3 swatches, 3 yarns, 3 stitches

These 3 pictures are the swatches I have made for the project I am planning to design. This will be a clothing article for a young girl. It will be a warm weather item, so the fabric needs to be as light and breathable as possible without being see-through. The light pink one, which has a nicer color than the picture shows, is an organic cotton called Rowan purelife. It is quite lightweight, which I like, but not machine washable–definitely a downside for a children’s item. It is not especially soft, just your ordinary cotton feeling.

The magenta colored yarn is 80% bamboo, 20% wool. It is called Debbie Bliss Prima. It is very soft, and machine washable. The yarn is a little thicker than I really want though. It is DK weight, where the two others are fingering weight. The thickness combined with the wool could make a slightly warmer fabric, which is not so good during warm weather.

The dark purple yarn is a 100% mercerized (does anyone know what that means anyway?) cotton that is very densely-spun. It is RYC’s Sienna. It has a neat feel to it that is kind of silky. It will make a heavier and slightly less drapey fabric than the other cotton, but it is machine washable, a definite bonus.

So, I have 3 yarns to choose from, which I chose by looking at the info for lots and lots of yarns available at my favorite yarn source, yarn.com. They have such a large selection, that I prefer that to a local yarn store most of the time. Macine washability is pretty important to me, and so is feel. However the denseness of the fabric

is pretty important when you are crocheting something for warm weather times. The RYC Sienna is the one that I am leaning toward. As a bonus, it comes in a great variety of colors. The Debbie Bliss Prima also has lots of color variety. The organic cotton has a very limited variety of colors because all of the dyes are natural plant dyes.

I also have 3 stitches to choose from. I think I like the ones in the light pink and dark purple swatches the best. The shells in the magenta yarn are nice, but I think that they may just distract from the look of the garment itself, be too busy.

Opinions to share anyone?