Swatching

The b/f has asked for a new pillow to prop his feet on when watching TV. He picked out the yarn, and I played with a few different stitches and needle sizes before deciding on half-linen stitch on size 6 needles. See, here's my swatch:

Even though I swatched, I knew my gauge was just an approximation; my swatch was knit back and forth on conventional needles, and I was planning on doing the real thing on circs. I purl tighter than I knit, so I knew my gauge would be a little looser when knitting in the round. Also, the gauge varied depending on which row I checked. So I took a guess and cast on, knit a couple of inches, then removed the knitting from my needles so I could check it against the pillow form:

Good thing I started out knowing I might be making a full-size swatch, because that is what it turned out to be. I have about 16 stitches too many. Now I'm going to have a frog-fest and start over.