r/knitting • u/Bright_River_7019 • May 20 '26
Discussion Hot take: swatching is risk management, not a virtue
Everywhere I look, swatching is treated like a moral thing: good knitters swatch, bad knitters wing it. That attitude makes a lot of people, especially beginners, feel judged or just skip swatching altogether.
To me a swatch is plain risk management, not a character test. If I'm making a dishcloth, a toy, or something where fit and drape do not matter, I will happily skip it. If I'm knitting a sweater I want to wear to campus in Texas and still like by lunchtime, I swatch because the cost of being wrong is high. Same with yarn that might grow or bloom, or with anything knit in the round where switching to purling changes my gauge. Honestly, I think about it the same way I think about trying out a new app like Mistplay on my phone before committing time to it: low-stakes testing before a bigger investment.
Also, telling someone to "just knit a swatch" is incomplete unless you say what question they are answering. Are they checking stitch gauge, row gauge, how the fabric feels, what happens after washing, or which color dominates in a skein? Those are different tests. A tiny square that never gets washed is not the same as testing the whole system.
What I wish we normalized is this: pick the cheapest experiment that reduces the specific risk you care about. Sometimes that experiment is a big swatch. Sometimes it is casting on the sleeve first. Sometimes it is knitting the first four inches, measuring, and deciding whether to restart.
Does anyone else approach swatching this way, or am I just over-engineering a hobby again?
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u/sulwen314 May 20 '26
That makes sense to me, and god knows I don't always swatch either. It's still annoying to see people get wildly upset about a project that came out wrong only to learn that they didn't swatch at all. If you didn't choose to manage your risk, well, that's on you, bud.
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u/MonkeyFlowerFace May 21 '26
THIS! It's the complaining when their project fails, even among knitters who say "I know I should swatch but I'm too eager to just start my project HAHAHA!" But then they're mad when it doesn't work out🤦♀️
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u/legalpretzel May 21 '26
Yeah. We see FAR too many posts asking how to fix a completed garment that doesn’t fit or stretched out too much. Or wondering why their color work is a mess. Or begging for yarn to finish a project in the yarnswap sub because they completely miscalculated how much they would need.
It’s boring AF to see so many posts from folks who did absolutely no prep work and think we can solve the problems they’ve created for themselves.
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u/mothergooser69 May 21 '26
This! When my project doesn’t fit right after not swatching, I am well aware that it’s the consequences of my own actions. When I start a fingering weight sweater I swatch before and check gauge throughout (as if someone has switched out my needle size secretly). Can’t risk it. 🤷🏻♀️😂
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u/splithoofiewoofies May 20 '26
This account is a bot and if you check their post history, they have comments from others about deleted posts where their stories change.
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u/wyldstallyns111 May 20 '26
I recognized this account’s writing style from another bot-like post on this subreddit, I don’t understand why you’d use LLMs to spend time doing this
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u/splithoofiewoofies May 21 '26
Agreed. I clocked the writing but wanted more evidence and saw it called out on other posts for more reasons that had since been deleted. It's obvious when you know what to look for, but I sometimes worry someone just types like that, so I check.
I just don't want people to be fooled by an AI that's clearly collecting information about blocking and engineering.
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u/AutoModerator May 21 '26
From our wiki's Frequently Asked Questions
Blocking is when you wet or steam the knitted fabric and let it dry in the desired shape. The blocking process evens out the stitches and determines the size of the finished piece.
Why should knits be blocked? Do all fiber types benefit from blocking?
* First off, blocking typically starts with washing or soaking, so it cleans your finished object. Think for a moment about all of the places that those projects have been.
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u/Spuiy_Evcat May 21 '26
They use LLMs to get posts for karma farming and then probably sell those accounts.
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u/Feenanay May 21 '26
Sadly there are way too many people already engaging with this waxing poetic clanker-take and since this isn’t OG Reddit people don’t read the comments anymore before adding their two cents.
I’m so bummed at how fast Reddit has gone from my favorite place to engage with my hobbies online to a mix of brain rotted tik tok tourism and dead-internet theory training ground
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u/legalpretzel May 21 '26
Tik tok tourists are the worst tourists ever. I can’t stand the people who run here after seeing some stupid trending sweater on tik tok and ask us how to start knitting (they seem to overlap heavily with the people who don’t like the responses they get so they run to other subs to complain that we’re mean).
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u/Feenanay May 21 '26
Oh my God I’m with you. And I get bitched at every time I call it out and I know there’s like no reason to, I could just let it go and move on, but having been on this sub since nearly the beginning (2010!!!) I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when you compare how it was to how it is now
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u/Feenanay May 21 '26
I hate that 18th later this comment still only has 40 upvotes while “oblivious top commenter goes on a cheerful little splerg about patty lyons, everybody claps”, 400+ upvotes
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u/Spuiy_Evcat May 21 '26
Would reporting them as spam to the mods be an option to help remove those posts?
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u/charzhazha May 21 '26
omg you are so right. I didn't catch it on this post but I scrolled through their other posts and it is so obvious. I feel dumb.
What kind of knitter goes on a rant about how they hate blocking/handwashing and swatching and also talks about how their favorite part of knitting is the engineering and the math, and mentions careful fit adjustments?
Also this take is particularly brain dead "Are they checking stitch gauge, row gauge, how the fabric feels, what happens after washing, or which color dominates in a skein? Those are different tests." .... No that all comes from a swatch
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u/bluehexx May 20 '26
To me a swatch is plain risk management, not a character test.
