late sweater knitters

Hello All,
I'm new to this and I'm getting a late start on my sweater here. I have my yarn picked out and here - basalt gray with cumulus shimmer. I've started my swatch and having been reading many of the treads in this group. I read a bunch about swatches and have a couple of questions: Some of you wash and block your swatch and then measure for gauge. It seems to me that the pattern would assume gauge for an unwashed piece. Can anybody tell me if there is a "right" way? I have never steeked before and I read that someone else used their swatch to pracitice this! I think that is a great idea! But that goes back to this washed thing for me - I assume that the sweater is not washed before being steeked - so I would not want to wash the swatch either, right??? Any help here would be great. I'm terrified of the steek and am trying to prepare myself for the idea of cutting all that work...... Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by robdob on February 23, 2010 at 3:50am

You guys are funny. My "poison" is also to knit as much as I can. Unfortunately I have so many projects I want to knit and can't knit fast enough to accomplish more than 2 in a few months. I need to start working on smaller projects than sweaters. I watch tv with my husband and listening to an audio book is a great idea. I get so frustrated with him channel surfing that I lose track of where I am knitting. Focus, focus! I'm going to be choosing colors for my next CL sweater - more color this time. I'm stilling working on getting a photo posted. The pictures my son took of me in it were nasty. Robin

Permalink Reply by Peggy Stuart on February 23, 2010 at 6:11am