My New Plan

I tried knitting with Duet again last night, alternating skeins, over 8 fewer stitches than before, but that just made spirals instead of stripes--still not the look I was going for! (Jenn, Duet is the 2-ply wool & mohair mix.) So I tried knitting it doubled, making sure that I started my skeins in different places in the color repeat (wouldn't it have been smart of me to take pictures? Oops!). I liked the fabric much better, but the gauge created another problem...

I'm sure I've mentioned the cowl-necked vest from an old issue of Rebecca that I've knit three times, right? In my defense, vest #3 was made specifically to replace vest #1, but even so! I have no idea what it is about the vest, but I really like wearing it and it's the world's easiest knit (so easy that when I got sleepy while working on vest #3, I honestly thought to myself that I should just lie down, close my eyes, and keep knitting!). However, it's kind of embarrassing that I've made three of them, and I'm trying my best not to do it again.

But when I realized that Duet worked double was the right gauge for yet another vest, I was very tempted. I even cast on for it (all 76 stitches) and knit a few rows before I got a hold of myself, and remembered a jacket I've been coveting: the enticingly-named 103-1 from Drops/Garn Studio. (This post is actually what convinced me that I might want to make it, not the Drops/Garn Studio picture--much nicer to see things on people who haven't been arranged by stylists.) So now I'm thinking I'll maybe buy a solid coordinating yarn to carry along with Duet at Webs this weekend. (Kevin's teaching a class in the Pioneer Valley every Saturday this fall, and it may turn out to be a very bad thing for my stash management efforts!)

But that doesn't help with my "simple sweater to wear all the time" problem, so I cast on for a cobblestone-base pullover after all, using Farmhouse Yarns Silk Blend Instead (which is purple, cream and blue tweed).

This sounds like a crazy lot of projects, but it's just my usual three: Hanami, the cobblestone-esque one, and a design for Schaefer Yarns. It's a little weird not having any socks on the needles, but I should get used to it soon! (Or I'll finish something so I can cast on some socks!)