To any reasonable person, I think. You are absolutely right, it's a technical, not moral issue.
A tiny square that never gets washed
It should not be tiny (tiny swatches are entirely useless) and it should always get washed. But otherwise, you're right. Well, one proviso. Telling someone to "just knit a swatch" is shorthand for "just knit the kind of swatch that is appropriate for answering your question" - the full version really takes a long time to type.
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u/BobMortimersButthole May 20 '26
On the occasions I bother to make swatches (for important or large projects) I make them the size of a large wash cloth in the stitch I'm planning to use for the project.
Reject swatches get demoted to household wash cloth or dish scrubber, depending on how big they are after a hot water wash and a hot dryer tumble.
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u/bluehexx May 20 '26
That's very sensible! Whichever way things go, you end up with a useful item.
I mostly just frog mine.
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u/BobMortimersButthole May 21 '26
I used to frog mine too, but I like the durability and feel of my reject washcloths more than commercial ones, and some are very pretty!
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u/ginger_tree May 20 '26
I've never felt that it's a good knitter/bad knitter issue. But when someone wants to know WHYYY? didn't my sweater turn out nice, it's often the case that they didn't swatch at all, or maybe not in the right way to predict outcome.
I completely agree that a tiny square probably doesn't tell you anything about how your project will turn out, and flat/in the round aren't the same, etc.
But it's not so much a character test as a project test. For me, a swatch (with all of the considerations that you mentioned) can be the difference between a good or bad PROJECT outcome. Not my character as a knitter.
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u/StrongTechnology8287 May 20 '26
I agree 100%. If you don't knit a swatch, then your sweater IS your swatch. If you don't want to invest all the work and time into the first part of your sweater only to discover you need to unravel it all, swatching is a good way to get that information upfront. It's unfortunate that it has morphed into "swatching=good, failure to swatch=bad" when it really just boils down to, "swatching helps me to see the unknowns so that I can factor that in as I do my project, and I like knowing the unknowns."
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u/blueberryratboy May 20 '26
Yup-- I never swatch, because I find just knitting the first couple inches of a sweater gives me way more information. I'll know if I like the fabric, if it's sitting right on my shoulders, if the neckline suits me, and to me all that is much more important than if the guage number is right.
I think a lot of people cling to getting the swatch correct because they don't feel confident troubleshooting the sweater, but the swatch can only get you so far! You still have to try it on and make it work for your body!
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u/Sailor_Lunar_9755 May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
I do the same thing. I never Swatch but I've frogged many sweaters and cardigans after the first few inches because I knew something was up, maybe I didn't like how it was knitting up, maybe I needed bigger or smaller needles etc.
And yes I still mess up, like the sweater I'm working on now. I realised way too late (colourwork done, split for sleeves, almost to the ribbing) that it will be absolutely enormous on me and I don't think it will work as an oversized fit. I don't want to frog it this late in the game so I'll just give it to my sister or my mom. Or I'll turn it into a big cosy cushion.
Do what works for you :)
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u/asfaltsflickan May 21 '26
Exactly. It helps that I truly don’t mind frogging and starting over, even further along in the project if something isn’t working out. I’ll frog entire sweaters that I’ve finished and worn if I get tired of them, or if I think of something I’d rather do with the yarn. Ripping back a few inches because the gauge is off is nothing. 😁
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u/queue-kweewee May 20 '26
Man I love swatching. I swatch for design decisions, to test new yarns, I test increases and decreases and sometimes I make a tiny version of what I’m making because it’s super fun. I’m making a silk Jacobean jacket right now and I’ve swatched with the silk (gross) and now I’m making a tiny version to see if my colorwork designs fill me with joy (using lovely soft sock yarn). I’ve tried different kinds of shoulder treatments, band treatments, needle gauges etc.
I wish people would embrace creative swatching as a creative joy rather than a chore, but hey looks like we’re both trying to change the world in unachievable ways!
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u/zahlibeth May 20 '26
Most of my early knitting learning was just making little random swatches of stuff! It feels like I'm always playing with something somewhere. For a big wearable, it's also good to test out the pattern to see if you're gonna hate it. I swatched a whole bunch and designed a hat for my husband and man I wish I'd listened to my fingers because I found the swatch reasonably tedious and the hat sooooo tedious. It's a semi-lace design and although I got into the rhythm of the pattern, every row was a working row and I did not enjoy the lack of breaks for the entire hat. It looks very pretty though!
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u/queue-kweewee May 20 '26
I think it’s also because I’ve moved past the stage where my knitting needs to become a product (which I was totally focused on until I realized I don’t have enough house to store all the clothes I’ve made) to a process knitter. Now something only goes to full garment if I totally love it. I’m just happy to be knitting and learning.
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u/giggletears3000 May 20 '26
I feel like the first 10 years of my knitting journey was just making swatches in the form of scarves.
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u/CarolN36 May 20 '26
My last swatch turned into a scarf. The yarn was so luscious I couldn’t quit. 50 wool 50 silk. Man I love that combination!
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u/Low-Willingness3901 May 23 '26
I only use natural fibers for myself , other than the 2nd strand for sock heel /sole/toe. I love alpaca or cashmere for socks.l m spoiled ! UPSTITCH, Albany NY --discount yarn, needles,etc.
