WIP: the soft and the silky

This is so soft and pretty. I don't care that it is a color that I'd never pick for myself, I love it. I love knitting with it, I love the way the stitches show with it, I love the drape and flow of the finished fabric.

What is it you ask? It is Cascade Venezia in Salmon. This is one of the yarns I won when I was crowned the Skip, Skip, Knit Obstacle Course Champion of 2007.

I loved the look and feel of this yarn but the color kept putting me off. Being as it is Merino/Silk blend I was hesitant to attempt over-dyeing, knowing that the plant based and animal/protein fibers would take the dye very differently, if at all, depending on what kind of dye I used. So I just stashed the yarn and returned to it on occasion to fondle and pet it and try to make it feel welcome in my home.

Then last week I was looking for something else and balling some sock yarn in my studio (get your minds out of the gutter!) and I stumbled upon my little pink bag of salmon-y goodness. I figured, what the hell, I'll ball a skein of it too (again with the impure yarn porn thoughts! Shame.) and do some swatches and maybe find a project for this yarn after all. After knitting a plain stockinette stitch swatch I was smitten. So I started perusing my infinite number of pattern books and magazines in search of the perfect project for this squooshy yumminess.

Can you tell what that is?
It is of course the Origami Cardigan by Nora Gaughan from the Summer IK 2007. These pictures are from Tuesday morning, before I got sick. Last night I cast off the back and started on one of the front rectangles. Which reminds me, I need to go update my Ravelry notebook...see ya there.