My Idea Sweater

On my morning walk the other day, I designed a sweater for that yarn I bought at the recent yarn sale. I was supposed to be listening to a podcast, but once my mind took up the problem of self-striping yarn I never heard a word of what was babbling in my ears. Podcast wasted. Walking needs fulfilled. Sweater design--a lot farther along than you'd think.

I thought I had learned to avoid self-striping yarn, but I was fooled. The store sample was fairly small, so it just looked marled. I brought it home and looked it up on Ravelry and was disappointed to see that once you knit long enough, you get stripes. Since I try to avoid wearing horizontal stripes around my middle, this presents a sweater pattern-selection dilemna.
First, I thought of using some shape to realign the stripes into something more flattering than horizontal. I considered hexagons, but they would make it look like an afghan; ribs knit sideways, but that would make for a thick midriff. I finally decided on mitered panels. I had just seen a how-two in the latest issue of Vogue Knitting for knitting miters, the kind that are cast on on three sides, then knit toward the middle, resulting in a narrow rectangle with a double miter at the starting edge. Susan, of the Rainey Sisters blog is knitting a sweater that uses this concept...here's her sleeve.

I've studied the Vogue article now, and I think I can design a stockinette panel that is narrower at the top than the bottom. It is all in the decreases.

While I walked, I decided on six mitered panels, slightly wider at the bottom, joined together by picking up stitches so there's only one seam. These panels would begin at the hem and go up to the bustline. Then I'd need a top and sleeves. That's where I gave it up.