Let's swatch
May 09, 2025
Let’s swatch
Having just cast off my third swatch of the morning, I’ve been musing about the value of these small squares of knitting and why swatching seems to really annoy some knitters. So I’m taking a break – I’ve several more swatches to do – to share some thoughts.
Today I am swatching for a variety of reasons – there’s a tension swatch for a new garment, some to demonstrate techniques for a class I’m teaching tomorrow, one to work out a new reversible cable idea I’ve had and some for design submissions I’m making to a magazine. It’s very unlikely that I’ll knit anything bigger than a 15cm square in the next 24 hours.
And yes, I’m making all those swatches because it’s my job but there are very good reasons for you to swatch too.
Ensuring your project comes out to the right size
Stitch and row tension are the key numbers I, and every other knitting designer uses, to work out the instructions in a pattern. If we tell you to cast on a number of stitches, work a number of rows etc, we are doing it to give you a piece of knitting of a certain size based on the tension our original samples came out to.
If a knitter follows the instructions using a different tension (aka gauge) their knitting will come out to different measurements. It really is that fundamental.
I regularly come across people who tell me that they never do tension swatches because their tension is fine. Then again in my role solving customer problems for a large knitting brand, I regularly have conversations with knitters where I work out that the problem is that their tension is different to one in the pattern.
You may have been lucky with your tension so far but because every single one of us have different hands it isn’t possible that every knitter out there will always get the same tension as me or you – especially as our tension can change depending on the fibres in your yarn and what your needles are made of.
So please, please, please make a tension swatch before you start a project. It’s just knitting and you like knitting don’t you.
Oh, and if you’re still not convinced – if your tension is off, you might also run out of yarn. On the other hand making your tension square won’t leave you short of yarn. Designers factor the yarn for a swatch into their yarn calculations.
Mastering a technique
A swatch is a helpful way to practice complex stitch patterns or an unusual technique and solve any problems or mistakes on a small scale – rather than when you have 200+ stiches on your needles.
I’d much rather get the technique down on a small piece before having to rip out masses of stitches.
With this swatch, you don’t always have to use the yarn for the project. For example practicing a fiddly stitch on a chunky yarn before you tackle it in a sock can help you work it out. Your bag of yarn oddments is your go to for this.
Trying out a yarn
Because I write yarn reviews for Knitting magazine, I make a lot of swatches to try out yarns. I really recommend it as a way of getting to know how a yarn that’s new to you behaves and how it feels in your hands.
If you are using a yarn for the first time or substituting a yarn in a pattern, it is worth swatching with it before embarking on a large project. A swatch can help you decide whether you like the feel, look and drape of a yarn using a particular stitch. Discovering that before you’ve knitted half a cardigan is a good call.
It can also tell you if you actually like the feel of the yarn as you use it. Hating using a yarn you’ve chosen for a blanket is no fun.
Believe me, embracing your swatches can only benefit your knitting.