Remember that thing I said about how I’ve reached the point of having a mostly functional wardrobe again? Wellll, then the weather finally turned and I was quickly reminded that I still have a very serious sweater shortage — especially in the pullover department. I am cold, and having a serious conversation with myself about why I knit so many sleeveless things. The only “silhouette” I’m interested in right now is “jeans and a sweater.” And on top of the sweater shortage, two of my three pairs of jeans are ripped beyond wearability, awaiting repair. In short: I am having a terrible time getting dressed in the morning.
Between those frustrations and my being too busy to think about it, wardrobe planning of any kind has not happened this Fall. But since I actually am required to get dressed before leaving the house each day, it’s a problem that must be solved. So I finally managed to clear out some headspace, get out my trusty Fashionary panels and pencil, and set about sorting it out. The result is what I’m calling Wardrobe Planning Week! Starting today with wants and needs, then taking inventory of what I actually have, and seeing where that leaves me in terms of what to do about it. Ready?
WANTS
I mentioned before that I had created a Fall ’16 Mood board at Pinterest, and that my striped sweater in progress grew directly out of that. I love mood boards but have never really made them for myself, and this one has proved incredibly useful. Really it’s my any-season-all-the-time mood board, as it’s the things I always love: neutrals married with stripes, plaids and texture; clean/classic shapes but with a bit of exaggeration or detail that makes them special; and a core palette of black, white, cream, camel, grey, cognac and denim/faded denim/baby blue. Things I will always find irresistible: faded denim with black-and-white; camel and khaki, camel and light blue; a perfect trench or camel coat; a simple grey or camel sweater with jeans. Looking at this mood board and at the projects in progress — namely the b/w striped sweater and camel shawl-collar (Channel) pictured up top — and the yarn and fabric on my shelves makes me feel really good about how well, lately, I’ve been sticking to how I actually love to dress. The challenge is still in identifying the remaining gaps in my closet and filling them smartly.
NEEDS
It might be more accurate to label this “things I think I need.” Once again, as I’m standing in front of my closet struggling to get dressed, I ask myself what it is I’m wanting that isn’t in there. My great challenge continues to be how cold it is in my studio, compounded by the fact that I also get quite dirty several days of the week, hauling assorted shipments of whatnot in and out of my car and to and from our factories, which is probably why the only thing I ever want to put on is jeans and a sweater. From asking myself what I’m looking for and not finding (in that department) I’ve come up with the following six things, which correspond to the set of six drawings above:
UPPER ROW LEFT: The most basic of pullovers — the sort of thing I wish I had two or three of, yet I have none. And I think it’s what I want to use my beloved grey Junegrass for. Role models include Julie Hoover’s new Addison (except drop-shoulder sleeves and I don’t get along) and this Everlane sweater, but mine won’t be quite that wide.
UPPER ROW CENTER: Nothing would make me happier than if every single day I could just put on an oversized, crotch-length turtleneck and know I would be comfy and warm all day. I have one such sweater in my closet — a 13-year-old grey cable turtleneck that I rely on — but I feel like a second one would be a very worthy addition. And since I’d like it to be aran or bulky weight, it would be relatively quick to accomplish. I love Carrowkeel. I also have this idea for a simple top-down, compound-raglan job with a big ol’ neck and ribbing just in the sleeve tops, but I also tried on Norah Gaughan’s Riptide last month and loved it. That would be more fun to knit, but the sketch is probably more me.
UPPER ROW RIGHT: St. Brendan, of course — in a duplicate of the black/neutral colorway of the sample — which I’m becoming a broken record about. This will add some needed pattern to my wardrobe; it’ll be fairly quick to knit at aran gauge; and it goes with every pair of jeans and pants I own. So it’s a no-brainer.
BOTTOM ROW LEFT: Vidje, which I’m thinking of as my major undertaking of 2017, and there’s no way it will exist until at least next winter. But no discussion of what I’m thinking of adding to my queue can exclude this one. It will be grey.
BOTTOM ROW CENTER: I just finished the black cropped one, but I still want another super basic cardigan like this in the mix. It might be a b/w marl (to replace a Madewell sweater I miss having) or might be pale blue, not sure. This one is high desirability but lower priority.
BOTTOM ROW RIGHT: I can’t get that Jenny Gordy outfit out of my head — it’s super close to how I dress (in fact, my Bellows plus plaid top and jeans is one of my go-to outfits), just with the cardigan greatly exaggerated. The version of it that has set up camp in my brain is reined in just a tiny bit, also top-down raglan (again, no drop-shoulders for me), bulky gauge, with a generous foldover ribbed shawl collar. Big enough to go over everything — including my turtleneck sweater(s)! — and as useful lounging around the house as in the studio.
I’m saying “things I think I need” because my next step is to look very systematically at what I do in fact own, and thus which of these “needs” are the most and least pressing. But there are non-sweater items I need as well:
• A white top of some kind for layering, despite what I said a minute ago about getting dirty.
• A presentable sweatshirt or three. That wool gauze pullover I made last January to help fill the pullover gap shrunk to the point I gave it to an 8-year-old, so I’d like to repeat the pattern with some charcoal melton I have. I want to make a basic grey Linden sweatshirt, too, plus I have some grey wool-knit remnant pieces that I’m hoping are enough to make a sort of dressed-up version. That would take some of the pressure off the knitting list.
• A replacement for my now-threadbare denim workshirt. You can literally see through it. Might be time for me to take a deep breath and try to tackle an Archer.
• A woolly headband or drawstring-top hat or something that can be worn on the trail with my hair in a wad on the top/back of my head.
• Some wool footie socks.
OK, so that’s it for the fantasizing and scheming — tomorrow I’m taking inventory of what I actually have!
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