'Must Have' Wraps

So... it's been raining like crazy for the last few days, and today, while it rained, I realized I need to rip out my Must Have and start over. I checked the measurements, and it seems like while my gauge seems accurate in the reverse stockinette sections, my cables must be looser than anticipated because the overall piece is slightly bigger than it should be. As we all know, of course, what seems to be a "slight" difference can end up being a difference of several inches overall. So, I think I need to start over on a smaller needle. That's okay. It also pushed me to evaluate what might be going on with my "wraps" which form one of the three distinct cable columns. Part of the wrap is a "yarn forward." I was doing mine by taking my yarn from the back and then laying it "over" my needle, and then doing the next stitch. When I'd get to it on the wrong side, the stitch wasn't on the needle properly for a normal purl stitch, but it was still purlable. So, I continued. The wraps look fine, but I had this niggling sense that maybe all was not as it should be.

I realize that I could also increase a stitch by taking the yarn under my needle and then lying it over it (from bottom to top rather than top to bottom, in other words). So, I went digging around and checked a few reference books. I have to admit I'm not the best at deciphering visual images of how to knit, but it looks to me like the "other" way (bottom to top and over) is the way the yarn forward should be done.

I swatched three repeats of the 4-row wrap stitch each way to see how they compared.

Here they are...

(Note: This swatch is in the other colorway I contemplated, not the colorway I'm using.)

The way I had been doing it (shown left above) ends up not having the same kind of discreet hole as the other way (shown right). That's clear (moreso in person). And, I'm assuming the "hole" is supposed to be there. (It's a really obvious hole. When you hold the piece up, you can see through it.)

I checked again the closeup photo Mommio has of her wraps. I definitely see the dimpling hole in hers, but it doesn't look so much like a "hole" as mine does. Still, the method I'd been using didn't really seem to generate even the dimple.

In truth, I like the end result of the way I had been doing it. I even considered going ahead and doing "my" wraps that way for the cardigan. But, I figure it's probably supposed to be the other way, and I like the effect of the column of "circles" in the photos of the cardigan - which means I need the hole.

It is supposed to be the other way, right?

Here is it, before I start over...

I'd only done about 30 rows, so it's not like I'm losing that much. And this is exactly why I decided to start on a front this time rather than the back!