Is a swatch really necessary? The short answer is
Is a swatch really necessary?The short answer is "Only if you want the garment to fit."
Swatching is easy but it does require a few minutes of your time as well as a few yards of yarn.
Use the yarn and needle size recommended in the patern. Cast on four times the number of stitches per inch. Then work four times the rows per inch in stitch designated by pattern. If your swatch is four incehes square, you are ready to move on to casting on your first garment piece.
A swatch that is slightly off, just may need a different brand needle. If the swatch is too big, try again with a size smaller needle. If swatch is too small. use a size bigger needle.
Keep in mind that the larger the swatch is, the more accurate the gauge. The gauge shown assumes that you are using at least a three inch swatch. Using the horizontal blue inch gauge, you should be able to count the eight full stiches that lay between the vertical sides of the gauge. Eight stitches divided by two inches results in a four stitches to the inch swatch.
Now look at the vertical blue inch marker. You should be able to count eleven rows of knitting. Again, divide the eleven rows by the two inches. This swatch is 5 1/2 rows per inch.
Look again at the row column of eleven stitches. It does appear that there may be slightly more than eleven stitches. Have I just misaligned the gauge? I would move it up and down and compare several areas to see if there is a difference. A four inch or larger swatch is more helpful.
Keep in mind that just a quater inch difference in your gauge will add up to a two inch difference over a forty inch sweater. A larger swatch with more inches to divide is of great help in identifying those fractional parts!
Generally I do not swatch for things like scarves where fit is not an issue, baby clothes because it will fit at some point in time, or donated items where you just do not have a size. Most everything else gets a swatch!
More information can be found in "Swatches" in the Pattern section.
