Swatch schmatch

I'm not a big fan of knitting the tension/gauge swatch. I know it is important, and I will do it if I really have to, but I figure that when you are doing something small (baby item, or anything with sleeves), the sleeve is probably the swatch, and if your tension is right, hey presto, you've got half a sleeve already!

Ha. This is the second go at a project for my friend LL who is having a baby in November. I started another pattern, didn't worry about a swatch, and of course my tension was way off. So I frogged it. I hate frogging...

But this time it worked out ok. I'm knitting in Rowan 4ply cotton and converted the cardi pattern to do on a circular stick to minimise the seaming issues (have I mentioned how I hate seaming - the baby rib cardi I blocked a week and a half ago still has one side seam unsewn...) which of course makes the knitting seem slower but I am looking forward to only doing the raglan sleeve seams - hurrah! Don't know if LL is having a girl or boy so have used a very neutral colour. The cotton is fairly nice to knit with but I do prefer wool - more springy, easier on the hands. I am looking forward to doing the sleeves - circular, lovely easy stocking stitch. It will be just like knitting a sock!