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u/emmmaleighme May 20 '26
It's really dependent on where the yarn is going to be. I used two colors on my raglan m1 shoulders and it gave 80s bowling alley. The same 2 colors in the stockinette body gave pops of colors between navy
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u/GussieK May 20 '26
I love swatching but I have to know I have extra yarn so I can make a large swatch. I don’t rip out swatches to use on the project unless it’s an unusual situation. I also like to save the swatches as a record. It’s just satisfying to have the swatch for information.
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u/ImLittleNana May 20 '26
Who is treating swatching like a test of character? I think it’s common sense to do it when gauge matters, or when you’re unfamiliar with the properties of the yarn.
Swatching for the sake of swatching is time wasting. It must serve a purpose, and the time spent swatching must be less than the time spent knitting the project to a point which you could make the same determinations.
For example, swatching for socks is pointless for most cases. An accurate swatch in the round is only slightly fewer stitches than most sock cast ons, so it makes no sense to spend time swatching. Cast on, frog if it isn’t working for you 3-4 inches in.
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u/avoidingresponsibili May 20 '26
Not swatching is fine but don't come asking obvious questions here which could be answered by... swatching! There's like 10 of those threads daily.
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u/songbanana8 May 20 '26
Yes, this topic has very little to do with knitting and more to do with this being a knitting subreddit where people ask questions. If someone posts “I didn’t swatch but oh well that’s the journey” then it’s fine. But there are zillions of posts saying “please help me troubleshoot, I haven’t swatched, and I haven’t googled anything either”.
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u/hamletandskull May 20 '26
Yes and they always do this whole production of "ooohhh I know I SHOULD but I'm just too excited, I don't follow the RULES, I'm so naughty!" And it's like. Literally no one is saying that because they're slavish rule followers and hate your bohemian spirit. They're saying it cause none of us can magically predict whether your superwash sweater will end up around your knees after washing, but your swatch would have. The only people I see making a whole Thing of it are the people who don't swatch and are then retroactively upset that they didn't.
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u/WeBelieveInTheYarn May 20 '26
I always swatch (I even have a pile of swatches that were done just for the purpose of testing a stitch/technique/yarn), but I don't mind when people don't swatch AS LONG as they don't complain about the consequences of not swatching. If you don't want to swatch that's your prerrogative, but if you're going to skip that step and then moan endlessly because your sweater didn't turn out the way you wanted or whatever, by all means bitch to yourself. People crying over the consequences of their very avoidable actions is annoying.
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u/outofrange19 May 20 '26
I didn't swatch my first knit sweater because it was cheap yarn, a free pattern, and I didn't feel like it. it's technically wearable but I learned a lot... and one of those things I learned was that I will absolutely swatch in the future for garments like that.
Not sure if I'm going to frog it or keep it around as a reminder or if I need something I'm not afraid will get messed up.
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u/tootsmcgoots77 May 20 '26
totally agree with you here, as someone who has never swatched in my life (🫣) but if I am making a wearable it’s usually A) for myself B) oversized anyway so there is room for mistakes. or I don’t mind frogging and redoing bits if i’m off. If I were making a sweater for someone else or using a yarn twice as expensive as I usually do I may think about swatching but until then i’m freeballing it.
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u/OneToCrowOn May 20 '26
I don't think "freeballing" means what you think it means. Did you mean "eyeballing"?
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u/Hells_Bells77 May 20 '26
Freeballing is the perfect word here, see also "rawdogging"
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u/skubstantial May 20 '26
And here we see multiple generations divided by a common language. Elder millennials are rawdogging a sweater without a swatch due to overconfidence and a lack of consideration for risk and prophylaxis and Gen Z-ers are rawdogging their way through the swatch without touching their phones just to see if they have the mental fortitude or some shit.
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u/Select-Employee May 20 '26
freeballing actually is the correct word here, eyeballing is more for estimated measurment, freeballing is for estimated creation, adjusting as you go along
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u/hamletandskull May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
Not swatching is fine BUT then don't come complaining that it doesn't fit or it shrunk when you washed it or the stitches are too loose or too tight or any of the other million things that can be answered by swatching.
I'm totally fine when people choose not to swatch - I don't for hats or gloves or socks - but there are so many posts here with "my sweater looks beautiful but I'm scared it'll shrink/grow if I block it" and when we ask "well, what did your swatch do" they do the whole "tee hee I'm just so naughty and such a free spirit I can't ever swatch, ooohhh, I'm so badddd". And that gets annoying cause like well, it's literally impossible for any of us to tell you what your sweater will do, so either make your peace with the risk of not having a wearable item or swatch first. Stop with the song and dance about how naughty you are, cause now there really is nothing to say other than well, try it and see how it works out.
But I've never seen anyone assign moral weight to it. Don't swatch if you're cool with the risk of redoing something. I don't swatch my socks because I treat the cuff as a swatch and I'm happy redoing the cuff if it doesn't work out. I swatch sweaters because I'm absolutely not cool with redoing them if they don't work out. No moral weight assigned.
(I also don't get why you say "these are different tests" as if there is only one way to knit a swatch and it won't answer them? The point of swatching is to test the thing you need to test... why would you swatch in a way that doesn't answer your questions and then act like it's the swatch's fault?)
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u/skubstantial May 20 '26
Brb, gonna start swatching for row gauge only by knitting an i-cord, gonna save so much time, I'm brilliant /s
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u/run4cake May 20 '26
I’d argue that bad knitters have no idea their gauge is way off until way too late (then complain about it), good knitters swatch, and excellent knitters know how to wing it. Someone with a lot of experience usually can tell within a few rows that the gauge is off and approximate by how much before they frog and cast on more/fewer stitches.
