2022 Geek-A-Long: Pokémon Swatch

Welcome to week zero of our summer Pokémon adventure! Starting next Sunday we’ll have 8 straight weeks of Pokésock goodness for you. Each little starter more adorable than the one before, we’ll knit our way through Pokémon Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow. And for those of you wondering, we’ll be knitting them in that order, so if you are stash diving or getting your yarn in installments rather than all at once you’ll need Blue for weeks 1-2, Red for 3-4, Green for 5-6 and Yellow for 7-8.

Speaking of getting your yarn, after some funny-in-hindsight and infuriating-at-the-time technical difficulties, the problems caused by the server migration are resolved, everything in the shop is working as it should be, and Jac released the Pokemon Geek-A-Long kit last week!

The kit is a glorious explosion of rich jewel toned yarn with enough to make all 4 socks (and your swatch of course), 4 themed stitch markers made by me, and a kit exclusive zippered tote. I made a new color just for these socks, Marigold yellow. I was obsessed with getting just the right bold, Pikachu yellow and it was a journey. I ruined a lot of yarn getting there. It was worth it though. We haven’t decided yet if we’re adding that color as a regular part of the Vacation Yarn color palette, but I did dye up a few skeins of it on the regular 100g base (the kit comes with kit-exclusive 50g skeins) if you want to buy our yarn for these socks, but, I don’t know – hate new bags? I don’t really think that’s anyone, but maybe you have the others in your stash already, or just want more of the yellow because it’s pretty. You don’t have to justify your yarn choices to me. There are a few in regular stock, but I won’t promise to restock them.

So, let’s talk swatches!! For this project we’re making 4 socks, and each one is a combo of one bold color and one neutral. I recommend using the same neutral throughout. I used (and the kit of course comes with) Baskerville which is a cream colored yarn kettled with sort of an eggshell ecru. It’s a nice alternative to white or beige, it just has a little more personality. You’ll want a full skein for that, but one 100g/400 yard skein is enough for all 4 socks plus the swatch. For the colors, you do you, but we are doing Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow, so you’re going to want something in those color families. You’ll need around 40g of each of those. You’ll choose one of them for your swatch. I used color C (garnet), and that’s what the project sheet will instruct, but it doesn’t actually matter. That 40g requirement includes swatch yarn. So for the ones you don’t swatch with you’ll actually need more like 38g.

Most important in your yarn choice for this one will be contrast. You need a very sharp contrast between color A (the neutral) and colors B-E. They socks are detailed and you want your gorgeous work to show up. You don’t need to worry about the colors contrasting with each other (ex: it doesn’t matter if blue contrasts well with any of the other 3: green, red, or yellow) but they all need to contrast with your neutral color. As always, we recommend taking a picture of your yarns next to each other and filtering it into gray scale to make sure the contrast is adequate. I also like to do that with swatches as a final check.

So gather up your yarn, warm up your needles, and get ready to knit! Links for the project sheet are below, and I’ll be back in 1 week with the first clue of Pokémon Blue!

View the Catch ‘Em All: Project Sheet by clicking the button below. When you download the pattern from our website instead of through Ravelry, you will NOT receive automatic updates. You will have to come here and download the next clue every time. Please download it via Raverly if you are able, so you have immediate access to the clues as they are released and any errata that may appear.

~Megan-Anne

I wanna be the very best; Like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test; To train them is my cause.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider making a donation to Child’s Play Charity. Here is a direct link to our official donation page benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year. No contribution is too small! Wanna make your donation go even further? Lattes & Llamas will donate $1 for every skein of Geek-A-Long Yarn purchased.