The Swatch Was Right

New yarn! I ordered two skeins of Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter to test out for the final book pattern. I'm a little undecided on the color, so I got a skein of the final two contenders. On the left is "Button Jar", and on the right is "Tent". Even though I would personally select Button Jar for my own sweater, I'm leaning a bit more towards Tent for the book. I think swatching might help me decide. Although if anyone has an opinion on what color sweater a woodsman living in medieval England who enjoys stealing from the rich and giving to the poor might wear, I'd love to hear. Keep in mind that there will be cabling going on.

I also treated myself to a color card from Brooklyn Tweed. I kind of want a skein in each color now...

On the sock front, after making my swatch and completely ignoring it, I knit 3 inches of a sock that I then got to rip out. The swatch was very accurate and the sock was exactly too big by the amount the swatch said it would be. We won't talk about the second false start I had on the sock. So now I'm on try number three. The Smaug pattern is great. I'm just stubbornly stupid sometimes. 

Artistic Swatch Organization

I don't know about the rest of you knitters and crocheters out there, but I have the worst time with keeping my swatches in order. They just kind of end up... everywhere. But I have devised an excellent way to keep current swatches in order. You'll need a little wood crate. Mine held fudge and is 8 x 6.25 x 1.5 inches. You can find small wood crates on etsy as well. Here's a good one. You'll also need some paper clips and your swatches. I personally tie on a bit of paper with swatch information onto my swatches, but that is optional.

Start by bending the inside part of the paper clip down. You now have a little hook.

Use the paper clip hooks to hang your swatches onto the crate and voila, you now have a way to organize swatches. And, if you like, you can always hang the crate up on the wall. It's a great way to see what kinds of projects you have on the needles, or are planning for.

Once I'm done with a project, I use an old cigar box to hold all my old swatches.

Now I need to come up with a project that can use up old swatches.

Swatching At The Snuggly Duckling

Today I was offered an exciting opportunity. I'll wait until things have progressed a bit more before revealing what it is, but I will show you what I ended up doing as a result. Swatching. Lots of swatching. I watched Disney's Tangled while doing all the swatching.

I've seen Tangled before, but I don't remember there being so much knitting in the film. Not only does Rapunzel knit....

But so does one of the shady characters at Snuggly Duckling. And he's more advanced than Rapunzel. I'm curious about his sock construction. It kind of resembles the Elizabeth Zimmermann's Moccasin Socks from the Knitters Almanac. Or maybe it is a baby bootie.

He's even wearing a knitted sweater! It looks like the basket weave pattern with a garter stitch collar.