Brown Yoke Sweater Part 1 - thoughts on swatches and introducing the yarn

There were a couple of comments on previous posts about the fact that I am designing the sweater that I am starting today.  I thought it might be interesting to document the process. 

Sweaters that fit start out with a good gauge swatch.  A lot of knitters complain, "but gauge swatches LIE.  My sweater turned out the wrong size."

Two reasons that can happen.  First, your swatch is too small.  When I was younger, I would get so impatient to start a new project that I resented 'wasting' time on the swatch and did very skimpy ones if I did one at all.  But it is far more of a time waster to get to the end, try on the sweater and realize then that it doesn't fit and will need to be frogged and re-knit.  You really need a large enough swatch to not only accurately measure rows and stitches, but also big enough to see if you like the drape of the piece. My mother's recommendation is "big enough for a patch pocket".   Elizabeth Zimmermann recommended a hat.  BTW, swatch in the same stitch as the main part of the piece.  In the current case, simple stockinette.  If you can, use the same technique as the sweater will be knit in.  However, my flat and circular knitting in stocking stitch does have a very consistent gauge, so I won't worry about that. If this project was all colorwork, I would swatch in the round, but the little bit that will be up in the yoke should be fine and would not be much to reknit if it's drastically off.

Second reason for a swatch failure: you didn't wash and block your swatch.  If you think about it, it makes sense.  You will eventually be washing this piece of clothing.  Ideally, that first bath is right after you finish it, since blocking settles the stitches into the fabric and helps even out inconsistencies in your knitting.  If you've ever looked at a piece of vintage hand made knitwear and marveled over how even and perfect the stitches are, it is not that the original knitter was necessarily a better knitter than you, but years of washing and blocking have evened everything out. You want the finished and washed / blocked garment to fit your measurements.  So wash and block the swatch.   It's instructive to measure both before and after the washing.   Also note if the hand changes - felts a bit, opens up a bit.

For the record. I handwash my knits in warm water with SOAK soap (available at most Local Yarn Stores).  It's specifically formulated for knits and while the bottle says you don't need to rinse, I prefer to think about it as more 'you don't have to be fanatic about rinsing'.  For the love of wool, do NOT use Woolite.   While the original formula was fine, but it's been reformulated into "Woolite Delicate" and the standard Woolite is just an ordinary laundry detergent for machines.  Even though the 'Delicate' version says it safe for handwashing wool, it now contains optical brighteners and is OK for cottons and polyesters. Better to stick with SOAK or Orvus.  Orvus is a livestock shampoo (available at some quilt stores rebranded as 'Quilt Wash' and in larger containers at Tractor Supply, Farm and Ranch, my local feed store and similar).  Since it's a livestock shampoo used to prep animals for the show ring, Orvus is great if you are working with a 'rustic' yarn or a handspun yarn that still had lanolin in the fleece (ie, spun in the grease).  You do have to be careful to rinse several times with the Orvus though; both of these soaps are VERY concentrated - about a quarter teaspoon or four drops in a kitchen sink will do.  

So, I'm going to cast on forty stitches on a US size 7 / 4.5mm needle.  I know what needle to use because I've actually knit with this yarn before.   It's a light worsted.  The ball band and Ravelry both call it 'Aran', but no, it's not. It is a nice fairly even spun 100% wool.  And it had an excellent price point back in 2011 when I purchased it at a local big box store (Michael's).

Off to turn some of this into a 'patch pocket'.  I'll be back with part 2 then.