flinging swatches

To tell you the truth I haven't felt in a very springlike mood this past week. But I have made a couple of swatches for when the inspiration strikes again. This one is for the Alice sweater from Rowan-- a simple, easily memorized lace pattern. If you notice a difference in the middle, I was trying out some alternative decreases. The color is not as bad as it appears-- a sort of mint green. The sweater as written has an interesting little ruffle around the bottom and cuffs. This swatch got gauge, so it may well become a started project before long. This one I'm less happy with:

It is so bright! I've kept it pinned to my wall for the past 5 days or so to see if it grows on me. It's not the brightness I mind so much as the extreme contrast in values. As I feared, the dark green just doesn't seem to work... between that and the pale blue (not my favorite, what was I thinking?) this swatch just doesn't do it for me. Thank goodness I didn't embark on the sweater, right? I'm considering doing the whole thing in a blue theme to cool it down, or maybe I'll get courageous and try to keep some of these colors, perhaps add another pink and get rid of the green. We'll see. One thing I decided, if I ever make this sweater, I'm going to steek it. I don't mind purling in fair isle, but the loose ends at the edges drive me nuts.

What I'm actually knitting now is my shawl for the year: the medallion shawl from the Orenburg pattern book, in very fine dark teal blue merino wool, size #1 needles. I'm only about 2/3 of the way through the bottom border so there's not much to see. Somehow lately I've been drawn to the fine repetitive detail of this soft wool lace. Knitting for me is much about comfort these days.