Archive of Thread: Easier Tension Swatches Back

5 years ago

Instead of putting yarn thread markers at the 21^st stitch on either side of -0- (on a standard bed tension swatch), just put the 21^st needles in out-of-work position (A) to begin with. This saves stopping to attach the markers at the designated row. In my case, this saves a lot of time because I don’t just put stitch markers at the designated row, but instead put them on three different rows and when I measure with the green ruler, I take the average of the three readings. So this saves me, in particular, quite a bit of time. The out-of-work swatch idea wouldn’t work for all tension swatches, i.e. tuck, slip, FI, because you’d drop stitches, but it works great for stockinette stitch. At the top of the photo, you can see the column of 21st needles in out-of-work position. Then you can see my yarn stitch marker rows. You'll get the same tension reading either way.

  

5 years ago
Good tip!