If the Swatch Fits!

Diane was back after quite a hiatus. She came practically incognito after changing her look (and she looked great!). The first thing she brought out was a drop stitch scarf in Artyarns Pearl Rhapsody. Mary took out her Drop Stitch scarf in Artyarns Cotton Spring. It's such a versatile stitch pattern that clearly works for many yarns!
It's fascinating to me how different the Pearl Rhapsody looks in the garter versus the drop stitch sections. It looks like two different yarns.

She visited Fibre Space while visiting her daughter in Virginia. She found two patterns to knit from the Queensland Collection Book #13, "Pretty as a Picture" by Jenny Watson. Design #12, a bulky hat with ear flaps that she's going to knit with Spud & Chloe Outer (pictured on the left below). She also is planning on knitting Design #5 a sweater/tunic that she's going to knit with Berroco Remix (pictured on the right).

Diane was armed and ready with two swatches. There was a little more swatching to be done until she got gauge with both yarns. She did try to test me once by "pretending" to change needle sizes on the Spud & Chloe Outer swatch when in fact she was on the same needle. I think she was trying to catch me up short. Whew! Glad I passed that test!
Elizabeth finished her Summer Mystery Shawlette by Wendy D. Johnson. The yarn,

Black Bunny Fibers Superwash Merino Class in the Independence Hall colorway is really pretty.

She asked me to bring in my Radian Yoke sweater so she could try it on. She was swatched and ready to cast on. It fit her really well.
With all the swatch talk going around, Lauren asked what a swatch was and why you do them. Elizabeth shared the swatch she knit with the Noro Mako for the Radian Yoke by Wendy Bernard. She explained the process very well.

Lauren was went back to working on learning knit 2, purl 2 for the scarf she wants to knit her husband in Rowan Lima yarn.
Lois was cruising along with her lace and almost decided not to put in the next lifeline. We were both glad she did She dropped a stitch and the lifeline kept it from unraveling all the way down. All this was giving her a lace headache.

After reading yesterday's post about my sister's preference for cables over lace, Lois decided she feels the same way. We've been asked to remind her of her preference in the future.
Mary is joining the Westport Yarns Knit Along. She swatched with Nashua Handknits Summer Garden, a cotton/linen blend. She got gauge with the first needle she tried. The Corinne Cardigan is going to look so pretty in the colorway of larkspur. I taught her how to cast on with the long tail method without having to estimate the tail. She used the inside and outside of the center pull ball. When she was done casting on, she could snip one of the yarns. She nearly snipped both, THAT would have been a bummer. Never snip without asking!
And Linda, who was knitting along so happily on her vest, mentioned that she hadn't done a gauge swatch. She had knit about 10" of the vest. You could say a hush fell over the crowd. She wanted to know if it would make a difference. Sadly in this case it meant that her vest was going to come out 2 sizes too big. She had to rip it out and start again. I felt so badly, and it would've been worse if she knit it and it didn't fit. She was a trooper through and through.

Swatching is just a necessary step in the process. Personally I don't like swatching that much either. I dislike ripping out my project and starting over less. Moral of the story... swatch.