getting gauge?

[bethie]

when making a gauge swatch, do I knit knit knit all rows? Or do I make the stockinette stitch of alternating knit and purl rows?

The back of my pillow will be all knit

The fronto my pillow is this: http://www.knittingknonsense.com/b_cloth.html

A knit border, stockinette middle, and the letter B is knit.

How can I make an accurate gauge swatch for this? My pillow form is 12x12 and I want the front and back pieces to measure 12.5 x 12.5 each

I previously started this project on size 8 needles but don't like how it feels. I want to bump up to size 9 or 10 needles.

[Ingrid]

I'd do the swatch in stockinette stitch and pay special attention to row gauge since you want to center the B over the 12.5 inches. Usually, stitch gauge is most important, but since the B needs to be in the middle, you need to know how many rows you'll need to knit to get to 12.5 inches most accurately. Then you can see what stitch gauge you get to know what to cast on.

For the back, you can cast on the same number of stitches and compare them after a couple of inches. They should be quite close.

[kemp]

Are you using a pattern? If so it will usually tell you what stitch you should knit the swatch in. If not, I would do two separate swatches, one in stst for the front and one in garter for the back.

[Ingrid]

Are you using a pattern? If so it will usually tell you what stitch you should knit the swatch in. If not, I would do two separate swatches, one in stst for the front and one in garter for the back.

The pattern is for a washcloth that is being converted to a pillow, so I'd think she has to make everything larger.

[kemp]

Right! Most wash clothes aren't 12.5"