The Yarn I Forgot

Remember the yarn I forgot from the North Country Fiber Fair last year? It spoke to me this afternoon. Luckily the pattern I had in mind (Folkloric Blocks, from Knitter's Winter 2006) was in the bag with the yarn, and luckier still, I still like that design, though I had to go online for a good shot of the full sweater.

Of course, I have many other things I should be doing, so it's the perfect time to start a new project, right? My sweater isn't going to look exactly like the one in the pic, and not just because my colors are different- I made a copy of the chart without realizing that my printer had cut off the bottom 12 rows of the design. So I started in the wrong place with the stranding/colorwork. But what the heck- I'll just add those lines in now and it'll be fine (as long as I remember to make the fronts match). This sweater is a mix of easy stranding and Intarsia, so I'm going to work it back and forth. I don't know if I'll do all the embroidery or not- I am pretty sure that I'm not going to do the satin stitch in the centers of the squares- maybe a cross stitch instead.

The yarn was a pain in the patoot to wind- it felted in the skein, stuck together, tangled terribly, and broke easily, and I had an awful time casting on (I think the single came apart 4 times), but now that I'm actually knitting with it, it's coming along fine. It's Tibet 60% Wool, 40% Recycled Silk, from the Himalayan Yarn Co. My MC will be a tweedy orange, with black bands, and blue/yellow/green/purples as the squares. I have high hopes for it. My row gauge is off a bit, so I'm going to have at least one more row of squares than in the pattern, but that's okay. The fabric feels a bit loose as I knit, but this yarn blooms after washing, so it'll tighten up after blocking. I'm almost to the armhole shaping on the back (evidently I can knit Intarsia while I watch My Name is Earl and The Office).