it interesting, even the parts that aren't fun are easier to do.
There: end of free advice from someone who's knitted for nearly 30 years and slugged through lots of inches of stuff that wasn't fun.
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