In search of the perfect pattern

I have been searching for a sweater pattern, and I came across this one and fell in love. I did some swatching last night and the yarn knits up beautifully, but I think the pattern may be too busy for the yarn. It's hard to tell on such a small piece, but I am not sure I like how it is coming out, so I may save the pattern and use a different yarn. In the meantime, I am back to the drawing board. The variegation in the Jubilation yarn is such that it changes every 3-4 stitches, so I think I am going to go for something more simple. I have this idea in my head which I think will work, though I don't have a pattern for it, so we will see how it goes.

What should I do with this?

I am feeling ready to cast on for one of my 2009 goals - which is to make a sweater for myself. The problem is, although I know which yarn I want to use (Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Single Silk in Jubilation), I can't figure out what kind of sweater to make with it. So you tell me, what would you make with this yarn:

Jabberwocky

I bought this Blue Moon fiber which is merino and mulberry silk (50/50, I think) at Rhinebeck. It's their "Jabberwocky" colorway, and it is much more colorful than my usual yarns.





I am not sure whether I want to rename it, as my yarn bears little resemblance either to their yarns in this color, and the name doesn't totally seem appropriate. If anyone has any suggestions, I would certainly welcome them.

Winter Wonderland

Inspired by the snowy landscape, I created these two new yarns last week:


Frozen: blue wool, white mohair, iridescent thread


White Witch: blue wool, white mohair, iridescent thread, blue, white, and clear beads


And then, out of a need to make something that was not pastel, I whipped out this single ply yarn:


Midnight: cotswold, mohair, sparkle

Iridescence

I rarely post pictures of unfinished work, but I am so in love with this I have to share it, even though it's not complete. First of all, let me say that I bought this batt from loop on etsy and it was a dream to spin with. The colorway is called Iridescence, and it's black alpaca that's been blended with an assortment of firestar in pretty much every color. You all know how I can help myself when it comes to shiny objects. And the alpaca fiber was so soft and silky, I want to marry it. It was that good.

Anyway, here's what the single looks like so far:


I started to ply it on itself, but the glitter was a bit much, even for me, so I am going to spin up a solid black single to ply it with. I think it is going to be gorgeous when it's done.

Well, I feel like the day is wasting, and I have spinning and knitting to get done today. Happy Sunday!

Happy 2009 everyone!

I stopped making "resolutions" years ago, as they seemed destined for failure. Instead, I have had a tradition of setting goals.

This year, some of my crafting goals include:

1. Knit a sweater.
2. Finish socks v 2.5
3. Create usable crafting space at home
4. Spin alpaca fleece
5. Participate in at least 1 craft fair
6. Be profitable.

I am off to a good start, I spent part of my new year's day cleaning up my crafting room, throwing things away and organizing. I can't believe how much unusable stuff I had: dried up glue, empty paint containers, paintbrushes with no bristles left. Today I will be heading to the store this evening to look at storage units. I am thinking about getting one of those 9 cube organizer things, with some cute drawers to help keep my yarn and fiber organized.