High Tension

I guess I touched a nerve writing about gauge and swatches. Thanks for your comments.

I haven't attempted anything where failure to knit a swatch and obtain gauge was critical, so my swatch spurning hasn't been costly...yet. Well, maybe that isn't quite true. The first pair of slippers I made were too big, and this hat is kind of tight. (For the hat I blame my knitted cast on. If I'd known the long tail cast on then, it would be fine. As it stands, the ribbing is imprinted on my forehead for awhile.)

I read more of Knitting Rules! last night. As it turned out, I was at the section about, you guessed it, gauge swatches (or, as the book clarifies, tension squares for my Canadian readers). It was good to read that I've not been knitting dangerously by avoiding this part of the needlecraft, but I took note of the reasons for making swatches and washing them. When the day comes that I start a sweater, I promise to knit a swatch. You all are witnesses. That doesn't mean I have to like the idea of wasting yarn on a swatch, but I accept it as a necessary part of the process.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee writes how state of mind can affect gauge, that knitting in different moods will change what you get. I find something really fascinating in that idea. The soul of the knitter truly is in the hand-knit item's DNA. Things acquire meaning based on the individual's perspective. Hopefully everyone can see the love and care put into knitting for someone else, but in the end, putting ourselves into projects is what makes knitting special. Even the mistakes become more precious because they're an expression of who we are. I imagine that's worth remembering when we're not talking about yarn and needles too.