Recently when I was finishing my Bulle sweater, I realized how important my gauge swatch library was. I wanted to find a yarn from my stash for the pockets. I picked out this purple yarn that I knew was Cascade 220 but I wasn't sure if it was superwash or not. Since the sweater is knit with superwash wool I wanted the pockets to be same. I am sure my daughter wouldn't appreciate her pockets felting and shrinking up in the wash but maybe that could have led to a good practical joke about how her hands are growing freakishly fast. Since I am trying really hard to be a nice mom I opted against that. That is where my gauge swatch stash came in. I was pretty sure the purple yarn I used for my sister's mittens was superwash since I had originally purchased the yarn to make thicker socks out of and it felt like superwash wool but with a project this large and time consuming I wanted to be sure. As I was sorting through my stash looking for yarn for the pockets I came across my bag of gauge swatches.
For a lot of my swatches (not all- less you think I am perfect and clearly there were not the same amount of gauge swatches as projects I have knit...) I have a bag containing:
- a 3x5 card with the type of yarn, needle size, and row/stitch count for the swatch
- the swatch itself
- the yarn label (That purple yarn was labeled as superwash wool. Yeah!)
I also found a brown cascade 220 swatch not bagged or labeled. I was excited about this because I wanted a small bit of brown to make acorn ornaments for the children but didn't want to go buy a skein of yarn for that little amount. So I found two huge benefits from keeping a gauge swatch library.
And what do you do with all those little bits of left over yarn? Here is my strategy. One bag is worsted weight yarn leftovers (where I found the purple yarn for the pockets) and the other bag is fingering weight yarn (waiting to be made into baby booties and hexipuffs someday). What do you do with your swatches and leftovers?
Sharing with Nicole, Ginny, and Tami. Since it is December now I am focusing my reading on the New Testament. The Gospels to be specific. I usually read the Book of Luke in December every year. But this year I decided to read Matthew, Mark, and John too. Trying to read from each book at the same time to get a chronological story of Jesus' life on earth. I had to start a few weeks early in hopes of finishing by Christmas. It is amazing how much better my days go and how much happier I am if I will get up early and study the scriptures in the morning. Labels: sweater, sweaters, Yarn
Recently when I was finishing my Bulle sweater, I realized how important my gauge swatch library was. I wanted to find a yarn from my stash for the pockets. I picked out this purple yarn that I knew was Cascade 220 but I wasn't sure if it was superwash or not. Since the sweater is knit with superwash wool I wanted the pockets to be same. I am sure my daughter wouldn't appreciate her pockets felting and shrinking up in the wash but maybe that could have led to a good practical joke about how her hands are growing freakishly fast. Since I am trying really hard to be a nice mom I opted against that. That is where my gauge swatch stash came in. I was pretty sure the purple yarn I used for my sister's mittens was superwash since I had originally purchased the yarn to make thicker socks out of and it felt like superwash wool but with a project this large and time consuming I wanted to be sure. As I was sorting through my stash looking for yarn for the pockets I came across my bag of gauge swatches. 
