FauxLeo > notebook > projects > Swatch for Shizen Pullover

Swatch for Shizen Pullover
  • Project
Expand
After blocking
After blocking
After blocking: 18 stitches x 30 rows. [Didn't photograph gauge before pinning with this "Knit Chek," but based on ruler measurement photos, it was about 26 stitches x 40 rows per four inches.]
After blocking: 18 stitches x 30 rows. [Didn't photograph gauge before pinning with this "Knit Chek," but based on ruler measurement photos, it was about 26 stitches x 40 rows per four inches.]
(while blocking)
(while blocking)
Next day but before blocking
Next day but before blocking
Before, right after knitting
Before, right after knitting
After: 8-3/8" wide
After: 8-3/8" wide
Before: 6-1/8" wide
Before: 6-1/8" wide
After: 4-5/8" long
After: 4-5/8" long
Before: 3-7/8" long
Before: 3-7/8" long
Pre-blocking squish and drop: thicker, cinching in from ribs, and determined to warp
Pre-blocking squish and drop: thicker, cinching in from ribs, and determined to warp
Post-blocking squish and drop: light, airy, and drapy as you please
Post-blocking squish and drop: light, airy, and drapy as you please
Warning to self to pin more carefully when blocking actual Shizen. This yarn takes a curl with sloppy pinning, as the vertical sides can attest. (In my defense, I was doing such arduous traction on the swatch that I couldn't budge it any further for neatness.)
Warning to self to pin more carefully when blocking actual Shizen. This yarn takes a curl with sloppy pinning, as the vertical sides can attest. (In my defense, I was doing such arduous traction on the swatch that I couldn't budge it any further for neatness.)
Right after knitting but smoothed with my hand
Right after knitting but smoothed with my hand
The yarn itself, plus a mini swatch I made the day it arrived because I couldn't wait to play with it.
The yarn itself, plus a mini swatch I made the day it arrived because I couldn't wait to play with it.
photos above © FauxLeo
Finished
June 27, 2026
June 28, 2026

Swatch for Shizen Pullover

Project info
Shizen | 自然 by eri shimizu
Knitting
Components → Other
Needles & yarn
US 6 - 4.0 mm
18 stitches and 30 rows = 4 inches
in 2x2 ribbing
Eucalipto 8800
4334 yards in stash
Milky Flash
White
https://coneandfiber.com/
June 9, 2026
Notes

Pre-Blocking:

  • 26 stitches x 40 rows per four inches
  • 6-1/8 inches wide x 3-7/8 inches long

Post-(VIGOROUS)-Blocking:

  • 18 stitches x 30 rows per four inches
  • 8-3/8 inches x 4-5/8 inches long

Swatching for a Shizen Pullover. Although the pattern is knit using 4.5mm needles, the swatch is to be knit on 4mm needles in a 2x2 ribbing pattern. The goal is 17 stitches by 24 rows per four inches.

Unfortunately, my irritation with another project curling up on me all the time led me to use a lovely and effective no-curl row (slip knitwise, lift second purl bump of next stitch, knit through back loop, slide slipped stitch over this new stitch, continue). Success! No curling. Alas, I also thwarted my efforts to stretch the swatch during blocking because that row is very firm and barely stretches, making it hard to stretch rows above either. Sigh. The best I could do to approach the prescribed gauge is 18 stitches by 30 rows, and I could all but hear the yarn screeeeaming as I pinned it down at maximum tautness after a long soak. So. For the sweater, no no-curl row (probably didn’t need it, this being ribbing), and maybe use one needle size larger? Or recalculate to match my gauge? The pattern does say it’s made for all gauges.

viewed 7 times
Finished
June 27, 2026
June 28, 2026
About this pattern
Shizen | 自然
by eri shimizu
from Wabi-sabi: The Beauty of Artisanally Made Yarns
145 projects, in 428 queues
FauxLeo's overall rating
FauxLeo's clarity rating
FauxLeo's difficulty rating
  • Project created: June 28, 2026
  • Finished: June 28, 2026
  • Updated: July 2, 2026