Virtual Swatching

Given my recent seasonal revelation, I decided to abandon the bamboo top for now and start on a fall sweater.  I love the simplicity of the Elizabeth Zimmerman seamless sweaters, and I'm going to try one with inset sleeves. 

I have some Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed Yarn that I got at a LYS going-out-of-business sale.  I love the color.

I was only able to get 6 balls, and I need more than that for a sweater.  I wasn't able to find any more purple  (this yarn has since been discontinued), but I did find a lovely green that looks very nice next to the  purple.

This brings in the issue of stripes.  Horizontal stripes are often not very flattering, and I don't want to knit a sweater that I won't want to wear.  I decided to do a little bit of virtual swatching.

First up is wide stripes.  Aesthetically, I like wide stripes.  However, they usually make the wearer also look wide.

Next is thin stripes.  This looks like it could be a workable option. 

I've also been thinking about optical illusions.  Maybe I could get my wide stripes and still have it look flattering.  What if I started out with thin stripes at the bottom and gradually widened them as I got up top?

I think this is my favorite so far.  Not only does it appear flattering, the varied stripe widths would be interesting to figure out and knit. 

What do you think?  Wide, thin, graduated, or something else?

Comments

[ann]

hi - I just found your blog from stacey at on and off the needles. your sweater schematics are giving me flashbacks to my favorite sweater from my teenage years - a lime and grape block-striped rollneck from J.Crew. Man, I loved that thing.

But! you need opinions. I like the bottom one best. I also think it could be cute if you did the ribbing at the v-neck and cuffs deeply in one color, with 1 or 2 rows as a contrast trim along the edging.

[Marisol]

Wow these schematics are great! A picture is worth a thousand words:) I really like the last option the best! Lots of variety and probably more interesting.

[Carol]

Great idea! My 1st instinct tells me narrow stripes, but the last has advantages. Thin at the bottom (slimming) and wide stripes where, (well, where we don't mind apprearing larger).

[Ariel]

Digging the last one a lot - and those colors are fabulous. That reminds me, I've got an awful lot of tweed sitting around... hmmm...

[Sara]

I like the bottom one best...though what if instead of stripes you did two tone...like green from top to just above the bustline, then purple the rest of the way down (or vise versa). or is you yarn quantity such that you would need to make it equal amounts of each?

[Oiyi]

I like the thin and graduated. The green yarn is lovely!

[Stacey]

I like the last option best too - I haven't knit enough full sweaters to have a any good opinions - but I love green and purple:)

[stacey]

I agree - love the third option. Or, you could just randomly do widths of stripes (throw a dice and the number that comes up is how many rows....) love the green and purple - they will look great!

[Stella]

I really need to get my timing figured out too -- I tend to take a long time to decide on a pattern and yarn so I'm constantly one season behind. Plus the next few months will be pretty full of Xmas knitting, so if I see a nice woolen sweater I want to knit for myself NOW, chances are it won't get done til late winter at the earliest.

But anyway, I definitely vote for the graduated stripes. Yay knitting math!

[Nora]

#s 2 + 3 :)

[Kim]

Hands down the graduated stripes. I love that color combo!

[Mintyfresh]

Be careful about a stripe that goes directly across the bust--it can very much accentuate that area. Try to have the stripe change somewhere in that region, but also don't have the color break directly across the nipples either! Just a little tweak up or down will ensure this. Overall, looks very cute!

[tiennie]

I'm going to go with the variegated!

[Sacha]

I like wide and graduated equally. Many of my own sweaters are wide striped.

Do you have a suggestion for a good EB book? I've heard nothing but the best things, but haven't seen any of her books myself.

[jody]

i like the graduated a lot!

[Beth]

Great visuals! I prefer the last one. If you wanted to get fancy, you could try the fibonacci thing.

[Kirsten]

I really like the graduated one. I think it will be the most flattering and also fun to knit.

[Kelly]

I love that green! I don't know which one I like best though, then all look good.

[Jean]

Loving the graduated, optical illusion stripes!

[Beth S.]

LOVE the graduated stripes! What a clever idea! :-)

And your purple yarn could be the older sibling of the Yorkshire Tweed that I'm using for Shetland Triangle. It's uncanny how similar they are (just a different weight.)

[Brenda]

I really like the third option too. Sally Melville's 3rd book on Color has a section on designing stripe widths to flatter, and how to make sure they match between sleeves and body.

Those tweed yarns look wonderful together!

[Clumsy Knitter]

I like the 2nd or 3rd one best, but I think it would be an interesting challenge to do the variable stripes...go for it!

[David]

I like the graduated stripes. And math! :)

[Lydia Penner]

Very cool schematics. I've been really into thin stripes lately, but I have to go with the majority here that the third is most compelling. If you're anything like me you'll have to try that one just because it's different ;-)