Update 1: Swatch Knitting - I Knew This Was Going to be a Problem

It's always fun to start a new knitting project with a "doh!" moment.  As I mentioned before, I've just started Very Shannon's Tops Tees, and Tanks KAL for 2016.  I am knitting this Drops tank and I planned to use I Love This Cotton yarn from Hobby Lobby.

Like every good knitter, I began by diligently knitting a gauge swatch.  I thought I was being economical with both time and money by using some I Love This Cotton that I had leftover from a previous project to knit my swatch.  I didn't have enough of this yarn in my stash to knit my tank, so I would have to buy more, but I thought I would use my stash to see if this yarn would work for my project.

Now this yarn in my stash was at least 3 to 4 years old, and as I knitted my swatch I did think "I wonder if the manufacturer has changed the size and gauge of this yarn over the past few years?  Maybe I shouldn't be making my gauge swatch with old yarn that I'm not actually going to use for this project?"  But...  I continued to knit.  And I happily got gauge with my old cotton yarn.

And I'm sure you can guess where this is going - I then went back to Hobby Lobby to buy some new I Love This Cotton yarn in a beautiful deep forest green color to knit my tank.  But (surprise, surprise) when I began my tank with this new yarn, I was waaay off gauge and bottom hem of my tank was 4 inches wider than the pattern called for.  Ugh.  I only had myself to blame.

So, without stopping for a good cry, I moved on to Plan B.  I ordered some Cotlin yarn from Knit Picks in a similar green color.  My yarn arrived on Friday and I dug in to knit another gauge swatch.  I soaked and blocked my swatch and I'm happy with my new yarn and needle choice.

Moral of the story - Don't be cheap and stupid like me.  Always knit your swatch in the exact yarn you plan to use for your project.  In the end, it WILL save you more time and money!