Autumn is coming. And I am promising myself that this year I will knit myself a nice run-around sweater — a go-to sweater to wear out and about. I have the pattern. It is even daughter-approved! I know what yarn I want — it is just matter of choosing colors. And that is what I have been waffling about.
The pattern is Caramel by Isabell Kraemer. Very popular on Ravelry — for good reasons as it looks good on a lot of women, is practical and wearable (it can be worn open, as pictured, or held closed at the shoulder with a button or shawl pin) lends itself to personal choice as to color combinations and striping options, and is just a handsome sweater!
I am planning to use MadelineTosh DK — after having painstakingly explored other 100% wool DK options (of which there are, surprisingly, not a lot). But what colors? I finally decided to just keep my eyes open to the world around me and be ready to be inspired!
Inspiration arrived a couple days ago. We are visiting Sasha & Dave in Nevada. And as I was admiring Sasha’s lovely Pendleton blanket, I thought about my project. Those blanket colors would be fabulous for a sweater! And then I remembered that I always love Pendleton blanket color ways. So, I went to their website and oohed and ahhed over their Native American inspired blankets, collected up photos and popped them into my iPad — and now it is just a matter of comparing them to the Tosh DK colors and seeing what is possible.
The great thing about going about color selection this way is that I am neither simply copying one of the other projects on Ravelry nor just falling back on my own usual color choices. It keeps my knitting fresh. And if I can base my color way on one of these blankets, my sweater will be exquisite!