SockapalOOOza: Gauge Swatch

Originally I thought that I might attempt one of the socks in Anna Zilboorg's Socks For Sandals And Clogs, but working the yarn I've chosen to that number of stitches per inch left me with an inappropriately loose gauge. I think she must have used a sport or dk weight yarn.

Since I'm more in love with the yarn than I am with the pattern, my next step was to make a gauge swatch, changing needle sizes until I found a gauge I was happy with:



I started with a size 5, and worked down to a size 2 before I got something that I felt would wear reasonably well. I could probably safely drop it to a size 1, but I have had good success before knitting comfortable socks with yarn approximately this size on size 2s. (No, I didn't really think the size 5 was going to work in the first place, but had to try it anyway as there was no other way to get 6 sts / inch in the yarn I've chosen. I figured it would probably be too loose, and it sho-nuff was.)

I also tried working the heart motif varigated on black vs black on varigated. I like the black motif on varigated ground much better because when the motif was varigated, the stripeyness that occurred contradicted with the curviness of the heart shape.

Next step: chart out a basic pattern for the motifs and see if the gauge makes a good, readable pattern when worked in the yarn.