Prettier in Pink

It's that time. Summer sweater knit-along time. Remember way back in April I held a vote to decide which sweater I would knit for the Luvinthemommyhood KAL? Remember you chose Lanata? Well, today I'm casting on, despite having a few other things on the needles... four other things in fact. Lanata will make five. Will I cope? I'm not sure. Three seems a good number for me. Four was dipping my toe into crazy waters, and five? Well, I'm divin' right in!

I'm pretty excited. My other projects will just have to move over and make room because I've swatched, blocked and am itching to go. I can't wait to wear this lovely cardy. Thanks for choosing it!

Oh my, I've dithered over yarn. This is the third yarn I've swatched. The first (squooshy grey) wasn't right. It was too dense and the stitch pattern didn't show up well. The second was a glorious Rowan recycled cotton/silk/viscose yarn, all slubby and delicious but I just knew I'd be washing that baby every single time I wore it. The yarn lacked any serious memory and my swatch stretched every which way. I have enough washing to do without fussy, hand-wash-only cardigans that can only be worn once, no matter how beautiful they might turn out to be, so the Rowan had to be a no-go.

But, the Rowan yarn was a dusky pink colour and it would have worked with lots of my clothes because, actually, I wear pink. More than I care to admit. It became glaringly obvious a month or so ago after I bought a new pair of canvas slip on shoes. At the time I had the choice between duck egg blue and a light raspberry colour. I immediately reached for the pinky ones because that's what I do. And then, I thought about it. I've had a pair of pink canvas shoes for the last couple of years, it must be time for a change... so, the pink ones went back and I bought the blue. BIG MISTAKE. They don't match half my clothes. I don't know what to wear, and my feet look too pale down there. 

So, with that fiasco in mind, I'm casting on in Ianthe, a beautiful dusky, watermelon pink merino/cotton 50/50 mix by Louise Harding. Now, I just need those pink shoes...