Gauge Swatch

[Green4God]

Should my gauge swatch always be in stockinette stitch, even if the garment is knitted in garter? It doesn't make sense to me that the gauge would be based on a stitch not used in the pattern.

Also, I know that garter stitch is all knit and stockinette is knit one row, purl one row, but am I right in remembering that it is reversed for circular needles?

TIA!

[puddingpop]

Your pattern should give you the desired gauge for the pattern you'll be working in (whether it be stockinette, garter, cables, etc.).

Stockinette stitch is so easy on circulars -- just keep knitting every row (you never need to purl!). It makes it really fast.

Happy knitting!

[yllek]

Originally Posted by Green4God

Should my gauge swatch always be in stockinette stitch, even if the garment is knitted in garter? It doesn't make sense to me that the gauge would be based on a stitch not used in the pattern.

I've seen some patterns with incredibly complex stitch patterns base its gauge on a stockinette swatch, but I don't see why that would be necessary for garter stitch. However, if the pattern specifies that the gauge is based on stockinette, do the stockinette swatch; otherwise, I would just do the swatch in garter stitch.

Also, I know that garter stitch is all knit and stockinette is knit one row, purl one row, but am I right in remembering that it is reversed for circular needles?

Yep. If you're knitting garter stitch in the round, you need to knit for a round, then purl for a round.

[Green4God]

So at least this question doesn't matter for me right now because by knitting every round on my circulars I'm knitting stockinette. Thanks for the responses!

[pageta]

Knitting stockinette in the round gets a different gauge than knitting stockinette flat - I learned the hard way. Most people knit tighter than they purl, so when you knit in the round, you get more sts/in than when you knit flat. Garter gauge is typically 1 st/1 row so if you pick up sts on the side, you pick up 1 st per row; stockinette, on the other hand, will have 5.5 sts/7 rows over 4 inches (for example) which does not work out to a 1/1 ratio like garter. So it's very important to knit your gauge swatch on the type of needles (flat/circular) and the stitch that you will be using.