Knit-picky

I thought I would go ahead and show the swatch I knitted to check my gauge. Since I have only ever done two simple knitting projects, I have never made a swatch. It is almost always recommended in a pattern, and it is just so you will know that the brand of needles you have and the way you knit, etc. will produce the finished product the pattern says you will produce. And when I say "the way you knit", I am mostly talking about how tight or loose the stitches are. As a beginning knitter, I am trying not to make my stitches so tight. I was really bad about that when I first started out. I just wanted it to look really nice and clean, but tight stitches can lead to a lot of frustration. So, that being said, I am making the effort to keep my NLW (Northern Lights Wrap) stitches a little loose but still clean. Below you will see the swatch I made. After I measured it and found it to be the correct size, it was getting pretty late, so I was only able to cast on and knit the first row. This morning I quickly knit a second row after breakfast. I have found when I start something like this (I'm also working on some cross-stitch at the moment) I want to work on it every moment that I can! Have a wonderful weekend!