Squam Planning Begins

First big project of the new year? The lace coat from the Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2012 issue:

I've wanted to do it since the issue came out, but knew it had to wait until I was done the commissioned sweater. And then there's the busyness of Christmas, so I figured it would wait until the new year. But it's getting to be that time, and now I've decided this is going to be my big Squam project. Like when people knit their "Rhinebeck" sweater every year. (That would be a nice impressive bit of knitting to wear at the hugely popular Sheep and Wool Festival held in Rhinebeck, NY.) But I'm not going to Rhinebeck, I'm going to Sqaum.

First up was to chose the yarn. I wanted to stick with the alpaca/silk blend of the original yarn, but in what colour? The pink is nice, but not really what I wanted. The same brand (that's Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace) also came in a neutral beige/tan called Blithe that I considered:

I also looked at Knit Pick's Shimmer Lace in Buttercream:

It has a little more variation in the colour, but I thought it wouldn't clash too badly with the lace pattern. There are only two projects on Ravelry that use this colourway, but one of them was a large lace shawl that showed very well what it looked like knit up. (What did I do before Ravelry??)

I considered Malabrigo's Silkpaca in Sunset:

but decided it was a bit much. (I looked hard at Malabrigo because I know and like their yarns and can get it at my LYS, but their colours were all either too dark or too cool. All the beiges and light colours are very washed out. Not what I was going for.)

What I settled on was Drops' Lace in Light Camel:

I'm hoping it will be a warm neutral, not too dark but not so light as to disappear on my pale, pale skin. All the prices were pretty similar so that didn't influence the choice significantly, but this yarn also happened to be on sale, which is nice.

It's being shipped from California whenever the shop is next open and I will be waiting for it eagerly! I don't think I've ever spent so much time looking for yarn for a project. I think I tend to do projects based on what yarn and pattern come together serendipitously. I don't remember having to search so hard for the right yarn. Or maybe I usually settle for what's easily available.

I will also add that three skeins of the yarn probably would have been enough, but I bought four. (And they are huge, so that is going to be a lot of extra yarn.) But one thing there won't be with this project is Fear Of Running Out Of Yarn. Not going there with this one!

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Update: I got an email that they shipped it the same day. Apparently they weren't closed for Christmas yet. Woo hoo!