Spring Ahead

Check it out - actual knitting content! No need to adjust your computer; the 2 skeins of yarn are in fact different colours. Master Grey + Tom Cat = Master Cat Socks. I am also referring to them as the Stripey Cat Socks. First completed Pinkery Sock. Post-op Argyle Socks. I had to take the scissors to these before I could complete them; more detail in an upcoming post. And here's my newest project: My version of the Whisper Cardigan from Interweave Knits; its working title is The Mumble Cardigan. Being knit out of some alpaca yarn I picked up in a stash swap. I intend to knit the sleeves longer and narrower than as written, so I did a provisional cast on at the point in the pattern just past the last pattern decrease. For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, I decided to cast on 70 stitches rather than 76. However, since my gauge is 22-23 stitches per 4 inches rather than 24 as called for in the pattern, I am hoping that this will not be a fatal error. I am using 4mm needles as my largest size. My dilemma is that the pattern calls for 4.5mm, 3.5 mm, and 2.75 mm needles; what specific smaller sizes should I be using? Rather than obsessing about proportional decreases in size, I let the needles make the decision - I was able to find a 3mm circ and a 2mm circ without having to leave the living room (in the needle roll of all places - imagine that!), so those are the sizes I will use. We are heading to Montreal this weekend; The Gambler has a fencing tournament on Saturday, so I am hoping to make decent progress. I am particularly looking forward to the knitting 3 inches of 1x1 rib over 296 stitches - gah! I am starting to think that there is some kind of twisted contest on amongst the IK designers to see exactly how far they can push us. Case in point: the Float Stole with it's 405 stitch cast on. Of course the Frost Flowers Stole still retains the title of Most Likely To Make You Want To Poke Your Eyes Out with its 996 stitch cast on and 220 stitches of grafting right at the end. But the one that gets me the most this issue is the so called Sweet Tee, which calls for a whole skein of Manos Silk Blend (pink) in order to knit somewhere between 26 and 34 stitches.