Swatch it!

I am planning to knit a new top.  I did a gauge swatch yesterday.  This is the first time I did one wear I blocked the swatch.  The pattern said to do it - and after my experience of my last top growing on me, I wasn't skipping that step.  Important to note that the pattern for my last top did not suggest measuring gauge after blocking.  How I wish it had.  I haven't done a lot of swatching, but mainly because in a lot of my projects, gauge didn't matter too much - other than for making sure you had enough yarn.  That lesson was enough to make me swatch from now on - and to always order more yarn than I need.  You can always make something with leftovers.  So, I knit the swatch and measured pre-blocking.  I upped the size of the needle partway through my swatch, just in case the recommended size was too small.  I figured that was better than having to go back and do a whole new swatch.  Then, I soaked it and blocked it and this morning, measured the dry swatch.  I'm so glad I followed the instructions to measure after blocking.  Turns out the recommended needle size will work nicely.  Hopefully before too long, I'll have a nice new top to wear to dress up jeans or khakis.