How to Make a Swatch in Knitting

A swatch is a small piece of knitted fabric for measuring gauge. It should be bigger than a 4×4 square inches fabric, usually, we’re going to knit more stitches than the pattern gauge in order to make a swatch. For example, if the pattern says “20 stitches per 4 inches”, we’re going to aim for 25-30 stitches casting on for a swatch (using the same yarn and needle size as the pattern), because that leaves much room for measuring different places to take an average.

The steps in making a swatch are knitting, washing, blocking and measuring. In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to make a swatch from start to finish. Since I am making a swatch in Stockinette, I have to add some Garter borders to the fabric to prevent curling on edges.