We are progressing in moving and packing up the house. As I get more and more things packed up I am finding less and less time for big projects. So, I have been working on swatches. Often you need to knit up a swatch to find out if you can match the gauge in a pattern. It seems complicated but if you do it correctly it can make your life SO much easier. Here is an awesome article about swatching for achieving the proper gauge that I found on knitty.com.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring03/FEATswatchout.html

Another reason for swatching is to try out new stitches. Here is a fun one to try all you need to know how to do a knit stitch and a purl stitch.

This stitch is very simple and it has such a cool texture to it. Here is how you can achieve this stitch. For this swatch I used US size 7 needles and a worsted weight yarn.

Cast On 30 stitches

R1:  K1, P1 repeat for the whole row

R2: K1, P1 repeat for the whole row

R3: P1, K1 repeat for the whole row

R4: P1, K1 repeat for the whole row

Repeat these four rows 9 times or so until you have a square swatch. Or until you have the hang of the stitch.

 

If you want to learn other stitches you can purchase a knitting stitch library like the ones below.

 

Interweave Press has a series called the Harmony Guides. They come in several different volumes covering different types of stitches.

Knit and Purl

Cables and Arans

Knit Edgings and Trims

Lace and Eyelets

Here is another stitch library I use a lot you can find it here.

Another great resource for learning new stitches is online stitch libraries. I found a particularly good one.

Here is another resource I have used.

http://www.knittingfool.com/pages/Alpha.guest.cfm?CFID=70535546&CFTOKEN=42795247

Here is a fun stitch I was working on this weekend. I modified a chunky braid cable to make it more interesting. I may incorporate it into a pattern after the move. I encourage you to try new stitches, it is a great way to build confidence in your knitting skills. Creating swatches from a stitch library is also a good way to learn how to read charts and patterns on a small scale because they use the same abbreviations.

 

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