Sweater time?

I think I really need to cast on a new sweater.  The few store bought sweaters I wear are not really good for fall or winter (i.e., cotton and acrylic blends rather than wool).  And the few hand-knit sweaters I have for myself have all fallen into disrepair.  My poor Ribby Cardi has pilled something fierce and both shoulder seams have split.  One of the cuffs on my Mr. Greenjeans caught on something and is unraveling, so no wearing it till it’s fixed.  And… that’s it for sweaters.

So, there are 2 sweaters up as possibilities — Tempest in Rowan Felted Tweed (purple) or a plain crewneck pullover in Rowan Felted Tweed Aran (red).  I’m leaning towards the pullover first as it would probably be the easiest to get on the needles and finished.  Tempest would require more careful swatching in order to match gauge, and I’d have to fiddle with the pattern because I’d be knitting it without the stripes (some of the directions are based on stripe repeats).

Now, I just need to finish my Celaeno test knit, my self-designed socks, and OMG! a baby blanket cause my niece could come as soon as a couple weeks from now.

Ripping

I finally just pulled out the purple sweater and ripped the sucker out.  Now you see it…

Now you don’t…

One piece of advice.  No matter how nice a sewn cast-off looks, I don’t recommend it if you ever plan on ripping it out.  That took for…… ever…..  But, once I got the cast-offs out I made quick work of the sweater with my ball winder.  Only occasionally hit a few snags due to the alpaca in the yarn.  The stockinette parts were much easier to rip out than the seed stitch borders.  There were a few places were the yarn caught and broke, so I do have a couple smaller balls.  What was really nice is once I got the yarn reskeined and into the bath, it came out beautifully.  You would never know that it had been previously knitted.

Now, I just need to knit up a swatch to determine needles and size to be knit.  New sweater here I come!