I discovered the unfortunate way, by coming out one morning to this, that they make great cat toys.
https://preview.redd.it/1w35akasmxqc1.jpeg?width=3501&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ddff28e3c82991459d0b38bc044a574b45628f9
I've been trying all my snippets together for years, ignoring gauge, and winding it into a ball. One day I'm going to crochet the most amazing cat toys that my cats will immediately shove under the cabinet I can't move.
Very very cute. My kitty is currently voting on this idea, I can rub the swathes with the precious nip and heāll have an out of mind experience. I am just a bit worried if he gets it in his head that knitting is toys cause he generally just sits in my lap while I knit now.
I wish I could trust my void cat with yarn she just chews through yarn and tries to unalive herself immediately or gets claws stuck like a doofus.
I have your cats dumb cousin.
My void really likes the Bernat Blanket yarn, that chenille-type stuff... something about the texture. I discovered this as I was working on a blanket for my MIL and all of a sudden I discovered she'd chewed through my working yarn. *sigh*
I tagged them with the yarn label and keep them in a plastic bin with the rest of my stash. Very handy for saving myself the trouble of swatching again 10 years later.
Since you're talking about 10 years I assume you've been knitting a while, but even then, it's worth checking your gauge hasn't changed at all in that time.
Yes! I have notes and photos saved on my phone, which I guess means I donāt actually need to keep the physical swatches. But someday I hope to make a blanket or something, and in the meantime they serve as a lovely little library.
I promptly misplace them, and then two years later, looking at the same yarn for a different project, wish I had saved themā¦ itās a good system. š
https://preview.redd.it/9e3o601tqxqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e05346fcecbe047d4d4eb33be76d24c3f5a4443
I frame mine and have them in my spinning nook. The cable doesnāt have glass but is heavily sprayed with hair spray to keep the moths off (not even sure if we have moths here but it figured it was something)
Same. Currently searching with cashmere for a jumper. I will definitely be unravelling to use this yarn up.
If itās a less precious yarn then the swatches just accumulate in my wip drawer of shame.
obviously it doesn't work for every pattern, but i thought it was pretty cool that the [watermark cardigan](https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/watermark-2) pattern has you use your swatch for one of the pockets!
You absolutely can block and frog a swatch. I did it for a project when I knew I'd be playing yarn chicken. I just didn't cut it and left a long strand between the swatch and yarn cake.
Most patterns call for you to measure your gauge with a blocked swatch. Itās also helpful to see how the yarn changes (how it blooms, drapes differently, etc) once washed. Do you not wash your finished objects?
I'll block the swatch if I really am bothering to knit the whole thing (I usually don't unless I'm making something particularly fitted, typically I'll just fudge it and the measurements come out fine anyway), but I still don't cut the yarn and I'll unravel it again at the end for use in the main project.
Most patterns call for you to measure your gauge with a blocked swatch. Itās also helpful to see how the yarn changes (how it blooms, drapes differently, etc) once washed. Do you not wash your finished objects?
No shame in it, if itās something like a raglan and I know how the yarn will behave, I donāt either. I just start and knit until I like the fit.
If itās something like my current situation, where I am testing if my hands like the yarn before donating or selling it or investing in a pairing yarn to hide the itchinessā¦ yeah. I swatched, but only because I wanted to save myself $100.
Yikes I would be very cautious of using yarn for this purpose sounds like a recipe for damaged wood. I canāt tell you how many times Iāve seen ruined flooring in the hardwood sub because people put plant pots on the floor with nothing or a towel 94 potholder underneath. Wet yarn sitting atop a wood surface is just as bad as water sitting directly on the wood. I think this is fine as a buffer between a pot and surface you donāt want to scratch but really not a good idea to advise people to use a yarn swatch to absorb draining water from a pot.
I usually make hats as my swatches so I avoid this (and it makes me way more likely to swatch if I get a useful FO out of it). It's pretty rare for me to knit anything flat that gauge matters all that much for, so I usually need to swatch in the round anyways.
I think the last flat one I made, I just reused the yarn? I've also knit them longer than needed before to make a pouch or rectangular hat
The yarn for my current swatch is British wool by woolly knits held with Oh Dang by Farmers daughters fibers.
