Reinventing the Wheel

Hubby thinks I'm cold-blooded like our pet lizard because I'm pretty much shivering for October through May.  Since cranking the heat isn't best option for either the environment or my bank account, the only choice is to layer sweaters instead. 

I stumbled upon this beauty at the end of last season: The Copenhagen Jacket.  It's a free pattern from the the Caron yarn company.   I think what appeals to me most is the texture.  3D is all the rage right now, after all.  But, the stitch pattern has a lot going on.  Almost too much.  So this afternoon I decided to use the same basic construction method used in this jacket, but go with a totally different stitch.

I've spent the last two hours studying my favorite stitch guide and making sample swatches. The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs is my go-to guide.  This thing is ridiculously full of design inspiration.

My photography skills suck.

Criteria:

1. Simple, yet look complicated.
2. Something with a long, vertical layout
3. Textural and dimensional, containing post stitches
4. Will look good both right side up, and upside down, since this will be constructed in 3 long panels.

These stitch patterns met the above criteria  so I quickly worked them up.  Sometimes the picture in the book doesn't look at all the same as the finished product, because I tend to crochet much more loosely than the book author.

I have no idea why we have a Prison Industries ruler at our house.  

I also have no idea how to flip these photos right side up.

After wasting 15 minutes trying to flip the photos so they're all the same way, I'm giving up.  It's something between the way I held my iPhone when I took the picture, combined with the way it downloaded to my computer.  Blogger doesn't have a "rotate picture" option that I can find.  Whatever.  But hey!  This way I can see how the stitch pattern looks upside-down, which is criteria #4.  So it's all good.

Whaddya think?

I keep studying these, and I seem to like the evenly spaced ones best.  So #443 and #431.  But, I also really like #439, perhaps with a modification so the raised stitches occur in groups of three like they are now, and add a single line in between each group.  That should be easy enough to create. 

Hmmm.....such difficult decisions I'm tasked with making.   :-)