Getting Gauge.

So it's finally started - the Wrapper's Delight cardi is underway. And I hope it goes well.

You see, I decided that I was going to be very, very careful with this project and do everything the way you're supposed to, starting with getting gauge in a careful and calculated way. But first I had to wind up the skeins of Claudia Hand Painted Boucle into center-pull balls. Which took 2 hours (maybe I need a ball winder).

I then carefully knit up a gauge swatch, 8 stitches wider and 8 rows taller than the pattern's gauge (15 stitches X 22 rows = 4"). I really concentrated on the stitches I was making, because hey, I'd better make friends with this crazy, fuzzy, loopy yarn since we're going to be together for... about a month, I'd say. And I took my time. I mean, this is supposed to be the ultimate indicator of your eventual success... or failure... so naturally it's worth spending some time on this important, yet tedious, step.

The swatch was completed around 10:30 pm Monday night. The dim light in my living room combined with the dark colors of this yarn rendered me quite blind by this time, but I could hold out a few more minutes just to measure my swatch and see if I got my gauge. I turned up the lights in my dining room full blast. I laid the swatch out on the table. I took out my tape measure and laid it on top...... and realized that I couldn't even see my stitches through all the crazy, fuzzy loops.

(The next morning, I took out the swatch and my tape measure and tried it again, this time under the bright fluorescent lights in my office. It took a few minutes, but yes, I did indeed get my gauge. 15 stitches across and 23 rows = 4"... close enough.)