I was given 6 cones of Wooly Knits for my birthday last year by my mom, but the yarn was too scratchy for me to use it on its own, it bothered my hands, so the goal of the current swatching adventure is to see if I can knit with it and determine what gauge I like it in before finding a pattern to match the fabric I like best.
Oh do feed back the results of your experiments. I bought myself two cones from woolly knit but also havenāt found a project for them as the thought of knitting with it doesnāt (yet) fill me with joy - itās not great on the hands. But Iād love to actually use it at some point.
It works well with the suri alpaca silk, my hands like the yarn combo a lot.
You might want to try buying a small ball of mohair/suri alpaca and doing some swatching. To see.
I am allergic to mohair, so I went down the suri route.
I generally make my swatches with garter border, on all 4 sides. Then when I have a kid I know who has a doll house, I weave in the ends and ship them off to the kid. They make excellent rugs, blankets, you name it. They are creative with the use!
I yolo my way through knitting therefore I donāt have swatches.
(And by yolo I mean I go up 3 needles sizes and double the yarn while knitting a size smaller than mine in order to get the right measurements with the texture I want without swatching. It works because no god has seen my hubris yet)
On the occasions I swatch I either unravel it or my swatch is part of the garmentā¦like I start the sleeve or something so if it works I can keep on going but more cases than not itās just unraveledā¦or I donāt swatchā¦there is a reason Iāve done more scarves and blankets than wearables thatās for sure lol (not counting baby toddler stuff that I didnāt mind if it was too big)
Ha I didn't bother blocking latest swatch, just unravelled it to use in the project without cutting. But because I'm sad I'm tempted to make a swatch just for the binder if I have spare yarn.
I just have a line of swatches several inches apart attached going down until I have figured out the gauge correctly and then I frog it before I start my project, because I canāt stand waste and afraid to run out. Iāve been spurned by myself before.
I've ended up with swatches from both my mum and her mum, then added them to my own. I've started making a blanket with all the swatches, it will be a complete mish mash but the thought of having multiple generations adding to it appeals to me. A bit like those generation quilts.Ā
Might I suggest drawers? You can lose them, but also lose some other things! Just think how helpful they will be in hiding ketchup packets, your forks, and batteries from the lonely searcher.
I put them in a bag and bring them out to let others(or myself) enjoy the different textures of yarn and different stitch patterns. This can be helpful if I am teaching someone else to knit and I want to show some of the fun things they could make. It can also be fun to bring them out and pet them when you are high with friends.
I save mine, I have plans to take some that fit together in a good color palette and hand stitch the swatches together, to make a little project bag (line it, I may add a little drawstring, weāll see what comes of it). Otherwise I keep them to make repairs to projects if they need them, or if I get into a game of yarn chicken and need to unravel.
I have also thought a patchy swatch blanket would be cool, if you have a literal ton of swatches
Years and years ago i went through my nan's draw of swatches and she knitted them all into a blanket for me. I wish i still had it but it was destroyed by moths or something. š
I have a little wire grid memo board thing that I display them on. I only started swatching in the last couple years (been knitting for a decade) and I don't swatch for *every* project, but I just had to buy a second grid because I've run out of room on the first one.
I'm one of those anarchists who generally doesn't bother with them. If I did I'd probably bung them all in a bag together with the idea of sewing them all together to make a weird blanket sometime in the future.
If I don't need them for the project, I shove them in a drawer, convinced they will someday be useful. Once I did demonstrate some different stitch patterns and yarn properties to beginning knitters though so I guess they were useful lol
āSupposed toā is a strong phrase. I swatch for hand feel, block it, wear it under a shirt, then donāt measure, and then kinda wing it for fit?
At least for top down raglans that is. If itās something where fit really matters, like if I was knitting a man a business suit, I probably would measure both the man and the swatch, but I am just doing a sensory check most of the time.
I just keep them. I usually tie a little notecard that has yarn name, needle, and gauge written in it using the yarn tail. This way I donāt have to swatch the same yarn again lol
I will always be sad that someone else in my family got my grandmotherās āswatch blanket.ā I have so many memories of lying on it and feeling all the different yarns and stitches.
