Frustrations and Joys...

There have been some recent knitting frustrations...but there have also been several really exciting things, which means that everything in my world (at least) is perfctly copesetic.
The first frustration is that the Coquette I made for Katie didn't fit her. Yeah she is tiny. I made the smallest size and got a tighter gauge than the pattern called for and it still didn't fit. At this point, the solution (as I see it anyway) is to rip it out and make her something new. Thing is, I bought the yarn (the charcoal colored alpaca) at MDSW and there is enough of it - a total of 1220 yards - to make the Tangled Yoke I have been coveting from the new IK Fall 2007. I am thinking that I can either make her a new project in a yarn I have, or buy her new yarn. The budget (and frankly the stash) is telling me to go with something I already have. I am torn though, and my options are few, as she is SO difficult to size for. I have resolved to make her either a shawl - which I know she will use as she is a shawl person, a top that would look good on a tiny person, or a raglan top with custom shaping. Either of these could be made with the light brown alpaca that I bought at MDSW, and that color would suit her really well, so I wouldn't feel like I was "jipping" her. In all honesty, she is a "brown" person and I am a "black" person as far as our clothing choices go, so it may even be more suited to her than the charcoal. At any rate my top contenders are: the Summer Shawlette, Summer Wheat Tank, Glee, or a custom raglan top. Any suggestions are welcome!
Another minor frustration involves stash as well. My LYS has a yearly sale (The Velvet Rope sale) which requires you to be a standing customer (I believe just once will do it, but they don't want people from all over the country coming just for the sale), and it is always held in October. For two seperate years I purchased some odd balls of Cottage Tweed in various natural colors. I love this yarn...it's not soft, there are random bits of "nature" in it, and it's only a one ply, so I can't really explain it, but it may as well be 100% cashmere for the way I horde it. It is a DK/sport weight yarn that has 360 yards in a ball, which rocks and at one point I had 5 balls (as you can see in the photo); two in a stone and two in a natural tan, and then one copper. I used one of the tan balls to make the Grand Plan Capelet which I love. I wish now that I had used the copper color though, because I am left with two stone, one brown and one copper...which will not make many projects. I decided that I wanted to make my father Shifting Sands this year, and I am ready to go, with the exception of the yarn. He has requested a tan color, which I have...but the Cottage Tweed doesn't have enough "put up" in one ball to make the whole scarf. I am left with the decision of using the stone and not using all of the second ball or making the scarf smaller (width-wise) and using all of the copper or the tan that is left. Neither of these options makes me truly happy, and though my father is deserving of the yarn I have cherished for so long, I don't know if I can make this project with it. Sigh...we'll see.
The good news is that I finally cast on for a project I've been wanting to make forever. It's the Clementine Shawlette from IK Spring 2007. It's a beautiful and practical knit for me, as I am frequently chilly and looking for something to throw over my shoulders. I've had the yarn - Lisa Souza 100% Superfine Alpaca in "Seaglass" - for quite some time now, and can't think of a more perfect application for it. Here are a few examples of some finished Clementines...aren't they fabulous? I am knitting it on #4 needles and am whizzing through it. The decrease and increase sections were fun and interesting to work on, and I am now at the point where I am doing the 4 row repeat for 15 inches. I've decided to do 30 repeats on each side because it seems like a nice round number, and leave out the last row on the second piece so that the two pieces won't be kitchenered on purl rows. I'll have photos soon. I just completed the eleventh repeat on the first one...so 19 more to go and then I can start the second piece. So excited to be working on something fun for me...
I am attending Stitches East this year, though only for the Market. My friend Shelley is coming down from NYC (still coming Shelley?) and I am excited about the yarn possibilities there. Though I will have to be very careful, or I will get carried away really fast! I've never been to a Stitches, so it should be a really good time. I think my cousin Kelly is coming down as well, but she is checking into childcare for Miss Grace, so that's a little up in the air.
That's all that's happening with me now...sorry for the lack of photos, I took them, but I haven't uploaded to Flickr yet.