Gretel

Oh Gretel, the perfect first project of the year. I love the texture of this knit - nubbly, bumply, twisty, turny, and all accentuated by the incredible softness of Berrco Ultra Alpaca. I love alpaca. My current back up plan for if this whole being a musician thing falls through is to start an alpaca farm and spin my own fleece.

Gretel by Ysolda

Yarn: 1 and a bit skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca #6277 (I think it's called "moss")

Needles: US7 and US8 16" circulars

Size: Slouchy. Plus I think that my gauge was a bit big. I wasn't completely diligent in checking my gauge because I have gigantic head and generally need to increase the gauge to make a hat that fits my head.

Mods: None

New techniques: Provisional cast on and tubular cast on. I've been afraid of the provisional cast on (which has kept me from a tubular cast on since you need one for the other) but I am currently in love with it and want to do it every chance I get. My crocheted edge even "unzips" the way say it should but I've read never usually happens. Yay provisional cast on!

Speaking of provisional cast on, I just cast on for my first pair of toe-up socks. I needed a bit of a quick knit, and something kind of mindless, but not too mindless, you know. Updates on that as it progresses.

In my queque is a Dollar and a Half cardi for my mom since she loves mine and has been itching to get me to knit something for her. We decided on Cascade 220, but she's still picking the color. I'm a little nervous since this is the first time I've knit a sweater for someone other than myself, and I want it to fit properly. At least I've knit the pattern before, so I know all it's pitfalls and booby traps. It will be bit before I can really start on this one, so I'm strongly considering starting an EZ seamless sweater in a shirt yoke kind of like Jared's Big Blue only not a cardigan (because I'm craving some stockinette in the round). I'm wondering, though, if the shirt yoke is a little too masculine. I flip back and forth on this because I'm envisioning a weekend-y kind of warm and snuggly sweater, not a going-out kind of sweater, and a fair isle yoke will not be terribly flattering on me (not to mention I don't have the colors for a nice one) since I have relatively broad shoulders. Probably I'll just do it. So then I have to pick yarn. I'm thinking seriously about reallocating the light blue Sheperd Colour 4 Me from the Deep V Sweater (which is another option for a warm and snuggly weekend sweater, though not stockinette in the round) but I also just got a rather large shipment from Webs which I sent home because I ordered on Christmas Day and I thought would get there before yesterday. There are some things in there that I'm very interested in looking at in person.... Any thoughts on EZ and sweater design would be MIGHTLY appreciated.
Now, go knit yourself a Gretel!