Here's another new repeating feature on the Anzula blog. I'm going to be knitting at least three full sized swatches of each of the yarn lines and posting pictures with gauge information. Today I'm starting out with For Better or Worsted in Maple.

For Better or Worsted (aka FBOW) is a heavy worsted weight blend of 80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere and 10% Nylon. In all my swatches, I knit in the needle size. The purl bumps in the lower right hand corner of the stockinette part of the swatch represent the needle size. This way, I don't have to write down what size needles I used.

This first swatch is knit on size 7 needles. I got 19 stitches and 30 rows over 4". This is a pretty dense gauge for this yarn. It's still soft, but doesn't have as nice a drape as some of the larger needle sizes. This gauge would work well for mittens or particularly windproof hats

The second swatch is on size 8 needles. I got 18 stitches and 28 rows over 4". This is what I think the sweet spot for this yarn is. It has a nice drape, but is still opaque. This would be a very nice garment gauge.

The third swatch is on size 9 needles. I got 17 stitches and 26 rows over 4". This is a nice drapey gauge. It would be perfect for a floppy beret style hat, or if you like your sweaters at a looser gauge.

And finally, this last swatch is just me having some fun with the yarn. There's a 4 stitch cable, some reverse stockinette, and some seed stitch. I knit this swatch on size 8 needles. The seed stitch in particular looks great in this yarn.

I hope this is helpful for people. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on how I could make this feature better. Tune in next time for swatches of our Sport/DK weight yarn, Cricket. Oh, and a shiny gold star if you know the reference in the post title.