As the days get colder, and I'm working from home, I put on a roomy turtleneck sweater today to work in my home office on a presentation I'm giving tomorrow night. I had that darn thing on for all of a half hour before I had to admit to myself I was driven to distraction by an itchy neck. The neck isn't even tight, but just the touch of the fibers got on my nerves, and I felt too warm. The sweater is now in the donation box, sadly, because I like the pattern on it -- I barely have any patterned sweaters anymore, and the ones I have are mostly quite old, and almost exclusively argyle, which I have a bizarre sugar eye for and it's not been readily available in recent years.

I'm adopting the same strategy I did yesterday -- a lighter weight, not chunky V-neck sweater with a Uniqlo layering tee underneath, and a patterned scarf thrown around my neck that I can loosen or remove if I get warm. Yesterday's choice (worn also for a zoom presentation last night) was a turquoise Boden sweater from a couple of years ago, and today I'm wearing a dark raisin-colored, V-necked knit from Alexander Wang from what feels like a million years ago, but it was probably about 2013-14.

I hate for my wardrobe to become one-note, and that's probably not a realistic worry because I do have quite a lot in it, but there is something to be said for wearing what works. Remind me if I'm tempted by another turtleneck that I have very limited tolerance for them!

Do you have an item like this that you are continually drawn to, only to realize it just doesn't work for you? And bonus if you can share good sources for patterned knitwear that is sophisticated and well-made without being super pricey. My Boden knits are terrific but I'm only drawn to their solid colors, not so much their patterns. Madewell had a cool fair isle patterned V-neck sweater this season, but it was sold out in everything but an XXS by the time I looked at it.