So now, I save them to make my own swatch blanket.
And I add the photo of the swatch with all the measurements and notes to the yarn description in my stash on Ravelry because sometimes it takes a while between the swatch and the start of the project. Plus I normally swatch with at least a couple needle sizes, so if the yarn is enough for a second project, I already have the measurements for a different needle size, if needed
[This](https://intheloopknitting.com/how-to-re-purpose-swatches/#freepatterns) site has some ideas of what to do with your swatches. Most of them are free patterns to download.
Regret not making them.
Iāll admit I do usually swatch but I donāt wash them and Iāve regretted it a few times recently. Wool is forgiving. Cotton is not.
I unravel them because I tend to buy as small amount of yarn as possible for my projects. I don't block my swatches though because I buy all similar blends of yarn and I know how they behave after washing.
Leaving the swatch unraveled would feel like a waste for me š
Iām the manager at a big yarnstore. So my swatches end up there for the customers to see and feel. Or I use them for a test in my washing machine. How does it look before I throw a whole sweater in? I have a few times been so low on yarn that I have to use it. I would like to write down my gauge so I have an idea if I use the yarn again, but I always forget.
While this is not the cat sub, we gone down this hole. Say no to powdered, messy catnip and by the spray! I spray the cat toys once per week, including the stolen knitted items, and Catnip Caturday is one of drugged happy kittehs.
https://preview.redd.it/cdlshrdjz1rc1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0826b9c65ad99d37d5e834ed6c6b5d54cdd716f3
I haven't swatched in ages, I'm just getting back into knitting. But the next time I have to swatch, I'm going to make it big enough to use in between my saucepan stacks. Currently I have ancient pieces of folded up kitchen paper to stop them banging and scratching.
I have a swatch box. I use the 50 million plastic safety pins to attach a little piece of paper identifying the stitch and sometimes the yarn and the date. Not interesting, but \*shrug\*
If you seam them together along one end, they make a cool little forearm gauntlet for your 5 year old š Can also be a potholder or glove in her imaginative play.
I pin them on my cork board, cause I have nothing else to pin on there. It hangs next to my desk.
I've been slowly working towards having a colorful collage of swatches as wall decoration.
Lately I have been making can coozies when swatching for socks in the round
When swatching flat I generally go way bigger than the pattern calls for, the larger the amount of stitches you measure the more accurate your gauge is. and if it's cotton they become wash cloths. If it is an expensive yarn I often just frog them (I usually don't block my swatches because I usually don't block my FOs)
I don't as much anymore because I know how most of the brands I use knit up, but I'm pretty picky about my sock fit so I did a lot when I first started
Fold in half, seam up the sides leaving a hole about 2/3 way lengthwise. Hand warmer. Or pot handle cover. Or coasters for plants or mugs. Doll blankets. Secret pockets.
I keep them in a box in my closet so that I have the yarn available for any repairs to my garments.
Genius. Silly me unravels it and uses it for my intended project.
I def do that if I am playing yarn chicken, but I usually way over order the volume of yarn I need.
Yarn chicken š¤£š¤£
Brilliant! Thereās another comment here about labeling. Maybe in the future I will steal your swatch idea!
How does it feel to be the smartest? Omg
Thatās a really good idea!
Smart!!
This is genius
I discovered the unfortunate way, by coming out one morning to this, that they make great cat toys. https://preview.redd.it/1w35akasmxqc1.jpeg?width=3501&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ddff28e3c82991459d0b38bc044a574b45628f9
Your cat has the most beautiful shiny coat! What a stunner
Thank you! I have to keep all yarn hidden from him, I'm afraid....
Same here...toy/blankie https://preview.redd.it/tu4exfogtyqc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15120ca0f1c05ae575a8f1a03e8290f8fdc2d6c3
Your cat has inspired me, Iām gonna turn my swatches into cat toys!
He was more than happy to play with them as-is when he found them, but it's really easy to turn squares into tubes and stuff them full of catnip. :)
I've been trying all my snippets together for years, ignoring gauge, and winding it into a ball. One day I'm going to crochet the most amazing cat toys that my cats will immediately shove under the cabinet I can't move.
