Low initial gravity?

Just finished my first boil! (Belgian Wheat extract) I took a turkey baster of wort for testing but didn't measure right away. An hour later I realized the test tube was waiting for me so I read the scale which showed a whopping 1.022! I was starting to freak when I realized the wort was originally the color of mud but was now a nice pale yellow. This has to affect the reading, right?

Also, I hope I didn't wreck my whole batch by neglecting to sanitize 2 things: the never before used straining cloth that went over the primary bucket, and the kitchen strainer used to aerate the bottled water when adding to get to gallons.

You did not stir the wort enough! Wort and water have different density and need to be stirred for a few minutes at least!

Extract and gravity is a simple formula. For a 5 gallon batch each pound of Liquid Malt Extract will give you about .009 gravity points! If you put 6lbs of LME in 5 gallons of water you will have about 1.045 SG no matter what your hydrometer may say.

If your yeast are healthy and start off good you should not have to worry about the sanitation issues!

With an extract batch you should have gotten very close to what the recipe called for. If you used all the ingredients and topped up with the correct amount of water you probably got a sample that was not well mixed giving you the low reading. The color should not have an effect on the gravity of the sample.

As to the sanitation, not good. But if you pitched the proper amount of yeast they will probably overpower any bacteria introduced.

If you used liquid yeast, did you make a starter?
With dry yeast you have sufficient amounts of yeast cells.

Ohhhhh, right! I didn't stir the wort after topping off! Duh! I did stir like crazy at the beginning when i added the DME.

I pitched dry yeast. Should I open the bucket and give a few gentle stirs? The yeast went in about 2 hours ago.

Quick update: I woke up this morning to find my airlock bubbling like crazy. Must be a good sign.