Happy New Year!

Thanks to Facebook, I stumbled across a wonderful New Year’s wish by author Neil Gaiman.

“I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you’ll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you’ll make something that didn’t exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.”

Mr. Gaiman writes some wonderful New Years Benedictions. He certainly has a much better way with words than I do – so I pass along some new year wishes, albeit written by someone else.

By way of creating, this year is going to get started with a sweater spin and knit along – that is, provided that my tendinitis stays at bay.  It’s being hosted by Amy of SpunkyEclectic.  If you’re into the woolen arts, I recommend a browse of her shop – you’re sure to find something wonderful – from yarn to fiber to wheels and looms, she’s got it all.

Even though the sweater pattern selected is one I’ve knit before, I decided to join the fun anyway (I apparently can’t have too many cardigans) – Amy may be providing a variant, changing up the sleeves from raglans to those of the set in variety which may help with some of the issues I had with the fit at the yoke last time.

Part of the fun of joining in on one of these spin and knit alongs is having a look at all the different combinations both in one’s own stash as well as seeing what other folks are planning.  The nice thing with this sweater is it’s designed specifically to make use of several individual bumps of fiber – which makes the spinning a little less daunting (I think).  Usually when I spin combos, I select two or three colorways that I intend to spin and ply all together to make a big huge skein – but in this case, I’ll get to spin each colorway on its own, letting them get blended together during the knitting process.

When it comes to wool, it’s fair to say I have quite a bit on hand – and I haven’t been as good about spinning it up as it comes into the house as I should be…My personal stash is organized by wool type/breed – making it a little easier for me to make combos.  At first, I thought I’d spin and knit up a cardigan’s worth of Finn wool, but it turns out I didn’t have nearly as much non-sweater-lots worth of Finn on hand as I thought I did (top) – so I had a look at my available Bluefaced Leicester bumps of wool (bottom).

Since my other Less is More cardigan is blues and browns, I wanted to do one in warmer tones…so I narrowed down the possibilities and unbagged them unceremoniously all over the floor to get a better look at the color runs in each bundle of wool…

I couldn’t make up my mind, so I packed em all back up and hauled them off to a friend’s house for a consultation.

The winners are: Southern Cross Fibre Gunslinger (on oatmeal BFL), HelloYarn Troublemaker (on mixed BFL), SpunkyEclectic Best Friends and HelloYarn Scorch – both on ecru BFL.  In case you’re wondering which ones they are in the unbagged photo, click on through to Flickr – I annotated the photo there with notes.  The plan is to start with the Scorch on top, and work my way left, ending with the Gunslinger at the bottom and as the trim.

I’m going to call it the Best Scorching Gunslinging Trouble Making Friends Forever Sweater. Or something.