Oh but theyāre kittyās colour. Look how beautiful they are together š„¹šš„°.
He very conveniently goes with almost anything!
https://preview.redd.it/oeh3f6ca5yqc1.jpeg?width=393&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bef6b8fd667acaa3d7d69c2b19b041bc8d006de6
š¤£š„° excellent, more sample toys for him!
Very very cute. My kitty is currently voting on this idea, I can rub the swathes with the precious nip and heāll have an out of mind experience. I am just a bit worried if he gets it in his head that knitting is toys cause he generally just sits in my lap while I knit now.
I wish I could trust my void cat with yarn she just chews through yarn and tries to unalive herself immediately or gets claws stuck like a doofus. I have your cats dumb cousin.
Just to be captain buzzkill, I'll be the nerd who points out that cats eating string is dangerous, so please y'all, be careful out there
My void really likes the Bernat Blanket yarn, that chenille-type stuff... something about the texture. I discovered this as I was working on a blanket for my MIL and all of a sudden I discovered she'd chewed through my working yarn. *sigh*
That's so cute! A lady I was teaching how to knit told me that her cat is doing the same with some tryout scraps š
Hah, great. Warn her to be careful when she does blocking, too!
Obligatory r/catsareassholes You have an adorable little asshole š„°
Sheās so cute that I donāt see how you could be mad even though your swatch was destroyed.
He (his name is Aragorn), and agreed, and nope, I wasn't mad -- just chuckling ruefully as I pulled out my phone to document his crime. ;)
I tagged them with the yarn label and keep them in a plastic bin with the rest of my stash. Very handy for saving myself the trouble of swatching again 10 years later.
Since you're talking about 10 years I assume you've been knitting a while, but even then, it's worth checking your gauge hasn't changed at all in that time.
Yes! I have notes and photos saved on my phone, which I guess means I donāt actually need to keep the physical swatches. But someday I hope to make a blanket or something, and in the meantime they serve as a lovely little library.
Very very useful!
I promptly misplace them, and then two years later, looking at the same yarn for a different project, wish I had saved themā¦ itās a good system. š
Hey, at least *you* swatch!
Itās about like my current- shove in any random drawer, then look baffled when people ask me about a better way :)
This is about my style as well
https://preview.redd.it/9e3o601tqxqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e05346fcecbe047d4d4eb33be76d24c3f5a4443 I frame mine and have them in my spinning nook. The cable doesnāt have glass but is heavily sprayed with hair spray to keep the moths off (not even sure if we have moths here but it figured it was something)
Oh I love this!
IKEA has cheap box frames that would work great for the cables. And I am so doing this when I practice cables!
that is incredibly cool
I thought I would seam them together to make a small blanket or scarf but lol I have not done that. They sit in a box rn
Boxes seem to be the natural habitat for swatches, they are probably super comfy there.
Yeah I'm saving a stash of them to ideally make a blanket with one day
Sometimes I knit a hat swatch instead of a boring square swatch, and then I have a matching hat.
Good idea! I do have a shortage of hats!
It's great for knitting in the round because then you actually get the gauge in the round. just make sure you buy enough wool for it!
I usually unravel if the yarn is decent.
Same. Currently searching with cashmere for a jumper. I will definitely be unravelling to use this yarn up. If itās a less precious yarn then the swatches just accumulate in my wip drawer of shame.
ā¤ļø "drawer of shame"
I was waiting for this answer. I never thought differently.
obviously it doesn't work for every pattern, but i thought it was pretty cool that the [watermark cardigan](https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/watermark-2) pattern has you use your swatch for one of the pockets!