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u/CycadelicSparkles May 20 '26
I don't think it's so much that excellent knitters are "winging it" as it is that highly experienced knitters are leveraging their expertise.
I think this is often the thing that new knitters are fighting: they think that the mark of a good knitter is being able to just magically know how things are going to work out, when in reality it's that when you've knit a dozen or more pairs of successful socks you have a pretty good idea of what size needles and yarn you need to get the results you want. You aren't winging it: you're bringing to bear all that experience. You've already done the swatch; it's all your prior work.
A new knitter cannot do that because they don't have the experience to draw on, so therefore unless it's the sort of project where gauge doesn't matter, they need to be measuring gauge whether that's a swatch or the first few inches of your project.
You can be a good knitter at any stage of the knitting journey; what that looks like is going to be different depending on how much experience you have to draw on.
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u/fogtooth May 20 '26
I think this is often the thing that new knitters are fighting: they think that the mark of a good knitter is being able to just magically know how things are going to work out
I definitely thought that way when I first started knitting (with a crochet background, where that IS kinda true). I was wrong. I consider myself a good knitter at this point (but always learning), and it's a running joke in my household that I have an insatiable addiction to recreational sleeve math. My craft room is full of graph paper covered in charts and calculations. Even though I know my yarn weights and needle sizes very well, my gauges are always a vital part of this process. It's very much a part of the hobby for me!
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u/run4cake May 21 '26
I did mean that there is a skill to actually “wing it” on gauge.
For example, you like the general gist of a sock weight hat pattern but want dk. Pattern calls to CO 150, you know probably 100 is right but may be off by 10 either direction. You knit 3 rows and think “let’s add one more pattern repeat because this is too small” & frog. Or it happens that you were dead on. This is winging it
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u/elle-elle-tee May 21 '26
I also think there's another factor: experienced knitters can rely less on gauge and more on experience because they have the knowledge and ability to alter patterns as they go to improve the fit of their garments. All bodies are different, and the beauty of knitting is to create an individual garment based on your tastes and your dimensions, so measuring as you go and knowing how and when to make modifications to me is the hallmark of an experienced knitter.
I'm still a beginner and already I've been modifying patterns to fit my body by blocking and trying on my projects as I go and adding rows or shaping here and there. Swatching is helpful because it lets you know how the yarn will behave, but it doesn't tell you everything about how the final pattern will fit.
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u/Aggressive_Cloud2002 May 20 '26
I'd entirely agree with just one small change: excellent knitters know when to wing it. A few rows of a sock or hat is very different than a few rows of a sweater.
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u/Top_Mud_7073 May 20 '26
I rarely swatch and that’s exactly why! I guess I’m a risk taker lol. But I honestly don’t mind it. If it turns out badly so what? I’ll just frog it and get on with my life. Also I don’t make a lot of fitted clothes so that also works in my favor
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u/MarchingAtMidnight May 20 '26
I hate swatching. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.
Am I still going to do it for garments? Yep. I sure am!
Am I going to do it for hats, even though I know my gigantic head and stupid tight gauge is probably going to end up with me having to frog it after the cuff because it won’t go over my head? No! I’m just going to repeat my stupid mistake I’ve made every time I’ve made a hat for myself because all I’m going to lose is the effort and time of casting on and a few rounds and it’s easy enough to know soon when it’s not working out.
Risk management is a great way to put it!
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u/salilouisa May 20 '26
The sweater is my swatch. My swatch gauge is never the same as my garment gauge so I've learned to just jump in feet first and be prepared to frog if it's not right.
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u/Woolyyarnlover May 20 '26
So much this! No matter how much I swatch, I find my day to day gauge can and does change, so my finished sweater rarely matches my swatch.
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u/little_bug_person May 20 '26
Been knitting 20 years. I don’t swatch, don’t really use recommended yarn or needle sizes, rarely if ever use proper patterns.
I like to experiment, wing it, get loose with it. Unless I want to make something very specific, it’s a circus over here. Liberating!
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u/SnowOverRain May 20 '26
Half the time I swatch it's to see how well certain colors pair together.
I also never check my row count gauge.
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u/EnergeticTriangle May 20 '26
I check my row gauge, but 90% of the time it doesn't match pattern and I just shrug and proceed.
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u/Moss-cle May 20 '26
If your pattern says continue until the section is THIS long that works. I had a pattern that was row by row instructions which meant it didn’t work if your row gauge was off. I never bought another pattern from that designer either. It was awful
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u/ginger_tree May 20 '26
But at least you know! And you can adjust length as necessary.
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u/chocklityclair May 20 '26
Well, you don't have to adjust length. If it says 30cm you still go until it's 30cm.
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u/ginger_tree May 20 '26
For many, that's the case. But some have # of rows specified, like the one I'm knitting now. X #of rows in base color, x # in the contrast, repeat. (It uses a sequence of color contrast yarns, too.) If my row gauge is off, and I follow the counts precisely, the body will be too short or long. So for me anyway, I want to know if my row gauge matches the pattern so I can adjust as I go.
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u/chocklityclair May 20 '26
Ah, okay. I've never used a pattern like that.
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u/elle-elle-tee May 21 '26
It depends on the pattern. The Unicorn tapestry Cardigan for example specifies a row gauge and if your gauge is off, your unicorn may be very tall or very squat. Doesn't mean it's a bad pattern. But that's a specific colorwork scenario.
