More Bread and Knitting Talk

I promised I would share if I ever got a nice looking loaf of the Whole Wheat Sesame Bread, so here it is- sortaAnd I am convinced the problem was the whole wheat part of it. Because this week I really wanted some of this bread, but I am out of whole wheat flour. So I used all-purpose instead. And voila! There it is! In all it's nice round-top glory. So I will continue to use that recipe without the whole wheat flour. :D

So, I'm not really sure what bread and knitting have in common, other than the fact that I like both. I admit to not being as obsessed about bread as I am about knitting- but I do like it. I especially like it homemade freshly baked. For some reason, it's easier for me to resist bread after it has cooled from baking. When it's hot? mmmmmmm.

As for the knitting? Well, I was right. It took a lot less time to fix my glaring error in that sock by just dropping those sts, than it would have to frog the whole thing. I finished that sock on Tuesday night- all but the Kitchener. Did the Kitchener on Wednesday, and cast on for the next design. The last sock design that I will be doing for a while. I have some sweaters, mitts, hats, scarves, and other fun things to whip up before I move back to socks. So I'm excited.

But back to the new design: I was actually able to brainstorm, chart, swatch, and cast on for this pair all on Wednesday. This is unusual for me. But I must admit that it might have something to do with- #1, I am LOVING this yarn. It is Good Grrl, by Tempted Yarns. I've never used Tempted before, but am quite impressed. It's smooshy, I love the stitch definition, it's just all in all a joy to work with.

Another reason I was able to get that much done on one design in one day? It might have something to do with the size of my swatch:

I know, I know. Shame on me. A swatch is supposed to be at least 4"x4". I know. I hate swatching. Don't you? I have yet to meet a knitter that really enjoys it. (surprise me, tell me it's you) I recently read Sweater Quest, my year of knitting dangerously by Adrienne Martini, and in it she talks about how designers love the swatch and love making those who knit our patterns do swatches (at least I'm pretty sure that's where I read that. It may have been someone's blog post. Forgive my sick Mommy brain today, please); but I have to say, for the record, as a designer, I hate swatching.

In case you missed it- I really don't like swatches, or swatching.

It's just as much as waste of my time as it is a waste of your time. Here's the thing: as much as I dislike swatching, I have to do it. Because if I didn't, you would get a pattern that would come out in a completely unknown and probably unusable size. The difference between my swatching and your swatching (if you use my pattern), is that I get to choose the gauge while you have to match my gauge. I get to say, I want to use these needles with this yarn, and I want it to look like this (drape, tightness, looseness, etc), so if you want your garment to look like the one in the picture, this is the gauge you need to have. It's still not fun. And I have issues with it sometimes too.

When I started designing, I didn't really think swatching was all that big of a deal. I learned the hard way. One of the first designs I did, I didn't wash and block my swatch. I finished the garment, washed and blocked it- and discovered that I had knit a size XL instead of a size M. Oops. Had to re-do ALL the pattern math. Not fun. I take swatching a bit more seriously now. I washed and blocked that swatch in the picture, I promise.