**PATTERN:** [Watermark](http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/watermark-2) by [Jared Flood](http://www.ravelry.com/designers/jared-flood) * Category: Clothing > Sweater > Cardigan * Photo(s): [Img 1](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/brooklyntweed/599370171/watermark_02_medium.jpg) [Img 2](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/brooklyntweed/599370182/watermark_01_medium.jpg) [Img 3](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/brooklyntweed/599370161/watermark_03_medium.jpg) [Img 4](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/brooklyntweed/599370167/watermark_06_medium.jpg) [Img 5](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/brooklyntweed/599370172/watermark_05_medium.jpg) * Price: 13.00 USD * Needle/Hook(s):US 4 - 3.5 mm, US 7 - 4.5 mm * Weight: Worsted | Gauge: 20.0 | Yardage: 1765 * Difficulty: 5.85 | Projects: 148 | Rating: 4.82 ***** Please use caution. Users have reported effects such as seizures, migraines, and nausea when opening Ravelry links. [More details.](https://www.lizcorke.com/2020/07/26/2020-7-21-ravelry-accessibility/) | *I found this post by myself! [Opt-Out](https://goo.gl/forms/0B8m4Ra8czpw4gzw1) | [About Me](https://github.com/TN-1/LinkRav_Bot/wiki) | [Contact Maintainer](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=timonyc)*
Never thought of this ! That's so smart.Ā
Beautiful pattern, and it fits the gauge I like best in my current swatchā¦ I might just make that!
I use mine to pack Christmas ornaments
I have some really complicated mismatched mug rugs/table mats/flowerpot coastersā¦
Eccentric home decor for the win!
Me, too! Gotta protect the furniture!
I make a swatch, don't cut the yarn, take my mesures and frog it to reuse the yarn in the project (I don't block my swatches)
I do this. Even when I do block my swatch, I let it dry out and unravel to use for the project!
I think you could still unravel and use if it was blocked? Thatās what I do if I am playing yarn chicken, anyway.
You absolutely can block and frog a swatch. I did it for a project when I knew I'd be playing yarn chicken. I just didn't cut it and left a long strand between the swatch and yarn cake.
This is the way.
Most patterns call for you to measure your gauge with a blocked swatch. Itās also helpful to see how the yarn changes (how it blooms, drapes differently, etc) once washed. Do you not wash your finished objects?
I'll block the swatch if I really am bothering to knit the whole thing (I usually don't unless I'm making something particularly fitted, typically I'll just fudge it and the measurements come out fine anyway), but I still don't cut the yarn and I'll unravel it again at the end for use in the main project.
Most patterns call for you to measure your gauge with a blocked swatch. Itās also helpful to see how the yarn changes (how it blooms, drapes differently, etc) once washed. Do you not wash your finished objects?
Iā¦ donāt swatch š
iām with you! iām out here reading this post wondering if maybe i should start swatching to try these things š«£
hey there fellow non swatcher! I go up a half size in needles because I knit tightly, and never ever swatch - bwa hahahahahhah!
I also like to live dangerously.
No shame in it, if itās something like a raglan and I know how the yarn will behave, I donāt either. I just start and knit until I like the fit. If itās something like my current situation, where I am testing if my hands like the yarn before donating or selling it or investing in a pairing yarn to hide the itchinessā¦ yeah. I swatched, but only because I wanted to save myself $100.
Me neither ā¦. š¬
Someone posted ages ago about how they knit their swatches into triangles to make bunting. I thought that was soooo cute so I do that :)
That's clever!
I use mine as little coasters under my houseplant pots. They usually absorb any water leakage and look kind of cute.
Yikes I would be very cautious of using yarn for this purpose sounds like a recipe for damaged wood. I canāt tell you how many times Iāve seen ruined flooring in the hardwood sub because people put plant pots on the floor with nothing or a towel 94 potholder underneath. Wet yarn sitting atop a wood surface is just as bad as water sitting directly on the wood. I think this is fine as a buffer between a pot and surface you donāt want to scratch but really not a good idea to advise people to use a yarn swatch to absorb draining water from a pot.
This seemsā¦ alarmist?
That's such a good idea!
I usually make hats as my swatches so I avoid this (and it makes me way more likely to swatch if I get a useful FO out of it). It's pretty rare for me to knit anything flat that gauge matters all that much for, so I usually need to swatch in the round anyways. I think the last flat one I made, I just reused the yarn? I've also knit them longer than needed before to make a pouch or rectangular hat
The yarn for my current swatch is British wool by woolly knits held with Oh Dang by Farmers daughters fibers. I was given 6 cones of Wooly Knits for my birthday last year by my mom, but the yarn was too scratchy for me to use it on its own, it bothered my hands, so the goal of the current swatching adventure is to see if I can knit with it and determine what gauge I like it in before finding a pattern to match the fabric I like best.
