Sweater problems

I didn't show you my stash on 1st April because I was away but when I looked at some of your yarn collections I felt relieved!... ^^ I thought I had a lot!
I mean, I have A LOT for my little flat and I feel constant urge to buy more (but I try not to do that because I have no space for more yarn balls...).

I started to swatch for a sweater I chose from some Polish knitting magazine, namely this one:



I took a yarn from my stash, the bluish violet, a bit fuzzy but very soft. I did two swatches - first with one yarn and the second with two yarns held together (both on needles 6, thesy suggested 5,5 in the article but I don't have it). Here are the results:



The first swatch resulted in good size but the fabric is very loose and I think I would like it to be more textured. The second swatch is too big and also too thick, better for a warm winter sweater. So, we definitely say "no" to two yarns held together. But what about the first swatch? I could try needles 5 but it will be smaller than 10x10 cm, which may result in smaller size of the finished product, and I'm not that experienced in knitting as to adjust the number of stitches to my size. And, frankly speaking, I'm not sure whether I like this colour not. Well... ><

Additionally, I noticed a very silly problem with knitting something from Polish knitting magazine... I learned how to knit from foreign patterns - English, American, ect. And they are usually written like this:

Round 1: [Kfb] in each st. 12 sts.
Even-Numbered Rounds 2-14: K all sts.
Round 3: [Kfb, k1, kfb, k1, kfb] twice, k2. 18 sts.
Round 5: [Kfb, k2] around. 24 sts.
Round 7: [Kfb, k3] twice, kfb, k4, [kfb, k3] twice, kfb, k2. 30 sts.
Round 9: [Kfb, k4] twice, kfb, k6, [kfb, k4] twice, kfb, k2. 36 sts....

But when you look at the Polish magazine, it says:

Start knitting with 1x1 rib for five rows. Then knit with stockinette stitch substracting in each row after 1 st. and before the last st. 5 st. every 10th row and 3 st. every 15th row. Then when you reach the height of your waist, add 4 st. every 10th row...

I just don't know how to follow such description of a pattern, I try to rewrite it into my preferred method but I'm not sure about the number of rows and when I should add or substract stitches, and where I should start counting the rows, and... >< I just shouldn't buy Polish magazines, because I get frustrated while reading and trying to understand the pattern...

So, before I figure out how to knit the sweater and decide on the yarn, I think I'll try some socks! ^^ I found these yarns in my stash and I believe they are the perfect training material for me to knit the first socks! ^^