Eureka

At last, I've solved the problem of What The Heck to Do With The Batch of Pink Variegated Yarn.

I was given a bunch of pink variegated yarn at least a year ago. And by "bunch," I mean "at least ten small skeins" or "enough for a long sleeved sweater" or "more than I know what to do with." I may not be the girliest girl that ever was, but I own some pink. I'm not afraid of pink. Pink is fine. But I really don't know what to do with variegated yarn. None of the projects I've been wanting to knit seem to lend themselves to variegated yarn. This may be because I'm boring and go for classic looks, rather than fun projects that require an element of risk taking, but whatever the reason, I fear that using variegated yarn in a project that has other visual elements (lace, etc.) would look too busy. Also, the yarn in question is cotton, and I've had... "issues" in the past with cotton not holding its shape (and thus looking like a tent-sweater on me. shudder.)

Ok. So. I'd decided I was just going to find *something* that would work, so I could get the stuff out of my stash. When the Blush pattern was released last week, I thought that might be my savior (leaving out the colorwork, of course). It's a fun pattern, why the heck wouldn't it look okay with a bunch of shades of pink? And I could figure out some way (adjusting gauge, etc.) to address the Cotton Problem. Almost a perfect solution.

But. I realized that if I knit Blush, I'd be stuck with several skeins of leftovers and still no idea what to do with them. And thennnn, I was scouting ravelry (oh how I heart ravelry!) and found a few examples of Buttony that I liked. It's a long sleeve sweater! With enough whimsy to handle variegated yarn! But not enough of a stitch pattern to make it look weird! Hooray! I'm planning to continue the hem ribbing all the way up along the sides, and also use increasing/decreasing for waist shaping.

Can't wait.

Also, my Not-so-orange Wave Cardigan is speeding along. I finished the back yesterday, so what's left is the right and left front section from the armholes up, both sleeves, and the i-cord ties.

AND (wow, lots of updates today), the electrical stuff in the attic is d-o-n-e DONE. Switchplates and outlet covers, bay-bee! All that's left is painting the 9 dresser drawers and replacing their handles, painting the closet doors (probably two or three more coats), painting the inside of the closet, and figuring out whether I can attach one end of the closet rod to the plywood access door to the chimney (the question being whether it's sturdy enough).

Whew!