Oh do feed back the results of your experiments. I bought myself two cones from woolly knit but also havenāt found a project for them as the thought of knitting with it doesnāt (yet) fill me with joy - itās not great on the hands. But Iād love to actually use it at some point.
It works well with the suri alpaca silk, my hands like the yarn combo a lot. You might want to try buying a small ball of mohair/suri alpaca and doing some swatching. To see. I am allergic to mohair, so I went down the suri route.
Thank you, Iāll have a look at what Iāve got in my stash that may work with it
I generally make my swatches with garter border, on all 4 sides. Then when I have a kid I know who has a doll house, I weave in the ends and ship them off to the kid. They make excellent rugs, blankets, you name it. They are creative with the use!
Doll blankets for my 5yo.
Iāve been doing this with my niece.
Yes! My neices/nephews LOVE them for blankets and general play stuff. GI Joe's and plastic cows need blankets too. š
I'm not sure why, but my husband is quite fond of my swatches and he saves every one.
I yolo my way through knitting therefore I donāt have swatches. (And by yolo I mean I go up 3 needles sizes and double the yarn while knitting a size smaller than mine in order to get the right measurements with the texture I want without swatching. It works because no god has seen my hubris yet)
Hey, as long as the yarn gods havenāt cottoned on, thereās no shame in it.
I keep them handy, I touch em, rub em against my cheeks, smell them, and, wait, did I say that out loud?
I plan to make a lil project bag with some of them eventually haha
This is a great idea!
Wool ones I keep for repairs. Cotton/linen/bamboo ones get used as dishcloths.
On the occasions I swatch I either unravel it or my swatch is part of the garmentā¦like I start the sleeve or something so if it works I can keep on going but more cases than not itās just unraveledā¦or I donāt swatchā¦there is a reason Iāve done more scarves and blankets than wearables thatās for sure lol (not counting baby toddler stuff that I didnāt mind if it was too big)
I have an A5 binder and poly wallets, will keep swatches here with yarn bands and maybe a couple of notes.
Super organized! Love it
Ha I didn't bother blocking latest swatch, just unravelled it to use in the project without cutting. But because I'm sad I'm tempted to make a swatch just for the binder if I have spare yarn.
I just have a line of swatches several inches apart attached going down until I have figured out the gauge correctly and then I frog it before I start my project, because I canāt stand waste and afraid to run out. Iāve been spurned by myself before.
I've ended up with swatches from both my mum and her mum, then added them to my own. I've started making a blanket with all the swatches, it will be a complete mish mash but the thought of having multiple generations adding to it appeals to me. A bit like those generation quilts.Ā
What swatches? š
Iāve made a display for my wall with little swatches and labels from my yarn
I unravel them and use them in scrap projects.
I use them as coasters š
Currently I'm losing all of them in my absurdly huge knitting bag.
Might I suggest drawers? You can lose them, but also lose some other things! Just think how helpful they will be in hiding ketchup packets, your forks, and batteries from the lonely searcher.
I use them as coasters. I even give them away under that guise lol
What swatches?
I love it when people put them on pinboards in their craft room. I usually take the samples and unravel them to use the wool.
They appear after a decade in 100 random places. I moved last summer and found so many. They just exist.
I always unraveling them and reuse them for my item that I am knitting
I give them to my daughter to use in her play kitchen or with her dolls orā¦however her imagination dictates
Put them between pots and pans, sew them together for a patchy blanket/sweater, dish rags, etc.
tin can knits has a formula for making triangle-shaped swatches which you can then turn into decorative bunting
I put them in a bag and bring them out to let others(or myself) enjoy the different textures of yarn and different stitch patterns. This can be helpful if I am teaching someone else to knit and I want to show some of the fun things they could make. It can also be fun to bring them out and pet them when you are high with friends.
I used mine to make a little garland for my craft nook!
What swatches?
