Mohair Madness

I am, at the moment, obsessed with mohair. Mohair and Mardi Gras.

When everyone else is doing Christmas knitting, I start thinking Mardi Gras. Some day I'll take photos, but I've sewed numerous Mardi Gras costumes and done plenty of Mardi Gras knitting: 4 scarves, 1 shawl, 1 dog sweater for a doberman, 1 sweater, 1 sock, and 2 halters. The sweater was sort of a cheat in that the yarn was a cheapy from Hobby Lobby and was already Mardi Gras colored--like the Cascade Fixation.
The results were not terribly satisfying, I have to say. The sweater sags a lot, making me look hippy. It's good for costuming, and I made it big enough to fit a parka underneath for parade day, but it definitely falls in the loser category. I tried to make a matching hood, but the yarn was too fuzzy for me to see the decreases, so I really messed it up and threw it out without finishing. It did make a fairly nice shawl that I donated to a Katrina refugee.

Since then, I've been dreaming of a real Mardi Gras sweater. I thought the Mardi Gras socks would do it for me this year, but it's not working. I keep eyeing the solid colors to see if there are any beautifully coordinated purples, greens, and golds.

There are some lovely chenilles out now, and there's Cascade 220 or Reynold's Utopia. I've been dreaming of doing this sweater pattern from Lion Brand in Malabrigo. Probably not this year, but oh, it would be luscious! And expensive.

At the Knitorious sale yesterday I picked up some Kid Merino by Crystal Palace in Kiwi, Lemon, and Violet. Mohair lends itself really well to lace knitting, but with three colors to deal with, I'm really wanting something solid and something like a sweater. I have a purple mohair bolero, and I suppose I could make a shell, but I'm wanting something more.

So, I came home and spent an hour going through my patterns to see what I could find. Enjoy the photos.

First the normal one from Fall 05 Interweave Knits.

This would look nice is a solid green (remember, I'm avoiding purple sweaters) with maybe purple for the cross ties and a yellow chiffon for the trim. I could change the trims & ties to make the sweater wearable year round--nah, probably not. Very pretty sweater though.

Here's some vintage ones that send me more:



This one in green with the fringe in purple, green and gold. Forget the skirt.

Forget the grapes. The lines of this sweater are really nice. I'd crop it a bit. Both this one and the one above have boat necks. Boat necks are iffy for broad shoulders and mohair on my neck might make me itch too much. Hmm.

This one is very cute. Nice lines. Simple. Good use of color on cuffs and v-neck. Lengthen the sleeves a bit. This is the most likely candidate of the moment.

Interesting possibilities here, but although the bolero looks to be knitted in horizontal stripes, it's actually vertical, which would require working with all three colors at once. Also, Mardi Gras is fun, but I don't think a striped bolero is such a great idea.



This would not be a Mardi Gras project, but oh, this one is gorgeous. It's hard to see in the small photo, but the cuffs and collar have a sideways cable. So, so cute! Really fetching. I want this sweater. Want it bad. So bad that I forget the proper use of adverbs.

Okay, back to Mardi Gras. Also hard to see but the collar and cuffs on this one are horizontally ribbed. Cute, fun, nice lines. False eyelashes not included. This would required the purchase of yarn.

Imagine this, at least the top, in Mardi Gras colors. Unfortunately, Mardi Gras is in mid-February, and even earlier in 2008. Cute, but not practical. You know, because we can't have an impractical Mardi Gras sweater.

I wish I had remembered this one when I was in the yarn shop. I found this pattern last year and fell in love. Fabulous lines on this sweater, with or without the pompoms. Definitely not in mohair, so I think I need to go buy some more yarn.

Sigh.