I’m not generally inclined to “officially” swatch. I usually just cast on with the needles that I think will work and then, if size is important, check my gauge once I am a few inches into the project, but since (1) this shrug was not for me, and (2) I hadn’t used this yarn before, I swatched. Three times. I ended up needing to go up 2 needle sizes to come anywhere close to meeting gauge. As I am a tight knitter and almost always have to go up one or two needle sizes, this was completely expected. I don’t know why it still surprises me.

Since my cast-on tends to be tighter than my bind-off, I used Jeny’s Stretchy Slipknot Cast-On for the body of the shrug in order to allow enough stretch to block the lace properly. What I found is that while JSSCO stretches nicely for blocking purposes, it’s not much fun to pick up stitches into that cast-on afterward, so that’s something I will definitely keep in mind for the future. I used Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off for all the ribbing.

I’m a little sad that I have to send this shrug on its way (it’s a sample knit for the yarn dyer), but the good news is that I have enough yarn left over to make another one! Yay! Truth be told, I had actually been hankering to get my hands on some of this yarn for a while, so when I was asked if I might be interested in doing some sample knitting I didn’t have to think about it too long or hard. ;) It’s very soft and the colors are amazing. Seriously. I spent the whole first day I had it in my possession just starting at it. And fondling. And staring… (ahem) Anyway… This yarn was a real pleasure to knit with, and to quote the accommodating young lady who was so kind as to model it for me, “Wow! It’s warm!”