And More Learning

After the swatch in the previous post, I decided to try swatching most of those same stitches side by side to see how they'd behave. I figured out how many stitches I wanted and cast on, placing markers for each section. Maybe its harder to swatch different stitch patterns next to each other, rather than stacked. I can't see why is would be. It took me about 5 tries to finally get my swatch going. I'd cast on, knit a few rows and then say, 'whoa! That doesn't look right.' So I'd rip it back and try again. I finally figured out what was wrong on most of the patterns and got every thing going. Except for the plaited (woven) basket stitch.  That was still turning out all messed up.
"How could this be? Its a simple enough repeat."

Well, that's where I made my mistake. Thinking it was so simple that I didn't pay attention to the pattern, and forgot that on the wrong side, you have to start out with a purl stitch. That little purl stitch made all the difference.

Left side bad, right side good.

I'm fond of the plaited basket stitch and want to use it, I just need to see if I can shape it.

One other thing learned. Bulky yarn that's been tightly wound into a ball for the last 5 years probably isn't going to produce a good swatch. Better to skein, wash and dry first.