Revisiting the AV sweater

I feel that the post where I talk about my new project, the Adrienne Vittadini sweater, needs a follow-up, since I've found a yarn to make it - woohoo!

The suggested Adrienne Vittadini yarn is completely out of my budget. I considered your suggestions, and surfed the web here, there, and everywhere, and here's what I was thinking. First, I very much like Karabella Aurora 8. This is a yarn I've seen at the LYS and have had the chance to touch. Very soft, plush, and some of the colors are right up my alley (#2, #5, #20... some others not carried at WEBS). However, it's still a bit too expensive and recently I ran into someone wearing a scarf made of it. Very interesting coincidence: the pattern for the scarf I'm currently knitting (halfway done, by the way) is written for Karabella Aurora 8. Anyway, I ran into a woman wearing it made from the suggested Karabella yarn and it looked completely deflated. Like a cotton sweater worn to death. No thank you! This one is out.

The second yarn I spotted for the aforementioned AV sweater is KnitPicks Andean Silk. The gauge is right on, and the content is incredibly similar to the suggested yarn called Martina. The color I would use is called ‘sangria’, a wine red that’s not bad at all*. However, from my KnitPicks review below, I wasn’t so crazy about the yarn. In contrast, KnitPicks Merino Style and Elegance yarns impressed me very much. With respect to Merino Style, ‘hollyberry’ and ‘storm’ colors went really well with my skin. As for Elegance, I really liked ‘ash.’ But to be honest, I really liked the Merino Style, and probably wouldn’t go for Elegance at all. The gauge of both Merino Style and Elegance is different from what’s recommended (recommended is 19 sts/4 inches, and these yarns are 22 sts/4 inches). However, considering I’m going to have to rework the entire pattern anyway, why not squeeze in a gauge change while we’re at it?!? I don’t even know why I buy patterns any more, I rework all the important details anyway.

So, at this point I’m pretty much poised to buy the Merino Style in ‘hollyberry’ for my sweater, and I will, pending one other thing: I might be going to WEBS in a few weeks. A knitting friend has invited me to go, and who knows what goodies I’ll find there. If the goods are good, they will be bought**. I just hope they take credit cards, otherwise I’ll have to stuff my pockets with wads of twenties and it won’t be a pretty site :).

*For all these different yarns, I stand in front of the mirror and put the skein next to my face – that’s how I decide whether the color will go with my skin tone or not. I’m very pale with a bluish tint (really), so many yarns just blend with my skin.

**Someone got her tax return and wants to strangle her accountant for way overestimating how much estimated tax she had to pay last year. But that’s okay, because now I got it all back.