I'll use this against them

Once upon a time there was a knitter who knit with blatent disregard for things such as "gauge" or "swatches". Merrily she knit her way through piles of bibs, washcloths, scarves, with nary a troubling thought to such things as "appeasing the knitting gods" in the form of a swatch.


Then along came this sweater pattern and said knitter was plunged into the world of "getting gauge". The knitter pulled out a skein of yarn and some circulars and set to work.
First she tried the size 11 needles, but they were much too big.
Then she tried the size 10.5 needles, but they were much too small.
Then she tried finding some 10.75 needles and discovered there weren't too many of such a size made.
Reading over an article, the knitter decided that perhaps she was really knitting much too tightly to begin with.
She tried swatching the sweater again, this time with 10.5 needles and holding tension on the yarn with only one loop, not two.
This time the gauge was just right.

The best way the knitter could prove to herself she wasn't imagining things was by going back and picking up a washcloth already on needles and partially knitted.

She continued on with new, improved relaxed tension.

Hard to tell exactly, but...

There was a difference.

A difference big enough to keep this guy from getting gifted to someone else.


There's another in progress already.