Time to Swatch: A Baby Cardigan Knitalong

You all know that I had to take several months off of knitting because I had a nerve problem developing. That was annoying and led to my not blogging, entirely out of childish pique. Not particularly impressive behavior.

But now my right hand seems better and so I can knit a little bit. Not a lot, because I still have to be careful and because I still do have a one-year-old daughter, but enough that when I saw this cardigan, made in the glorious Spud & Chloe Sweater, I knew that Little Miss Feisty needed one:

Right as Rainbow Baby Cardigan. Photo © Stephanie Lotven.

I mean. Am I right? Of course I am. Plus, I am such a Spud & Chloe addict that I have enough Sweater in my stash to make this thing without any new outlay of cash (Mr. Trask will be pleased – nay – astonished).

Right as Rainbow Baby Cardigan. Photo © Stephanie Lotven.

So I popped over to the Knit Like You Mean It Facebook page and posted a link, just thinking that one or two people might like to knit it with me. Catherine jumped in, because she’s a good sport, and a few others followed suit. Won’t you join us? C’mon now! Commit in haste and repent at leisure!

Here’s what to do: Grab your yarn, get the pattern, start swatching, and post about your progress. You can blog about it and link to your post on the KLYMI Facebook page, or just post your progress right there on the Facebook page.

As I said, I have a bunch of S&C Sweater, some left over from a blanket I made for Little Miss Feisty, and some that I bought when I just couldn’t resist. I love this yarn. It’s half wool, half cotton, and so nice to work with. You can’t buy it easily in the UK, so I kind of hoard every little bit that I have.

Leftovers from LMF’s baby blanket: Spud & Chloe Sweater in cream, light blue, teal, yellow.

I think that yellow ball probably has all of four or five yards in it, but I am saving it. That’s how much I love knitting with this yarn. Although the pattern calls for seven different colors, I’ve decided to try to make the sweater with a green body and green, brown, and cream stripes in the yoke.

I’m knitting the sweater in three colors rather than seven, since I don’t think the blues above go with the green and brown.

But, if this pattern pleases me, maybe I’ll make another using leftovers. We shall see.

Swatch Help For Sara

Now, Sara is considering joining in, and she says she’s never knit anything for which gauge matters before. So I thought perhaps we could help her out. I’ve enhanced an earlier explanation I did of gauge and swatching to tell her what she needs to know, and hope some of you folks will jump in with advice as well.

This pattern calls for US size 6 (4.0mm) needles, and a gauge of 20 stitches and 28 rows to every 4 inches. A good gauge swatch, then, will be about 30 stitches across and perhaps 40 rows in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl one row).

So if you are Sara you’ll want to start out with the sixes, cast on 30 stitches, work 40 rows, cast off, block the swatch, and then measure. Indeed, if you’re anyone else you’ll want to do that, too. I’ll post a photo of mine later this week. In the meantime, let’s all get cracking on our sweaters, and don’t forget to enter the latest yarn giveaway if you haven’t already.

What are your best practices for gauge swatches? Do you give them garter stitch borders, or no? Do you block them before measuring?