Thread behind swatch

[nooniewaters]

Just saw a new video from knitting help on their youtube channel about "swatching" in the round. The nice lady in the video said that you can cut the thread behind the swatch(optional) once its completed ,but doesn't that defeat the purpose of of knitting the swatch in the round? if you're going to cut the thread, why not just knit the damn thing flat? Can someone please help me figure this out? Thanks

[suzeeq]

The difference is that by doing it as shown in the video you knit every row, instead of purling the WS rows which you don't when you knit in the round. You don't have to cut the strands across the back as long as you leave them very loose so they don't pull on the piece.

[nooniewaters]

are you the nice lady in the video?

[kmaclean]

Most people don't purl at the exact same tension as they knit ... so if you knit your swatch flat (where you would have to purl the WS rows) and then proceed to knit your actual project in the round (where you would be knitting all rows) your gauge would likely be a little off which will affect the fit of your piece.

Also, I could be mistaken but I think Amy usually does most of the KH videos.

[suzeeq]

Amy, one of the site owners, does the videos.