Back to the FLAK

A while back, before I fell down the Fana rabbithole, I hatched a Cunning Plan to revive Janet Szabo's Follow the Leader Aran Knitalong (FLAK).  Remember that?  CLICK to see the post about it.

The general feeling at the time was that Fall would be a good time for us, and Fall, it now is!  I'm ready; How about you?

The first instruction is to get yarn: Check.  Then you're supposed to make a swatch (or two): Check.  The swatch needs to be in "filler" stitch. i.e., the allover pattern stitch you'll choose for the sides/underarm area adjacent to the cables.  And it needs to be blocked, so it gives a true reading.  Here you can see that I tried my hand at Star Stitch, which I totally love (lower half of swatch).  Ultimately, though, I decided it's a little too fiddly, even for me, and the fabric it makes is a little too dense.  I switched to a plain old moss stitch, (upper half of swatch) which makes me happier.  And I even remembered to leave myself a clue about what needle size I used: I tied 6 knots in the yarn tail after the bindoff, which reminds me that I was working on size 6 needles.  It's the knitters equivalent of a trail of breadcrumbs...

And its a good thing I did, because I had it in my head that this swatch was the right gauge. Which is not true, it turns out.  Having actually read the pattern, and carefully measured again, I'm 2 sts shy in 4".  Looks like I need to take another whack at it before I press on.

How about you?  Ready to swatch yet?