Design it Yourself Sweater Project | Step 4

There was a lot of analytical thinking involved in sketching my sweater draft to scale and checking the math, so I've been looking forward to a more tactile experience with my yarn and needles.

I've decided to knit my sweater in a yarn that I'm already familiar with, but I'm not exactly sure which one. The three candidates that initially popped into my head were:

• HiKoo CoBaSi (55% cotton, 16% bamboo, 21% nylon, 8% silk) - I've used this many times for socks and even a summery sweater or two. It's hard-wearing machine washable and dryable, and comes in tons of great colors.
• HiKoo Rylie (50% baby alpaca, 25% mulberry silk, 25% linen) - I used this yarn in a mobius shawl pattern and it is one of my most warn pieces of knitwear. It can't be machine washed or dried, but it still looks and feels great after years of wear.
• HiKoo Madrona (30% baby alpaca, 30% merino wool, 20% bamboo viscose, 20% nylon) - I've used this for socks and hats. It can be machine washed but not dried.

After digging through my stash of leftover bits, I decided to skip swatching with the Madrona. It's a little fluffier than I want for an everyday sweater. But I found a great alternative:

• HiKoo Twisp ( 70% pima cotton, 20% bamboo, 10% hemp) - I used this for a warm weather shawl. It has great stitch definition and may be a better combination of fiber content that the Madrona for a year-around garment.