The Choice

I now have a difficult choice ahead of me. You see, I usually have about 3-5 projects on the go at any one time. There is the "hard project", the "purse project", the "relaxing project", and, every-so-often, the "travel project". I have a purse project - a little Wisp-like shawl in Alchemy mohair and silk - and a hard project - the Slow Bee. However, for awhile now, I haven't had a relaxing project. That's probably because I can't relax as the Bees pull away, leaving me in the dust. Now the time has come.

I must select the "relaxing project". In this, my infamous queue is of limited service. It tells me what I plan to knit, but not what I need to and want to knit for this type of project. After much deliberation, however, I have come down to two yarns and two patterns. I now have to match them - each yarn to a pattern - and decide WHICH TO DO FIRST.

Here are the yarns:




On the left, you can see yarn #1 - the lovely Blue Moon Fiber Arts Laci in Valkyrie (in person it is darker and smokier),



while on the right, languishes Fleece Artist's Blue Face Leicester in Lily Pad. The former was acquired from Lettuce Knits in Toronto where its siren call captivated me - it is luscious, its coloring is rich and dark, it is just the kind of yarn I adore. The latter, I purchased on a whim from Little Knits. It is soft, squishy, vibrant - and entirely what I never choose. Why? Because I am, in the language of the colour-obsessed eighties, a "winter". I wear black, white and pretty much any jewel tone with aplomb (well, without actually disgracing myself anyway). When I wear pretty much any pastel, however, I turn immediately and embarassingly into a quite laughable Minnie Mouse. Despite this unpleasant, but oft-tested, reality, I still really LOVE this yarn.

Now the patterns. Here, no such dilemmas rear their ugly heads. I LOVE both these patterns. First we have Seraphim by Mim Knits. You can view it here. This gorgeous triangular beauty is primarily in stocking stitch until the end, but it is flowing, interesting, beautifully proportioned. Then, we have Gale by Anne Hanson. View it here. This enchanting rectangular stole is in easily scanned repeats, resulting in a flowing, harmonious fabric. Lovely!

Now, the CHOICE. Which yarn goes with which pattern? Which ought I to cast on first? I feel like the end of a seventies soap opera ....