Monday Knit Picking

Feeling considerably better today, I decided to head uptown and get fabric for my next Mood project, most likely a knit sweater.

As you probably know, I don't have a lot of experience sewing with knits, though I've tackled them a few times with mixed results.  Since ready-to-wear knit cotton T-shirts are so easy to find (and cheap, especially second-hand, which most of mine are), it's hard to justify sewing my own.  I have never sewn a sweater, but that's the challenge I've set for myself, for better or for worse.

There were tons of knits to choose from, but one huge bolt standing in the wool knit aisle, apparently freshly-delivered and waiting to be shelved, was impossible to miss.  I was immediately smitten with this over-sized gray and maroon Italian houndstooth, likely a wool and mohair blend.



For a few minutes I also considered this leopard-print boiled wool, but from a distance it appeared muddy.

 

Luckily, I was in a decisive mood, so I followed my gut.  Ta da!





The second challenge was to find a suitable gray ribbed knit I could use for waistband, neckband, and cuffs.

These three swatches are actually different knits.   They're all a smaller gauge than the houndstooth but this was what was available.



I chose this one (the lowest one above -- or was it the top one?):



I probably have way more than I need of the houndstooth and the knit rib, so with what remains I may make a sweater vest for Michael and/or coats for the dogs.  Matching outfits!

The question that remains is whether my houndstooth would look better as a raglan sleeve or a regular sleeve sweater.  I found a photo online of this Billy Reid sweater, which is cut like a raglan sweatshirt.  What do you think?  (I won't be using a coverstitch so sweatshirt-like stitching is not an option for my project.)



I can definitely see Willy in something like this.



And speaking of Willy, guess who got a bath yesterday?  Chihuahuas are quite clean as dogs go, but they're still dogs.







In closing, any thoughts about how best to use this houndstooth?   Of course, I do have some experience with houndstooth, back in the day of my $2/yd. polyester double knit finds...







I miss Cathy's ye-ye girl phase, don't you?

Have a great day, everybody!