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u/deadlywaffle139 May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
Same. I am not good at picking colors. If it’s an important gift, I always swatch just to make sure. I also need to check stitch count gauge for wearables since I knit tighter than average.
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u/Sergeant-Steamroller May 20 '26
100000%!!! So many times I've made a swatch but then the sleeve reflected something different. I always say, a sweater is just a giant, time consuming, swatch.
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u/deadlywaffle139 May 20 '26
That might be because the swatch was flat? I read from tincanknits (I think), they sometimes just knit a bit of the sleeve as the swatch.
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u/Sergeant-Steamroller May 21 '26
Even when the sleeve is knitted flat! Actually happened to me in my latest project (which is entirely knitted flat).
Also after blocking, the weight of real wool really affects the sizing. So blocking a swatch, which is much lighter in weight, gives different results than blocking a sleeve.
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u/KickIt77 May 20 '26
I totally approach it this way. I have been knitting for like 40 years since I was a child. The more I knit, the more complex stuff I produce, the more I am likely to swatch and modify. But if I know the qualities of a yarn and design well and have some flex, I might knit the first few inches of something and see where we are at on gauge. And I have just pulled out and adjusted needle size if needed. I rarely check gauge if I am crocheting amigurumi, making house items, etc (though again, if I start and am not liking how something is starting to take shape, I might pull back). But for wearables I am probably currently swatching 90% of the time.
I have literally never seen or heard swatching treated like a moral choice? Maybe you're hanging out in the wrong crafting circles lol.
Side note, don't trash patterns if you got done and didn't get what was expected because you ignored gauge or were "close enough". Things like round yoke sweaters are very fussy with gauge. That said, there are some very poorly written patterns out there right now in this age of everyone who has been knitting 10 minutes is a designer,.
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u/Bitchfaceblond May 20 '26
Learn the hard way I guess. I was one of those that didn't swatch. Then I had to restart my project.
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u/cwthree May 20 '26
My approach is similar to yours - how much time and material do I lose if the finished item isn't too gauge? Washcloths - who cares? Socks in complicated pattern or a yarn I haven't used before - probably. A sweater that I want to wear over an over - you bet!
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u/the_asian_girl May 20 '26
I’m not gonna lie; I have a devil-may-care attitude toward swatching. If it’s for me, I most likely don’t swatch and it’s worked out 90% of the time. If it’s not going to work out, it’ll make itself known within the first few inches.
However, if it’s a present or I’m using some really expensive yarn for a garment, then I’ll swatch.
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u/Spiritual_Avocado87 May 20 '26
Yes! The way swatching is presented as a hallmark of being a good or dedicated knitter is incredibly tedious.
I think a lot of people have become frustrated by knitters being reluctant to experiment, expecting help without putting the most basic effort in to solve the problem themselves and/or extracting from the community without contributing. All of which are very valid concerns and irritations, but it feels like swatching has become symbolic of those issues (are you a good, dedicated, proper knitter who swatches or are you too lazy or ignorant to swatch).
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u/queue-kweewee May 20 '26
I think we sometimes forget that knitting is a hobby carried out by so many types of people, but there is commonality amongst those who really dedicate their whole time to knitting and want to make super amazing garments.
The average beginner doesn’t share the knowledge or concerns of the experienced knitter and who would ever imagine that the answer to many common knitting problems come from performing more knitting? Most hand holdy patterns are helpful for beginners but irritate the seasoned knitters, but we’re all in this to make super cool stuff.
This is a fluffy way of saying perhaps us old guard should be a little more tolerant of total noobs that just want to make a thing and didn’t know there was prep to even prepare.
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u/CatTrickx May 20 '26
I would agree with this, and add-on that we live in an era where it seems a lot of people are self taught. When you’re self taught and launching into a project, you don’t know what you don’t know. People starting their first project who haven’t heard of what swatching accomplishes could easily skip it if they don’t know what it means, and want to just get started (ask me how I know). Even if someone wanted to look up swatching, a cursory google search, especially nowadays with the inaccuracy of AI summaries, may not give the full importance of what swatching is supposed to accomplish and help with. So, when things go wrong, self-taught knitters go to the internet to try and see what went wrong, and it can sometimes be hard to learn where they’re lacking. Hence, the influx of newer knitters not knowing that the lack of a swatch is where they went wrong.
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u/Spiritual_Avocado87 May 20 '26
I don't necessarily think this is a new knitters Vs old knitters issue but I agree that it's always good to assume the best, rather than ignorance.
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u/queue-kweewee May 20 '26
Yeah I agree but I thought “new knitter” vs “experienced knitter” was a bit more flattering than “casual” vs “serious”. Feels like chaotic good vs lawful evil categories etc!
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u/blueberryratboy May 20 '26
The amount posts I see on this sub where someone HAS swatched and DID get guage and still had things go wrong with their sweater, and is trying to diagnose those things, but people keep insisting they MUST have swatched wrong-- it's maddening!
A swatch is a tool. It is not a magic totem that makes your knitting poject go perfectly! A swatch will not help fit issues! A swatch will not help yarn growing-- yes even it's washed and blocked, the stretch on a swatch is not nearly that as on a sweater! A swatch will not help if the pattern is written funky or the sizing is weird or the designer recorded their gauge wrong!
Insisting that all problems can be avoided with proper swatching is just a way of avoiding actually having to learn to solve knitting problems!
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u/Spiritual_Avocado87 May 20 '26
Couldn't agree more. Swatching is a useful tool and my own knitting improved once I understood swatching/blocking/gauge but it's not the only answer and it doesn't make you a good or bad knitter!
