As I tried to wrangle several boxes of swatches into their new spots in my new office, I wondered, what to do with all this swatching? It's useful to experiment with yarn and stitches, sure, but then what? A giant swatch-work blanket? Not really my style. Scan them all in? Sooo much work.
But at the very least, I could share a few of them.
The yarn: Classic Elite Firefly, sport weight, 75% rayon 25% linen. Lovely raw look and feel, with quite a lot of sheen. Soft after blocking. Does tend to grow with wet blocking, I suppose because of the rayon. Like any linen yarn, a little hard on the hands, but not bad. Sophisticated muted colour palette. I think this one is Hyacinth, but clever me, I've lost the ball band.
The stitch: A robust version of Dainty Chevron from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. On page... 275. For you Stitch Savant's out there, you can see the variation is in the height and width of the chevrons, and yes, the swatch in the photo is upside-down.
On another note, have you found that being a Stitch Savant can lead to awkward social situations? I touched a stranger's sweatered arm once and murmured, "track of the turtle." I don't know what she thought I said, but she backed away cautiously, maintaining eye contact.
Yes, I think sharing these swatches virtually is a good idea. But I would never mind if a stranger groped my arm and identified the stitch pattern.
