Friday, January 27, 2006

Swatches and Swatches!


I've fallen in love with this Vogue Knitting pattern from the Winter 01/02 issue. It's supposed to be done in an extra-fine merino wool yarn. I had planned to use a lovely Harris tweed for it, and I did a swatch, and then started the back when the gauge appeared correct. The more I knitted, the more I was sure that the very subtly variegated yarn hides the stitch patterns. And, if you can't see the stitch patterns on this sweater, what's the point? Here's how it looks. Now that I look at it again, it doesn't look so bad, but I'm just not crazy about it. I love the yarn, but I guess not for this pattern.
And here's a close up.



I tried several wool yarns in various weights, as I thought maybe part of my problem was that the Harris yarn was too thin. No wool yarn that I tried seemed to have a similar look to the Vogue photo, and I began to think of other types of yarn. The latest thing I tried is some Cotton Gauze yarn. It's a tape yarn, and I don't think it's bad, although I would want a lighter color, which would make it more defined, I think. Here's a photo of the Cotton Gauze. I'm at the point now where I'm not sure if I really like it, or I'm just wishing I liked it because I'm tired of the whole controversy. Actually I do like it, I just worry that I'll wish I'd known about some other really great yarn choice that I should have used. So, any suggestions will be gratefully accepted.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My favorite for textured patterns is Dalegarn's Heilo. I'm not sure if that is fine enough since you didn't mention gauge, but it gives incredible stitch definition.

Found your blog recently and it's now one of my favorite.

Fiberbliss said...

What a lovely sweater. Possibly Yarndex http://www.yarndex.com/ could help you find a yarn for this. Good Luck.

Liana said...

Pennyz, I haven't tried Heilo, but have done a cardigan in Kolibri, so I'm a fan of Dalegarn. Thanks for the recommendation.

Nickie, You're very kind. I have chosen a light color, and I will let you know how it goes.

fiberbliss, Thanks so much for the Yarndex link. That was very helpful, and I didn't know about it before.