I'm a little bit frustrated with my swatching efforts, so before I get to that, two random things to start your morning.
1. I just discovered the NYT's Only Ice Cream Recipe You'll Ever Need, and it is a keeper! Even better, they have a chart of the best way to do add ins. I wanted to make basil strawberry ice cream, and it would never have occurred to me to whiz up the sugar and the basil in the Cuisinart before adding it to my custard mixture. Genius!
2. I just discovered that my Mom, in her late 70's, is now on Instagram. How do things like that happen? Will I be this cool when I'm her age? (Probably not. I'm not that cool now.)
3. Swatching. It's a little bit perplexing to try and count all those mashed in stitches when you are swatching for a cabled pattern. I do like how my swatch has improved with proper care, though! Here it is as knit, all scrumbled up together. This is for one of the new sweaters in Rowan 58, Glacier.
Here it is after blocking, all relaxed and happy.
The best I've been able to figure is to put a gauge over the swatch, pin its edges, and then stretch the swatch apart to count stitches. And, doing this makes me happy, because I am good. Pattern gauge is 20.5 st = 4' and I'm getting 20 stitches to 4", so I think I can work with that. Row gauge is good as well. True confessions: A lot of the knitters I know are amazing and really good at this stuff. I'm not, but I'm okay with that. I'm a working Mom of four. I give myself permission to do my best and enjoy the process of knitting even when I flame out. But, I adore this yarn (Snug Bulky from The Plucky Knitter) and I have high hopes for this project. I WANT this sweater.
Although I want to knit some on the last square this weekend (and I did sneak in the cast on of a new project I'll show you when it's a little further along late last night), I'm also going to cast on Glacier and get to work on the first piece next week. I can't wait!