Recently in mariah Category

It's good to see that my readers are as split as I am on which yarn to go with for my Mariah. I'm still undecided so I'm going to let it mull for a little longer.

Project from the Past

I bought a pack of Linen Drape over a year ago as part of the Alison's Linen Drape Along. I think I tried a half dozen different patterns but none of them stuck.

It's been bugging me that the yarn is still in my stash and not being used. I was reading Jackie's blog and saw that she started Wrapped Lace Cardi from VK Spring Summer 05. I love the sleeves but I can't do eyelets across my bust.

Then I remembered I recently bought this little shrug from Old Navy and I love it.

Following me yet?

The Grand Plan

Take the Linen Drape, knit up the sleeves from the Wrapped Lace Cardi, but do a solid body.

The LD is a different gauge than the Glace used in the original, so a little math was in order.

I'm starting on a front and I'll do the whole body before switching to the sleeves. I'd love to make those beautiful full length sleeves but I'm not sure I have enough yarn. I have 9.5 balls and if my estimates are right I'll need 3 full balls for the sleeves. Six balls should be enough for that small bodice but the ties have me wondering. I'll have a better idea after I finish one front piece.

Nothing like a little mystery to keep ya knittin'.

I finished one half of the front of Mariah back in February. Here she is:

click on me for a (slightly) better view of the cabling

After I put it on a stitch holder it looked a little big, which concerned me because cardi fronts (if anything) tend to look small, right? I measured it and sure enough, it was a good inch/inch and a half too big. WAY too big to salvage.

Now, I did a gauge swatch, and measured, and got perfect gauge. Then, since I planned on washing and drying this cardi, I even washed, dried, and re-measured it.

I think I used a bigger needle when knitting it though. It seems lately most everything I knit is on 7's, but for some reason I knit cotton looser, so I had to go down to 6's. I'll bet I just grabbed 7's without even thinking about it.

Not the end of the world. It's a quick piece to re-knit. I think I did it on one Saturday morning and afternoon. But since I have to re-knit it anyway it has made me reconsider the color choice.

I have some celtic green cascade 220 in my stash that would also make a lovely Mariah.

So now I'm not sure what to do.

Stay with the black. It goes with everything. The cotton will make it more of an all-season cardi, and who doesn't need more black in their wardrobe?

Or, go with the green. It's a beautiful color, it'll show the cables better, and if I'm already considering it then I should just go with it. Plus it's from the stash and that's gotta count for something, right?

I'm not putting up a poll because I want to hear your thinking behind the color (and fiber) choice.

Whaddya think?