As my Wardrobe Architect exercises have undoubtedly made abundantly clear, I haven’t been so good about buying or making clothes that work together over the last few years…or ever. Like a lot of people, I find a thing I need or a thing I like (preferably something that ticks both boxes) and go for it, without really considering if I can wear it more than one way. Sometimes that’s okay, but mostly it makes me one of those people that has plenty of clothing and yet has “nothing to wear.”
So when Lauren Taylor of Lladybird announced that she and Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots would be teaming up again to host the 2015 Outfit Along, I was all over it like dog hair on a date night dress. What’s an outfit along? It’s a friendly challenge where you commit to sewing a garment and knitting a garment that are designed to be worn together. Lauren and Andi have picked a dress pattern and a cropped cardigan pattern, respectively, and throughout June and July they’ll be providing construction tips on their blogs. Participants can post their completed garments in the OAL 2015 Finished Outfits thread in the Untangling Knots group on Ravelry; garments completed by the July 31 deadline are eligible for nifty prizes and the adulation of their peers (but mostly prizes :-)).
The official sewing pattern is McCall’s M6887, which I picked up in a recent pattern haul. I’m planning to sew View A, which has an adorable back cut-out. 
The fabric, which I believe is a cotton lawn, is something I picked up several months ago from JoAnn intending to make the Simplicity 1419, the Lisette Round Trip Dress. Sadly, that style is just not for me, as several yards of wadded up muslin will attest. Luckily, it’s enough fabric for the OAL pattern, and it’s a good match for my spring/summer capsule palette. I’d like to think I already had a burgeoning sense of my style preferences, but the reality is that it’s more of a happy accident, as I really just wanted something bright and cheery while we were still in the midst of freezing temps.
The official knitting pattern is Vianne, a cropped cardigan with a mesh back panel. It didn’t really speak to me, and I can’t help but think the mesh would look a little strange with the back cut-out. So I decided to substitute Marion, one of Andi’s other patterns.
Not too shabby, eh? I started knitting the first week of June, and I’m already to the point where I can start knitting the bottom band. It’s amazing how quickly something flies off the needles when said needles are US 10s. (The pattern calls for US 8s, which is already at the upper end of the range usually given for worsted weight. I went up a needle size preemptively when I swatched, but it wasn’t enough, so I went up again to get gauge.)
Unfortunately, I discovered an error in the final cable repeat on both sides: I made the cable travel too soon, so it isn’t positioned correctly to flow neatly into the bottom band. I was going to just leave the cable and slightly modify the band pattern instead, but after sleeping on it I realized that it’s going to bug me even if no one else can see it. I’m going to attempt to correct the problem without ripping out all of the rows (about 12), but if I completely flub, that will be my only option. Wish me luck!
P.S. The background of those photos is a sneak-peak at another project, a finished one, that I’ll share tomorrow.