Indecision 2012

Seems appropriate that the day after Super Tuesday (not that I'm paying attention to the primaries anyway, they never feel relevant in Washington state) I share with you some indecision I'm experiencing.

A couple of years ago I had bought the kit for KnitPicks' Corrie Vest in one of its original color selections, spiffily titled "Neutral." (I think it came in "Neutral" and "Bold" originally--they've since issued a couple of other options--and even a bright-color-loving person like me thought the selection of Palette in "Bold" should have been renamed "Garish.")

Although I've been interested in doing a larger scale fair isle / stranded colorwork garment for a while, I just never got off the ground with poor Corrie. As I've worked my way through my January resolutions (more on my Noro/Palette Ivy League vest in a subsequent entry) I realized that I needed to either fish or cut bait.

Let's go fishing!

I cast on. I worked my way through the bottom ribbing, practicing my combination knitting. I started the first chart and worked my way upwards. I remembered the two-handed method of stranding the yarns, and I remembered why colorwork is so absorbing and mathematical. But something still didn't seem right.

I loved all of the warm neutrals: Merlot Heather, Wallaby, Bark, Almond, Camel Heather, Cream, and Bittersweet Heather. These are lovely, soft, and luscious.

But I didn't love the greens: Verdant Heather and Celadon Heather. Slightly too cold for my taste, they will make me look washed out. And, let's face it, if you're going to knit an entire garment on size 2 needles, it should be 100% colors you love.

[knit in progress with Palette in bittersweet heather, verdant heather, and celadon heather pictured. This is the original color selection that came with the kit. See how grey and cool they are?]

I decided to audition some replacements for Verdant Heather and Celadon. Here are the options I came up with. In making my replacement choice, I'm considering a couple of criteria:
1. do the replacements have similar color values in comparison to each other and to the yarns as a whole?
2. are they colors I love and will wear?

Option 1: Opal Heather and Sagebrush.
Pros--keeps the original green palette but changes it to aqua. Cons--sagebrush is a bit light; Opal reads more blue, sagebrush more green--and are they too close in color value?

Option 2: Rooibos Heather and Conch.
Pros--I love reds, oranges, and pinks and wear them quite often. This combo would be warm and lovely--I've been infatuated with Rooibos since the color was released last year. Cons--Conch is a bit too too much, and the colors aren't as closely related to each other as the blue/blue or green/green combos. I think that's part of the nature of the beast with reds--since a light blue is still blue, but a light red reads as pink.

Option 3: Midnight heather and opal heather
Pros: both are blues with an aqua rather than a green tinge; this combo evokes the original kit while fitting my coloring and taste better. Cons: Is the midnight heather TOO dark? Would it read as black, not blue?

Option 4: Rainforest Heather and Sagebrush
Pros: More green than blue. The sagebrush is the clearest substitute for the celadon in color value. Cons: Rainforest has a cool, purply undertone, not always flattering on me.

I know which way I'm leaning...what do you all think?