Let's make something! Part 1--Pattern and yarn choice

Chana and I are going to do a little 2-person knit along (or KAL) and I'm going to blog about it in intricate detail. The goal is to make a little light-weight sweater appropriate for summer. Our first plan was to make the Whisper cardigan from the summer 09 Interweave Knits.

This pattern uses lace weight yarn, which guarantees 2 things: it will be lightweight, and time-consuming. Based on finished pics on ravelry, this cardigan looks like it would be flattering for most people, and would work well as a little coverup to wear with a dress or tanktop for chilly summer nights (those might not exist in NYC, but they do here). But, then I saw this Featherweight cardigan on some else's blog.

Simpler construction than the Whisper, more basic design, but really pretty. Also knit from laceweight yarn--this pattern calls for Malabrigo Merino Lace, and you know we love us some Malabrigo around here! Malabrigo is a single ply lace weight, and the dying technique yields vibrant, slightly varied colors. The question of what color to use: I am drawn to making the cardigan out of something bright and lively--a bright light green, like this yarn

Though I think a light grayish color would be more versatile. And I'm not sure if the green would look on my skin tone.

The other issue with yarn choice is getting gauge (duh duh duhhhh!), something I'm a bit worried about. The pattern says the gauge should be 6st/in, and the author used size 6. Well, I'm getting more than 6st/in on the project I'm working on now--and it's with fingeringweight yarn on size 5 needles! So I'm not sure how I'm going to get the required gauge with laceweight yarn. Hmmm. There will definitely be some swatching--next post!