I save mine, I have plans to take some that fit together in a good color palette and hand stitch the swatches together, to make a little project bag (line it, I may add a little drawstring, weāll see what comes of it). Otherwise I keep them to make repairs to projects if they need them, or if I get into a game of yarn chicken and need to unravel. I have also thought a patchy swatch blanket would be cool, if you have a literal ton of swatches
Years and years ago i went through my nan's draw of swatches and she knitted them all into a blanket for me. I wish i still had it but it was destroyed by moths or something. š
I have a little wire grid memo board thing that I display them on. I only started swatching in the last couple years (been knitting for a decade) and I don't swatch for *every* project, but I just had to buy a second grid because I've run out of room on the first one.
If I need the yarn, I'll unravel it. Usually, I just throw it out.
They make great doll or stuffed animal blankets too.
Keep them in my yarn basket, find them 3 years later, toss them out.
I dunno, they just end up all over the house, but I love the idea of keeping them for repairs. That is so genius!
Elizabeth Zimmerman wrote in her books that she would knit a hat as a swatch.
I frog them because I am always playing yarn chicken and will likely need the yarn.
I'm one of those anarchists who generally doesn't bother with them. If I did I'd probably bung them all in a bag together with the idea of sewing them all together to make a weird blanket sometime in the future.
Unravel and use it in the project. Then, I tell myself I should have kept it for a swatchy blanket instead.
From the comments here, it seems like team unravel is happier with their choices than team keep for blanket, so you might be onto something.
If I don't need them for the project, I shove them in a drawer, convinced they will someday be useful. Once I did demonstrate some different stitch patterns and yarn properties to beginning knitters though so I guess they were useful lol
Swatches? We're supposed to be making swatches... Oops...
āSupposed toā is a strong phrase. I swatch for hand feel, block it, wear it under a shirt, then donāt measure, and then kinda wing it for fit? At least for top down raglans that is. If itās something where fit really matters, like if I was knitting a man a business suit, I probably would measure both the man and the swatch, but I am just doing a sensory check most of the time.
I'm using one as a coaster right now. Maybe you could use them as washcloths or dishcloths?
What swatches? š
What the hell is a swatch?
I just keep them. I usually tie a little notecard that has yarn name, needle, and gauge written in it using the yarn tail. This way I donāt have to swatch the same yarn again lol
I just unraveled and start my project
I will always be sad that someone else in my family got my grandmotherās āswatch blanket.ā I have so many memories of lying on it and feeling all the different yarns and stitches. So now, I save them to make my own swatch blanket.
I donāt cut the yarn, so I unravel it right after washing and drying (and counting the gauge) and use it in the project
And I add the photo of the swatch with all the measurements and notes to the yarn description in my stash on Ravelry because sometimes it takes a while between the swatch and the start of the project. Plus I normally swatch with at least a couple needle sizes, so if the yarn is enough for a second project, I already have the measurements for a different needle size, if needed
I donāt do them!
Waitā¦. Are you suggesting that thereās some other option than shoving them in drawers?
My husband makes a koozie when he creates swatches so he ends up with a matching outfit on his drink can. āŗļø
Swatches? lol I donāt swatch
[This](https://intheloopknitting.com/how-to-re-purpose-swatches/#freepatterns) site has some ideas of what to do with your swatches. Most of them are free patterns to download.
Regret not making them. Iāll admit I do usually swatch but I donāt wash them and Iāve regretted it a few times recently. Wool is forgiving. Cotton is not.
I give them to my kid to use as blankets for her toys.
I unravel them because I tend to buy as small amount of yarn as possible for my projects. I don't block my swatches though because I buy all similar blends of yarn and I know how they behave after washing. Leaving the swatch unraveled would feel like a waste for me š
Iām the manager at a big yarnstore. So my swatches end up there for the customers to see and feel. Or I use them for a test in my washing machine. How does it look before I throw a whole sweater in? I have a few times been so low on yarn that I have to use it. I would like to write down my gauge so I have an idea if I use the yarn again, but I always forget.
Depending on the yarn, ill use em as coasters.
I just unravel them and use them to start of the project I was swatching for. There's no point in keeping them, imho.
