A Necessary Evil

Is anything less fun than knitting a swatch?

I hate swatching. When I'm going to knit something, I want to knit it - not a billion tiny squares that are just for practice. An hour spent swatching is an hour that could be spent finishing a project, and it's not like I have enough of those. They're boring, they eat up time, they eat up perfectly good yarn, and they're not good for anything.

Unfortunately, sometimes they're necessary. And unfortunately for me, this is one of those times.

Hat Attack 2 kicks off tomorrow, which means tonight I have to get ready to knit/kill on a moment's notice. Which means I have to get gauge for the mystery pattern using a totally unfamiliar yarn.

This is the result. Therapi calls for Size 7 needles. I started with 5s, then stepped down to 4s, then 3s, then 2s before finally getting something that resembles gauge. That's size 2 needles for what's supposed to be a worsted-weight yarn.

Therapi is a lovely yarn - it's delightfully soft and silky, and it takes the color well. I suspect - although I'm quite glad I haven't had the chance to test it - it will be both light and warm. It is, however, an expensive yarn - this is $20 worth, and there's no expectation of leftovers from the hat.

Tomorrow I'll be knitting, I'll be reading, and I may even be cleaning (jam-making turns out to be an messy project, but more on that later). I'll probably even be blogging - but only for the sake of gloating over my target's imminent demise. I hope it's time for gloating soon.