I am very frustrated! I have done this swatch 8 times and keep getting 1 or 2 holes in it...so I walk away, come back and start over. any suggestions?

Thanks,
Debra

I'm still doing the same swatches, but I thik one or two holes will be OK. You can see some good examples of the quality expected if you go to the archived On Your Way to the Masters articles. It says how to get there in the beginning of the Level I instructions.

Also, blocking usually puffs the yarn up at least a little bit.

Flowerpainter,
Don't get too upset over the holes. Unless they are gigantic like from a yo, it will probably be alright. I couldn't get mine absolutely even either when I did it, and I re-knit mine three times. I went verrryyy sloowwwly,also tried knitting at regular speed, and neither looked that much different. On the third one I knit slower than normal, but not painstakingly slow and that's the one I sent in. It passed. And as yarnmeg said, often the blocking will puff up the stitches and even them out, especially if you soak them, not just spritz them with water.

P.S. As I was reminded many times, we aren't expected to produce knitting so perfect it could have come from a machine, this is "hand knitting" after all. Perfection is aimed for, but not required.

Hold it up to the light, take a photo, and send the photo to Arenda and ask her if you are right to be worried still after eight tries. When you submit your swatches to the committee, if you are still worried about the holes, explain what you have done to eliminate them in your notes. I had some issues with rowing out at the edges of my swatches, and I tried everything I could to fix it. Sometimes I was successful, sometimes not. I was afraid to submit my Level I binder because I thought they would fail the swatches and tell me to fix them, but I *couldn't*. I knit my swatches many, many times. Arenda assured me that I was worrying too much, and she was right about what would happen when I submitted: the committee did comment when they noticed the rowing out, but they didn't fail the swatches. They knew I was aware of the problem and working on it, which is a key goal for Level I.

Thank you friends, I finally finished Swatch 3. It is correct, no major holes and very dense and tight. I appreciate your encouragement and help.
Debra