Swatches are not glamorous, except perhaps when Xandy Peters is coming up with ideas.
Swatches happen to be most of my knitting and crocheting. Either to work out ideas or to pitch ideas to editors. I even made a blanket of them.
Hunter Hammersen explains how she swatched to gain a skill.
Brooklyn Tweed got into lots of technical aspects of keeping organized for garment swatching
Ysolda has a lots of tips for getting the most truth from a swatch, keeping in mind how different knitting styles for sleeves and sweater bodies can effect gauge.
Fairy Tales often hit on big ideas,Lindsey Stephen wrote one to explain why Swatches lie!