On Washing Swatches

Last night, I started for the swatch Cerisara, and I'm glad I took the time to swatch AND wash/block said swatch.

The yarn? Venezia Worseted in a lovely silver color.

The pattern calls for 20 stitches / 4 inches (or 5 stitches / inch). The yarn label called for a US 7 needle, so I started the swatch using that. And, I ended up with a 5.25 stitches / inch.

I dropped down to a US 6 needle. And I got my 5 stitches/inch, and I really liked the tightness of the fabric better.

I know that washing the swatch will change my stitch count, so I washed & blocked the swatch overnight despite WANTING very much to just cast on.

And I'm glad that I did. The fabric ended up relaxing by QUITE a bit.
My US 7 swatch was now 5.5 st/inch (was 5.25 st/inch)
My US 6 swatch became 5.25 st/inch (was 5 st/inch)

So I'm dropping down to a US 5, as that should give me about 4.75 stitches per inch, but will open up to 5 stitches / inch after washing & blocking.