Now for my second post on swatching! My beautiful box of yarn arrived last night and I am ready to swatch. First step, I downloaded my pattern from Interweave Knits. Checking the gauge, it is 17 sts and 24 rows equals 4″ on US#8 needles. To check my gauge, I will cast on 30 stitches (slightly more than the gauge stitch count) on US#8 needles and work in stockinette stitch until it measures 5″ high. (knit one row, purl one row) I will then wet the fabric, pin it flat and let it dry before measuring my gauge. I hope to do this tonight and will post photos as soon as it is done, along with a guide on how to measure the gauge.

On to other CPH business, I have to select the size that I will knit. To do this, I went to ravelry to read the blogs, posts, and notes that others have written about this pattern. It seems to run a bit small. I need a 34″, so I will likely move up to the 36″ size. I also plan to add waist shaping to the pattern, so if that size makes it a little too big in the waist, the shaping will take care of that. Basically, choose a size to fit the widest part of your body. On me that is the shoulder and rib cage area. I will look at the diagram included on page 5 of the pattern and measure a sweater that fits me well and is constructed similarly in order to choose the size. Measuring that sweater and then finding the size on the diagram that matches will help me to select the size sweater that I will make.