Eye Candy Friday- Swatch It Edition

I'm not really a big fan of swatching.  I usually avoid it as much as I can. I don't swatch for socks or most small projects.  But for sweaters I feel it is a necessity.  Its especially important here since I'm planning to cast on for a sweater without a pattern.

I actually kind of enjoyed making this swatch.  I learned that I should go down a needles size from what I was planning.  I want this to be a pretty warm fabric, suitable for say walking a dog in chilly Autumn weather.  I think the slightly denser fabric from the size 7s is better for my purposes here.

I also tired out a few different rib variations in an effort to duplicate a ribbing I like from a store bought sweater.  I had fun playing but I just don't think this yarn has enough stitch definition to make anyone appreciate the differences between brioche rib, fisherman's rib, and a few variations I made up at the tipy top.  They all look pretty much the same in this yarn, and not really any better than plain old rib.  I was intrigued by the slipped rib near the bottom so I cast on another swatch to continue to play with it.

I wanted a more pronounced rib so I experimented with it some more. On the right is the 'right side' and on the left my 'wrong side.'  I like the left one better since it looks neater than the right side and the other ribs I tried.  It also creates a thick squishy fabric. As I was working I realized that this is basically just a plain old slip stitch rib.  How wonderfully simple is that?  I don't know why I didn't think of it when I was working on the first swatch.  Its not exactly the same as what I originally had in mind, but I like the look of it in this yarn and its close enough.  I'd really like to make this in a variegated yarn now as those always look so nice in slip stitch patterns.  But we're moving to a new apartment in a few weeks so I really, really should not buy any more yarn since that just means more stuff to move.  I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm suppose to be using up stash with this project not acquiring more yarn.