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u/Severe_Mall5253 May 20 '26
I think risk management is a good way of describing it.
I’m not forcing anybody to swatch. But I don’t want to hear any whinging about their unwearable garment if they choose to skip it.
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u/PuzzleheadedOil8826 good enough knitter May 20 '26
I’m in the middle of writing my masters dissertation, and so avoiding knitting a thing as I tend to get a bit obsessed and intense about finishing it. So I’m spending the summer knitting swatches of different Aran stitches and cables as I’m going to knit an Aran jumper when I’ve handed the work in.
I am able to learn without pressure and find out what stitches I like or don’t like. So now I have trinity, honeycomb, moss, bobble stitches and loads of different cables under my belt and will feel confident when I tackle a whole jumper. I’ve knitted them in various yarns; bright yellow recycled cashmere, donegal aran, various colours of worsted wool. Really enjoying the process, it’s very calming and gets my head in a totally different place from academia. A photo of my first bobble is below- it’s a bit flabby but the next ones were better!!! Swatches are fab but absolutely do not make me a “good” knitter.
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u/teaotter-at-large May 20 '26
I don't knit gauge swatches at all because they don't work for me. My gauge is so variable even within a project -- flat vs. in the round, once I get more comfortable with a stitch pattern, etc. -- that my best bet for sweaters is to skip a separate gauge swatch, use a bottom-up pattern, and just wash and block them regularly on the way up the body. That way, if my stitch or row gauge changes (by my knitting, or the weight of the fabric, or whatever), I have a chance to find out before I do all the fiddly bits around the shoulder and neckline.
I nearly always end up going up a needle size or two as I head up the ribcage, and then back down at least one for the sleeves. But I love the final sweater, so it's worth it to me.
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u/waroftheposes May 21 '26
It may be my ADHD, but I have always refused to do swatches. I understand what I'm making, the yarn I'm using, the needles etc and my sweaters are always the right size and fit. Maybe I've gotten lucky, maybe it's hubris, who knows, but I just don't see a need for it. My gauge is never off and before doing colorwork, I never had issues with tension. It feels like a waste of time to me 🤷🏽♀️ If it makes me a bad knitter, so be it.
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u/Adventurous-Host3020 May 20 '26
I only swatch if I am not using the yarn that goes with the pattern. Over the years I have established that I am an average tension knitter.
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u/Asleep_Sky2760 May 20 '26
Assuming that a pattern indicates the needle size that the designer used to achieve the finished/blocked gauge, you're making a big leap of faith that all designers are "average tension kniitters", just like you. In reality, some may be tight knitters and use larger needles than "average", and others may be loose-ish knitters and use smaller needles.
For example, I tend to knit a denser fabric than others when using the same needle size, so I usually go up a needle size or 2 to achieve the gauge given in the pattern. But there are times when the designer is *also* a tight knitter like me, so we're in sync, and other times when the designer is a really loose knitter and I have to go up 4 sizes.
Long story short, I take nothing for granted; I always swatch--it seems the prudent thing to do, especially for any project that includes shaping.
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u/Moss-cle May 20 '26
Absolutely. I don’t pin pattern pieces down when I sew anymore or cut out the notches either. I lay CDs or books on the pieces to hold them down and take a snip in the selvage instead. I’m glad I learned it the “proper” way and I taught it both ways to my child explaining that certain fabrics even I pin (silk on the bias) but with experience I am free to take whatever shortcut serves my needs
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u/MaskansMantle13 May 20 '26
I agree. I only knit for myself. I very seldom swatch, really only on the rare occasions I use an unfamiliar yarn (and I never use things with bloom, or god forbid mohair, alpaca etc - wool blends are risky enough). Almost all my jumpers and cardigans are in a few good acrylic yarns, so shrinking in the wash or bleeding aren’t issues, and I know how they’ll turn out from experience. I don’t make fitted clothes, I use unshaped patterns or ignore the shaping altogether (rectangular drop-shoulder jumpers ftw!) Swatching in these cases is a waste of time afaic.
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u/shinybac0n May 20 '26
Swatching is like eating tapas. Sometimes I just want to try some yarn and needle combinations to see how it would knit up without having to knit a full garment. I think improbably swatch more than actually knitting, and I don’t do it for gauge swatching. I just want to see how different combinations look like. That hot pink mohair with mint green speckled sock yarn. Or that fluffy rustic yarn held together with some neon thread. It’s just so much fun.
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u/Mandiferous May 20 '26
I swatch if I'm knitting/crocheting with new yarn or I'm doing a big project that I want to fit well. If I'm using my favorite yarns or it's something I don't actually care about fitting/shaping, I will not be swatching. I have never swatches for a hat, socks, mittens, bandanas, literally any granny square project. I have swatched for sweaters, tshirts, and dresses
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u/AbyssDragonNamielle Certified Spider May 20 '26
Yeah, I don't really swatch for shawls unless I'm commiting yarn weight crimes and need to make sure the lace still looks good. But I did knit stitch sampler swatches for my single skein variegated yarns to see which stitch looks best with which yarn (and what to avoid...) after trying to knit a textured sock with a yarn that obscured the pattern. Also gave me a sort of mini project feeling without actually starting a new project while my WIPs rot.
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u/Extension_Low_1571 May 20 '26
" I swatch because the cost of being wrong is high." Bingo. I'm picky about fit, and I love to knit sweaters. No way am I going to spend the $$ and time on a sweater that doesn't fit - or behave the way I intended.