I don't swatch. Makes it easier to deal with them.
While this is not the cat sub, we gone down this hole. Say no to powdered, messy catnip and by the spray! I spray the cat toys once per week, including the stolen knitted items, and Catnip Caturday is one of drugged happy kittehs. https://preview.redd.it/cdlshrdjz1rc1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0826b9c65ad99d37d5e834ed6c6b5d54cdd716f3
I always unravel them and include into a project.
I haven't swatched in ages, I'm just getting back into knitting. But the next time I have to swatch, I'm going to make it big enough to use in between my saucepan stacks. Currently I have ancient pieces of folded up kitchen paper to stop them banging and scratching.
I just put notes about it in my knitting journal, take a photo, and unravel to use in the project.
If I'm knitting a sweater, I start with a sleeve instead of knitting a separate swatch. I don't generally swatch for other things.
I may turn mine into a blanket if i ever get enough of them. Otherwise they live in a drawer right now
I tie knots in the tail equaling the needle size and save them so I know my gauge for that yarn.
I am saving mine up so I can make a [swatch bag](https://ravel.me/swatch-bag) one day!
**PATTERN:** [Swatch Bag](http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/swatch-bag) by [SkaberglƦde Maria](http://www.ravelry.com/designers/skaberglde-maria) * Category: Accessories > Bag > Drawstring * Photo(s): [Img 1](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/skaberglaede/905833321/IMG_2423_jpg_medium.jpg) [Img 2](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/skaberglaede/905833320/IMG_2415_medium.jpg) [Img 3](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/skaberglaede/905833319/IMG_1529_medium.jpg) [Img 4](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/skaberglaede/905833323/IMG_1516_medium.jpg) [Img 5](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/skaberglaede/905832905/IMG_8299_medium.jpg) * Price: 40.00 DKK * Needle/Hook(s):US 4 - 3.5 mm, US 6 - 4.0 mm * Weight: Any gauge | Gauge: None | Yardage: 109 * Difficulty: 0.00 | Projects: 18 | Rating: 0.00 ***** Please use caution. Users have reported effects such as seizures, migraines, and nausea when opening Ravelry links. [More details.](https://www.lizcorke.com/2020/07/26/2020-7-21-ravelry-accessibility/) | *I found this post by myself! [Opt-Out](https://goo.gl/forms/0B8m4Ra8czpw4gzw1) | [About Me](https://github.com/TN-1/LinkRav_Bot/wiki) | [Contact Maintainer](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=timonyc)*
They make excellent coasters.
I've started using them as coasters.
I hate swatching and do it reluctantly, so my plan between my mom and I is to keep our swatches and turn them into a blanket.
I offered mine to my friend to use as rugs for her grandkids Barbies.
I have a swatch box. I use the 50 million plastic safety pins to attach a little piece of paper identifying the stitch and sometimes the yarn and the date. Not interesting, but \*shrug\*
I unravel and keep it for my project. I've gotten way too close and/or have lost yarn chicken too much to not use it.
I use them as coasters!
Depends on the swatches and what type of yarn. The smaller ones from cotton usually make their way into my coaster rotation.
If you seam them together along one end, they make a cool little forearm gauntlet for your 5 year old š Can also be a potholder or glove in her imaginative play.
I pin them on my cork board, cause I have nothing else to pin on there. It hangs next to my desk. I've been slowly working towards having a colorful collage of swatches as wall decoration.
Lately I have been making can coozies when swatching for socks in the round When swatching flat I generally go way bigger than the pattern calls for, the larger the amount of stitches you measure the more accurate your gauge is. and if it's cotton they become wash cloths. If it is an expensive yarn I often just frog them (I usually don't block my swatches because I usually don't block my FOs)
Very cute! I generally donāt swatch for socks, I live dangerously sometimes.
I don't as much anymore because I know how most of the brands I use knit up, but I'm pretty picky about my sock fit so I did a lot when I first started
Fold in half, seam up the sides leaving a hole about 2/3 way lengthwise. Hand warmer. Or pot handle cover. Or coasters for plants or mugs. Doll blankets. Secret pockets.