Making The Decision

Remember Mike?

Well, I carefully took into consideration all of your opinions about which sweater his wool should become.  I tallied up the votes, which knocked two sweaters out of the running as they received no love at all!  Then I made notes about the gauge requirements for all of the rest.

Then I knit a couple of swatches.

Once the swaches were washed and blocked, I revisited my notes about the gauge requirements for the various sweaters.

This took several other sweaters out of the mix as they were designed for a bulky yarn, and clearly Mike's wool doesn't work up to a bulky gauge.

It came down to two choices....both lovely, both receiving lots of love from all of you.  A few texts to a couple of beloved friends as well as a thorough reading of both patterns (with a close eye on the pictures to see what the recommended fabric looked like), helped me to decide.

A thorough exploration of the finished projects on Ravelry, reading through the notes on all of the projects marked as helpful, was the last thing I needed.

and then I began