What Kind of a Swatch Is That?

Well, you see, it all started when I was rustling through looking for a set of size 8 needles, all of which seem to have disappeared (and no I don't have that many projects going). It occurred to me that Diane thought the reason the ribbing on John's sweater hadn't pulled in was because I should have gone down a needle size. I could find size 7 needles.

As I cast on, two more things occurred to me: that I should probably swatch the ribbing as well as the stockinette and that Elizabeth tells you to swatch in the round. I remember that this advice has been offered by other reliable sources as well.

I decide I can kill two birds with one stone if I knit a few inches of ribbing and then 4 or 5 inches of plain knitting. This is starting to sound as awful lot like a sleeve to me. If I knew the dimensions of the sweater, I could cast on accordingly. Diane's comment about the unreliability of using his sportcoat is resonating at this point. I decide to measure one of his sport shirts as well and split the baby.

It occurs to me that there are additional benefits to this type of swatch. If I have to frog, frogging a sleeve wouldn't be devastating. I could also take advantage of a fudge factor and do more or less decreases based on the final stitch count for the body - which I can get once Marc returns and I can measure his favorite sweatshirt, which has accompanied him to England. Besides, I really want to try out the increases I used on the Perfect Sweater on an EZ one. If this is only a swatch, practicing is okay. It's even good. My 16 inch size 8 needles surface. I decide this is a good sign.

What kind of a swatch is this?

One that has confirmed that I get 4.75 stitches and 6 rows per inch using size 8 needles with Cascade 220. Based on the circumference of his Stanford sweatshirt, that just happens to put me dead on. I call that a sleeve. It occurs to me, that's not a bad start.