so far, there have been no angels singing.

The Interweave Knits issues arrived yesterday while I was at work, and I didn't officially get home until 2 am (I went to a concert), so today I got to sit down with the Summer '04 IK and look through. I'd thought about doing Madli's Shawl, but dang, bobbles? I'm not too sure about those guys.

But I did start on the Cabaret Raglan in Candy Blue Cotton-Ease. I figure that I should be able to get the front, back, and two short sleeves out of three skeins of this. I started with the suggested needles, but it was going to be too big.

Here's the thing: the smallest size is a 36.5" bust. And in looking at it, it looks like it's got a lot of ease (and no waist shaping). Here's another thing: I don't do ease. Nope.

But Cotton-Ease is fine. Nothing extraordinary -- my wrists don't hurt while I'm knitting it, which is nice. The machine washing aspect is certainly something to look forward to.

There's only one small problem, though: Candy Blue? Perfect blue for the Sakuracon project. Would be the same price (if I buy it off of Lionbrand's website), with a bigger gauge, still machine-wash... and would still be plenty warm for Seattle. Hmmm. Hmmmm. Anyone want to talk me out of it? I'm going to walk away for a while and think about it, so give me your reasoning here.

These are the options so far:
- Fine-gauge cotton from Halcyon for 36 dollars
Plusses: Cheap!
Minuses: HEAVY. Also, FINE GAUGE COTTON. Will take FOREVER. Their shipping sucked with Hush-Hush's yarn.
- DK weight merino from Elann
Plusses: Merino! Machine-wash!
Minuses: Buying off the internet = not necessarily color I want. Small balls = more ends to weave in. Have to buy on Tuesday; limited supply (i.e. could be fighting with other people for it).
- Cotton-Ease
Plusses: Bigger gauge! Machine-wash!
Minuses: Have to order from Lionbrand to get a lot (otherwise could be fighting with other people for it off of eBay), could run out. Same price. Could be considered "cheap" as it's "fabric store yarn". (I've never really gotten over having a costume judged and the judge saying "oh, this is... lining fabric. and curtain lace.")

People? You've got until tonight, possibly tomorrow. DISCUSS.