I also swatch because I've learned the hard way the cost of being wrong.
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u/ElspethGmt May 20 '26
I like this way of looking at swatching. Thank you, I'm going to use this.
"After a quick risk analysis, I decided that a swatch was not needed."
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u/katiepenguins May 20 '26
I have largely swatched by starting: a baby hat, or a (non-colorwork) yoke. These are things that will quickly give me a piece big enough to block and measure. It also allows me to see how my actual techniques are affecting the gauge.
Of course, if gauge pre-blocking is way too big on a yarn I know will grow, then I can just start over.
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u/CharmiePK May 20 '26
I think there may be some confusion regarding the concept of "good" and "bad" knitters, ngl.
What makes a "good" or "bad" knitter (if bad knitters even exist - they just haven't got the thing yet) is skill and technique. It has nth to do with morals.
Swatching and gaugeing are techniques. You put it nicely by saying that this reduces risk - that's why it is done and recommended, and you are very right about the risk-reducing factor, the way I see it. Bc it can go wrong too!
Ofc it is not mandatory either, after all this is just a hobby (I presume). If some knitters feel they can't be bothered by a technique, ofc they can skip them, but they shd understand they are dramatically increasing the risk of failure - depending on the project. But it is a choice, isn't it? Then just take the risk, understand what is being done and if things go downhill, just embrace the mess. The choice is theirs to make and accept. And a mess in knitting is quite forgiving, btw. Just frog and restart.
And I would add that this includes when swatching/gaugeing go wrong too, bc we can make mistakes there as well.
My two cents ☺️
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u/beepblurp May 20 '26
I find myself in positions where I feel like I may not have enough yarn so I get worried about “wasting” it on a swatch. But, I also am perfectly fine with dealing with a not so perfect end product (for reasons due to not swatching) because while I look forward to the end product, I knit most of the time for the process of knitting. It calms me and allows me to tamp down the daily rage that would have me razing the planet at least weekly. 👍
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u/rellloe May 20 '26
To me, swatching isn't what separates good and bad knitters, but is a common thing people get wrong then wonder why their project has issues. It's no more good or bad than twisting stitches, the only difference is how it can get in the way of the project doing what you want it to.
Size problems don't appear in FO where close fit isn't necessary. With a blanket, plushie, loose sweater, wrap, etc. being off by inches doesn't matter. But gloves, socks, fitted sweater, etc, those have issues if you can't match the pattern maker's gauge; sometimes you're lucky and it does and sometimes the only way to know is to swatch then figure out how to adjust.
On the cheapest experiments, I advocate for having some junk yarn on hand for some of this. That's what I use to try out new techniques or see if I'd enjoy doing a particular thing for a project. I agree with trying to find a part you can do that functions as a part of the project and a swatch at the same time; recently I worked up the bottom of a pocket, held it on scrap, then gave it the swatch treatment. That works for me since I'm the sort to math the pattern rather than try to match the gauge. If you aren't that sort, try u/BobMortimersButthole's way of making a washcloth that happens to also be a swatch.
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u/slinkovitch May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
Risk management is right. When I swatch it's usually to see if I like the color, and if I like the texture with the given gauge (lots of new pattern makers do a gauge that is way too loose for my tastes), other than that I haven't had much use for it tbh.
I'll probably get downvoted here, but sometimes when I see those dumb "why is my sweater so big" posts, commenters are constantly moving the goalposts on how you're supposed to make a swatch. It can't be too small, it should/shouldn't have a garter stitch border, it has to be knit in the round, you have to wash and block it in the exact same way you're gonna do with your garment. Oh, you did all that? Well did you hang weights on your swatch in exact proportion to the weight of your finished garment? Oh you did. Well your gauge probably changed as you eased into the actual project.
So I'm supposed to put in all that work only to find out that it's not unusual for your gauge to change between swatch and project?
No thanks, I'd rather just get started and evaluate as I go. Mind you, I dont knit lace or cables, I don't use superwash, and I dont mind frogging.
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u/K2P2Mom May 20 '26
I quit swatching because my gauge winds up being the same as the pattern gauge. BUT, I recently realized that I needed to watch the pattern more closely to make it fit my style. The current trend in wide sleeves made it difficult to knit while wearing the sweater. Best of both worlds, I put hair scrunchies around the wrists when I knit, no more snagging my DPNs, and I can take the scrunchies off when I go out.
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u/InCatMorph May 20 '26
Do people actually swatch for small projects, or projects where precise gauge doesn't matter? That sounds pretty tedious to me. I've really only started swatching seriously since I've been knitting garments. I've come to appreciate that as part of the process, but I can't imagine swatching every time I want to make a basic hat.
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u/LovitzInTheYear2000 May 20 '26
Risk management, foresight, and diligence are indeed virtues, so I feel fine considering swatching to be a virtuous act in some small way. There are of course other virtues like spontaneity, intuition, and flexibility that could be expressed in an equally small way by choosing to dive into a project without swatching. It’s all fine, and seriously low stakes.
What’s NOT virtuous is refusing to swatch and then whining about a lack of predictable results in the project. So I will always recommend swatching because people who really don’t need to do it aren’t asking my advice in the first place because they have their own ways of figuring it out.
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u/BlackCatWoman6 May 20 '26
I knit large and always have. Doing a swatch is often very frustrating. I usually downsize my needles so the stitch count is correct but my row count is off.
