gauge swatch question
 

I'm getting ready to start a sweater in the round. Do I need to knit the gauge swatch in the round too? I already did one in the round before I got the pattern and it's not right so I have to do another one on bigger needles. There are just so many more stitches to knit if I do it in the round and I'm lazy.... and a slow knitter...... but I also want it to fit.
What would you do?

I wouldn't think it'd make any difference in the gauge if you knit it in the round... 4 inches is 4 inches. But it'd sure be easier to measure if it's flat. If I were doing it, I'd knit a 4x4 flat and say "color me done".

Flat and knitting in the round can produce different gauges. I'd knit a gauge swatch.

The reason to knit a swatch in the round is because some people purl looser or tighter than they knit, so a flat swatch may not have the same gauge. You can fake an in the round swatch knitting flat though.

CO about 10 more sts than needed for the gauge, knit the first row, then slide the sts back to the beginning of the needle. Keeping the yarn loose across the back, knit another round. Repeat. That way you mimic knitting in the round, but can lay it flat to measure easier. The edge stitches will be very loose, so don't include them, just the stitches in the middle.

Really? I've never noticed a difference in them. But maybe that explains a few things. :mrgreen: But you been doing this a lot longer than I have, so I defer.

Sounds kinda like I-cord without the join... or I guess without pulling the join tight.

And not on DPNs.

And not round.

Okay, maybe it doesn't sound so much like I-cord.

Clever little hack though!

How to Knit a Circular Gauge Swatch

I have a really hard time locating these videos. Took a bit but I found it.

They may produce different gauges for some people, but not other people. I can sometimes see a difference on a raglan cardigan where the yoke was knit flat, then I knit the sleeves in the round. Usually going up a needle size for the circular knitting will help. But most of the time it's not obvious to me, our individual gauge can change from day to day sometimes.

Well it also helps if you don't get cross-eyed trying to count the stitches. Which can sometimes be a challenge for me. Which is (one reason) why I almost never knit on anything smaller than an 8 (the main reason being that I'd like to finish in this decade).

That seems easier than going all the way around. That was shown in the video GrumpyGramma linked to. Thanks for that. I think that I do purl looser than I knit since I switched over to continental knitting and Norwegian purling.