Conundrums

I looked up and it was 9 a.m.  Then I looked up and it was 10:30 a.m.  What the heck happened?  

I was knitting.  That is what happened. 

I pulled out Utkiek this morning and am as happy as a piggy in a puddle working on it.  The morning has flown by.

I have also been playing with yarn.  I finished the center panels for the Noro top.  

It is 25 inches long, when I was hoping for 24, and I have been debating taking out some of the stripes at the bottom.  It deserves some thinking about but I am otherwise very pleased with the way it looks. I have laid out the two panels so that you can see how it will go.  I want a high back neckline and a front neckline low enough for wearing alone but also good for wearing with a shirt or dress under it.  

I have been playing with my teal Silky Wool.  I have two dye lots, 

and they are quite different.  The debate about how I will make these dyelots work together is  under way.

I do have these other two blue Silky Wools, one skein of each, shown here with the two dye lots

so there may be some striping of a garter ridge.  Or not.  I also have a lovely skein of Noro Taiyo,

which coordinates well with the teal.  It is quite different than the Silk Garden colours but they will be used so differently that I think it will work to add it into the mix.

The plan is to pick up along the side of the back, add stitches for over the shoulder and then pick up along the side of the front panel. I am going to shape it by using the same short row method that Elysium uses.  I made an Elysium years ago and it was a great way to add the kind of shaping I needed. I could go with the basic square like the most of this style of tops do, but I want less bulk at my underarms and I want a longer back hem with no side split.  I think what I want will work better with a bit of shaping.    

Until I decide about yarn choices to extend my skeins of Silky Wool, I am going to keep knitting on Utkiek.  After finding the three extra skeins of green in the stash, I know I have lots to make it whatever length I want.  I only need to reserve two skeins to make a button band, though I am thinking about using an i-cord to finish off at the front. I don't seem to need the width where I want this to have buttoned.     

I love thinking about these details to put something together.  These little choices are so much fun.  Sometimes they work very well and sometimes they are complete failures and the thrill of it all is not knowing which you will get.  The joy is in the exploring.

Of course I am also planning to cast on for a Musselburgh because all that plain stockinette is a must, consolation knitting if the going gets rough.