I should be a Norse God...

...because it seems that everything I do turns into a saga. Case in point: The Poppy Project (Why do I think of my WIPs as Projects With Names That Start With Capital Letters?). I started out with 2 skeins of Cascade 220 and 2 skeins of Black Purl worsted. The pattern calls for the equivalent of 3.5 skeins of Black Purl. So, I decided that I'd find a 3rd (4th?) yarn that I could use to make up the difference. Back in January I made a swatch(a swatch people - not messing around here!), and post blocking, I didn't get gauge. I was 12 rows into swatch #2 when Kyle came upstairs to say that he'd gotten an email that his grandmother had been rushed to hospital...5 hours later we were on our way to the airport (I did have a chance tovcast off the swatch while Kyle was on the phone). When we were in Chicago, I went to Loopy yarns. For a brief shining moment, I thought that I could buy another skein of BP. But they didn't have any in stock. So I picked out a skein of Cascade 220 in a purple heathered colour. I used a skein of Laceweight Black Purl for comparison, and it looked like it would work. Got back. Blocked swatch #2. Off gauge. Decided to play around with a skein of Diafuran as a potential "fill in" yarn. Looked a bit thin at the appropriate gauge, so I bought a skein of pseudo-kidsilkhaze to carry along with the Diafuran. Colour and gauge worked, but the swatch was kind of fuzzy, and I wasn't sure if that was what I wanted. Wondered if I could just "shave" the halo off once it's knit up. I actually gave some thought to using some leftover purple DMC Perle as a carryalong. Decided that I should just finish off my Resolution socks. Finished the Resolution socks. Started the Mystery Socks. Went out of town again. Finshed the Mystery Socks. Decided that I should knit a Cascade 220 swatch. Went to choose my needles, and realized that I wasn't 100% certain which needle sizes I had used for the first 2 swatches (because I of course did not think to write this information down. Because this time, unlike every other time I don't write something down, I would remember). So I knit a Cascade 220 swatch and another Black Purl Swatch. One stitch off gauge. But I also realised something else: The purple in the Cascade 220 is too blue for the Black Purl. Sigh. Cascade 220 went into the "One day I will knit a Noni Bobble Bag so in the meantime I'm collecting Cascade 220" drawer. I dug through my stash again. Tested some ebay yarn that I have (in the perfect shade of purple) to see if it was wool or not - it's acrylic. Came up with some Bartlett Yarns in light and medium purple that worked. This was yarn that I used to knit my Kitty Pi, and it felt pretty scratchy. I decided that I would swatch it (#5, if you are keeping track) and see if it would soften up with washing. Decided it was time to take a knitting time out. I threw swatch #1 into my purse and went skiing; I thought that I would stop by the LYS when I went to pick Kyle up from the airport. Post skiing, I went to our "other" yarn shop to buy some blue DMC perle (for a future Maryella). Decided that I might as well see what she had in worsted wool. Found the Mission Falls 1824 wool. And I found not 1, not 2, but 3 coordinating colours. Yay! Cast on last night. The charcoal gray is going to be the bottom panel. The Black Purl will be the sleeves/top panel. I'm using the Mission Falls for the contrast stripes in the bottom panel. I might be able to do a band between the bottom and top panel with 1(or 2 or 3) of the Mission Falls yarns. Not entirely sure if that will look OK (and I'll need to swatch the Mission Falls yarn). I'm going to knit the sleeves first and see how much yarn I have left. I've already looked at all the Canadian online yarn sources I can find, and nobody has Black Purl Shepherd worsted. This was supposed to be a stash busting project!!! I wonder how it would look with short sleeves...