Surface-ing

Mossy is done and blocking after a nice bath. Perhaps I will even get around to taking some FOtos and showing it to you. But first things first. I need a new project. Being a mostly monogamous knitter has its pluses and minuses. On the plus side, lots of FOs. On the minus side, when you really, really want to start something new, all you can do is knit faster to finish the project you're working on.

Norah Gaughan's Surface from the Winter 2008 Knitty has been hovering near the top of my queue for a while. Somewhere around the middle of the second sleeve of Mossy, that "must knit!" switch tripped over in my brain, and I zipped through the last bit of sleeve and tossed Mossy in the washtub on my way up to raid the stash closet for candidates for Surface.

I don't have a whole lot of dk weight yarn, because--let's just be honest--I'm not that patient. I'm a big fan of aran weight--maybe worsted, in a pinch. When I work with dk weight, I am usually struck with the same thought I used to have in the middle of the first night on any childhood camping trip: Why am I doing this, again?

Still, I do really like Surface, and it's only got 3/4 sleeves. If you ignore the fact that half of it involves working "purl four together" way, way too often, it's a quick knit, right?

Maybe we should just move on to the yarn choices. Here's what I've got it down to:

These colors are pretty true to life, despite (because of?) my taking them after the sun went down and in the last of the daylight. That variegated green on the top is merino from handpaintedyarn.com (source of Malabrigo). It's a plied yarn, and very soft. The colors are pretty much what you see: mostly greens, with a little grey and goldish. Pretty muted. Moving clockwise, the silvery-grey yarn is Rowan Cashsoft, a merino/microfiber/maybe cashmere blend, which I've never used before. (I actually ordered it by accident, thinking is was Cashcotton.) And in the front, that greyish-green (it's a little more green in person) yarn is Jaeger Roma, which is the same yarn I used for my Gathered Pullover, though not the same color.

I really like all of these yarns, and I think any of them would be a good choice for Surface. This will be my first Spring sweater of the year, hence all the light colors. But I'm having trouble picking one for this sweater. I originally planned to use the handpainted yarn, but I've been burned so many times by variegated yarns that I'm hesitant to try it, especially since I do love this pattern worked in solid colors. The Cashsoft is a nice yarn, but I've never worn light grey and don't know whether it will suit me. The Roma is a great yarn and a decent enough color; I just wonder if it's a little drab.

So there you have it. Any ideas?