Swatching it all out

For the first time in a long time I have only a few things on the needles at the moment, as in a total of five. 

This does not include a pair of socks or two I frogged because they were too small or the rectangular cardi I was designing. As to the latter, I was more than half way finished and the fit was not feeling right, so I need to re-think the shoulder and neck line a bit more before I continue.  It is now in hibernation mode.

Instead, I have been swatching like mad trying to pair yarn to projects and have come up with a long list of things that I am quite delighted over.

These are in no particular order.

Raglan Rust from Knitter's Magazine Fall 2008:

This is a nice, simple top down design that looks comfortable and easy to wear.  What intrigued me about it is the yarn used to make it.  The designer took two different colorways of sock yarn and, held together, knitted this on size 8 needles.  

I love sock yarn!  In addition to being dyed in awesome colors, it is typically incredibly soft, light, and superwash.

One of the first things I test knitted for Woolgirl and Miss Babs garnered me three skeins of sock yarn.  Thinking I wanted to do something big, I chose one color for all three skeins, Black Cherry Monochrome:

The original pattern called for Zitron Trekking XXL.  With a gift certificate from Webs, I found a complimentary colorway (147).

If you look closely, you can see the cherry color in the twists of the Trekking.  Knitted up, it looks like this:

While not as colorful as the original, I think it will work well for me.  In fact, my mother tried to claim it for herself.  The two strands of sock yarn knit to a worsted weight in stitch count, but the feel is so light and springy. 

What can I say, it makes me happy!

From red to green, there is some Madelinetosh worsted in Thyme in my stash for which I have been looking for the perfect sweater. 

The tosh worsted is a lighter weight worsted that, again, is so wonderfully soft and squishy.  Heavy sweaters are too much down here most of the winter, so making this out of an aran weight like Malabrigo would be far too much, but as comfortable as my saffron sweater is, I think this will be perfect for this pullover:

Pattern:  Waterlily from Classic Elite Knits

It is simply coincidence the yarn and pattern are green.  I just happened to have enough of the Thyme in my stash to make it.  I suspect the cables will add visual weight, but have I mentioned it has been really cold around here lately?  I am hoping this will be become a casual knock-around sweater to slip over a cami and jeans to run errands, rather than don a coat or jacket.

Speaking of Malabrigo, that bag of Sealing Wax is still languishing in my stash, just waiting to entice me into playing with it.

A couple of weeks ago, I caught my mother in my yarn.  She spied this stuff and asked me what I had in mind for it.  When I told her I was unsure, she hinted rather strongly she would like something out of it, even though, in her words:  "It's more orange than red and I prefer red."

Normally not greedy with my yarn, I resisted committing it to her because a) I knew she preferred red and b) a sweater for her would take five or six skeins and I have ten and there was the question of what to do with the remaining four or five skeins.

Instead, I found some luscious yarn the other day and showed it to mom.  She instantly alighted onto a deep red color she offered would be much better for her than that other "orange stuff."

So, I am now free to do with the malabrigo as I please.

Cassidy has been on my list for a while. 

 

I swatched for it the other day in Miss Babs Yowza in Frog Belly, but had an issue with the dye lots in the yarn (that has been resolved and all four were returned and I am awaiting a shipment to come in so the vendor can match skeins for me - YAY!).

With the recent cold snap (at least for us), I realized I wore my B-Side Cardigan nearly every day, in lieu of a coat, and it was the perfect weight and comfort.  So, I decided the Malabrigo Sealing Wax would be made into Cassidy for me.  As an outer jacket, I have decided to go up a size which should use up most all of the yarn I have.  Bonus!

That, of course, left a little problem with what to do with the Frog Belly.

Like Madelinetosh Worsted, Miss Babs Yowza worsted is on the light side.  In the most recent issue of Knitter's Magazine there is a pattern called Curly Willow knit up in Malabrigo.

It was a very cold day with the temperatures in the teens when I was flipping through this magazine and decided to swatch this pattern in Miss Babs Yowza, as well as some left over Malabrigo.

Not surprising, the Malabrigo was dense and heavy while the Yowza was much lighter and almost airy at gauge. 

The high neckline is usually something I avoid because it typically only enhances the bustline (as do textured patterns), but the chill convinced me to forgo a little vanity for warmth.  This is the most questionable choice at the moment and I will probably end up looking like Baby Bop, but warm I shall be.

Have I lost anyone to sheer boredom yet?

Another of my test knits for Woolgirl and Miss Babs resulted in three skeins of Yowza worsted in Obsidian:

The yarn is simply gorgeous and just as lush and beautiful as pictured.  I have had it for over a year waiting for just the right project.

Verena Knittng has turned into one of my favorite magazines.  In its current issue is this:

 

It even has beads in the open work down the front center panel (Maria, you might have to talk me through this beading thing!).

Now this one is way outside my comfort zone, but I used to have a sweater with similar lines, just not as detailed as this one.  I wore it all the time with a nice, long, sleek black skirt with a slit down the back and loved it.  The trick for me will be making sure there is not a ton of fabric flowing over the hips and behind.  I will also omit the ties at the wrists.

While there are a half a dozen more I have mapped out, 2010 looks to be the year of selfish sweater knitting.

I could not be more pleased.

Anyone else have big knitting plans?