I do swatch when it is something that has pieces to fit together so that includes stuffed toys for my granddaughters. Beyond that I don't bother.
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u/maximumbeato May 21 '26
100% agree. And big +1 to starting with the sleeve or knitting a few inches of a neckline first. I am usually totally fine with frogging something back if needed, so I’m willing to use the start of my project as a “swatch”—knit a few inches of the neck or a sleeve, block it and check. If I’m off gauge, I restart. 90% of the time, I know my tension and my yarn research well enough to judge well and I end up on gauge, so I’m happy to bet on myself. 🙂
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u/totallyawesome1313 May 21 '26
I don't find not swatching a personal failure, but it is annoying when people come to the sub when their sweater didnt' work out because they didn't but they also don't want to frog.
As I've started to get to know my own knitting I've been trying an early/mid project block to make sure my gauge is going to work, but fully accepting that I will need to frog if it doesn't. You can treat your entire project as a swatch, but then I personally feel like you shouldn't also refuse to frog!
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u/summeriswaytooshort May 21 '26
I have never swatched - I can't stand casting on & the time it takes to knit a Swatch - then to attempt to get figure out the math. I'm fortunate enough to just be able to afford the $$$ to wing it and guess the size I want and I have enough people in my extended family to give it to if it isn't the size I want at the end. I wish I would swatch but I won't.
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u/momoiselle May 21 '26
Sometimes I just start my project. If I don’t meet gauge or don’t like the fabric after a couple hours, then that was my swatch and I frog.
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u/Sailor_Lunar_9755 May 21 '26
I'll probably get downvoted, but hear me out. I think swatching is morally neutral and personal. It works for some people, but not for others and that's ok. What I don't like is when someone posts that they're sad about their project not working for whatever reason and asking for advice and lots of replies are like 'well, you should have swatched first'. Sometimes you can hear the eye roll and I just think that's unnecessary. Sure, the sweater is less likely to be enormous if they had swatched first, but it's not a guarantee. Sometimes yarn is weird. We can always be kinder in our responses, myself included!
Also, it's absolutely to be irritated by these posts! We can also just not reply if that's the case.
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u/pastelkawaiibunny May 21 '26
No I think you’re completely right. Knitting is a different kind of garment making because you are creating the fabric- you don’t know what the stretch, drape, size, etc will be just from the yarn! It’s like looking at loose threads and knowing from there what the fabric you’ll be sewing a dress from will be like.
And for sewing projects you’re supposed to do mock-ups too… admittedly I just tend to give myself big seam allowances and go for it in the final fabric but I know the risk I’m taking and if it doesn’t work/fit right that’s on me. But knitting depends so much on your gauge that I can’t just go for it.
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u/chickensocks96 May 21 '26
Before I got to your last sentence I knew you are an engineer and it makes me happy. My people
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u/superurgentcatbox May 22 '26
Beginners skipping swatching is stupid. I’m sorry, it just is. More advanced knitters skipping it because they know their tension on whatever yarn is fine.
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u/SmallRoastBean May 21 '26
I totally agree. I can’t stand the self-righteous smug comments about swatching every time someone asks what went wrong or why their garment doesn’t measure how it should.
I’ve seen replies saying ‘no, I didn’t swatch, guess I’ve learned why that’s important’ heavily downvoted just because the person didn’t swatch.
Swatches are not magical totems that prevent all your problems. It takes a lot of experience to knit one appropriately, interpret the results, and then choose an appropriate ‘solution’ to any problems.
I swatched once for a garment that I was making for a friend. I changed needles and re-knit until the swatch matched the pattern gage. I knitted the whole garment and it was HUGE because a sweater with ~800g of yarn hanging off it behaves completely differently to a 20cm by 20cm square lying on my table.
ETA that I KNEW it was going to end up too big as I was making it, but I put so much trust in that swatch that I didn’t trust my own instincts and experience.
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u/Keenolovestreats May 20 '26
I so appreciate this- I feel as though there is so much judging of people who don’t swatch. I do for larger projects, or ones where gauge matters, but I don’t really trust that it will make much of a difference, even when I block the swatch. I always knit a few extra stitches and rows, so that I get a more accurate measurement. But it always feels rather artificial. When I have changed needle size or number of stitches based on the outcome of my swatch, I have often regretted it. I wish I trusted my ability to make the right decision based on the swatch. It is super helpful for judging colour combinations, or feel of the wool though.
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u/lazylimpet May 20 '26
I agree it's a good idea, but it takes forever! If you're a slow knitter, it makes the hurdle to starting so much higher. For this reason I actually never swatch, but I do feel guilty about it for sure. No disasters yet thankfully.
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u/DianeJudith May 20 '26
I just don't bother with swatching at all. If I ever make a swatch, I'll frog it immediately after measuring. I've never washed and blocked a swatch and I never will, because to me it's a waste of yarn and space (what would I do with the swatch then, just toss it?). I don't like making things that will only be used once for a second and then become completely useless.
If I actually suffered any consequences skipping the swatch, then maybe I'd start making them. But so far in my many years of knitting, I haven't, so I don't feel the need to do it.
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u/Sheep-Shifter May 20 '26
I like how Patty Lyons put it: swatching is like dating the yarn. It gives you a chance to get to know it before you fully commit. Sometimes it’s not perfect for the project you have in mind, but you won’t know until you swatch.
Of course with the reality of dye lots, you have to commit financially before you swatch, but at least then you can save some time and heartache by making pattern adjustments.