What would you do?

So the next round of Sock Madness starts on Wednesday.
This round has thrown me for a loop.
I totally thought I knew who I was going up against this round..but the hostesses decided to shake things up a bit and pair us up differently then we all thought they would.
So now, I am going up against someone I consider a friend. (Hey Kellie!) And although the competition is all in fun.. (that's how Kellie and I made friends ;)..and she is just one out of many wonderful people I have met.)..it is hard to feel competitive when whether you win or lose..you are going to be disappointed.

In the famous words of the late Crocodile Hunter...Crikey!

And that is just the beginning of my woes.

Wait hold on a second.....

B just pulled out the worlds smallest violin.

OK, now that we have the sad mournful music in the background (just pretend alright?). I will tell the second thing that has my panties all in a bunch.

The freaking specs for this pattern.

"gauge: 7 sts. per inch on size 1 1/2 needles with fingering weight yarn."

The gauge and the needles size make sense..but how the hell do you get a good fabric out of that yarn weight? I know I am not the worlds tightest knitter...but seriously? So I thought, "OK fine..I will just use a 2mm needle instead. " After all, going down a needles size or two is nothing new in my book.

Oh and here is the real kicker:

" 2 skeins used..each about 280'ish yards per skein".

That's alot of yarn my friends.

For further clarification we have been told that the designer used big skeins like this with "plenty left over"..and the person who test knit the socks did hers with Lorna's Laces (215 yds. per skein) and also had "some leftover."

Could anyone out there please clarify to me what "some leftover" and "plenty leftover" means?

When we first got the supply list I did what any dutiful competitor would do. I burned a hole in the credit card buying yarn.
And I totally thought I had this one under control.

I bought a skein of Schaeffer Anne (560 yds per skein)..and thought I was golden.

I absolutely love this yarn. I have been looking forward to knitting with it ever since I saw it at The Loopy Ewe website.

The problem is that I am getting about 10 sts. per inch on the 2mm..which would totally slow me down..and also make too small of a sock. And I am not all that happy with the fabric I am getting. I think to be absolutely satisfied with this yarn, I would need to use the dreaded 000's.

OK, so the Anne is out. Right?

So I started to think about other yarns in my stash. Stuff that is categorized as fingering weight, but is a bit thicker.

So I pulled out the Claudia's Hand painted:

For those interested..this is the Oops! colorway.

And then I went for the Socks That Rock:

This colorway is called Blarney Stone.

I get absolutely beautiful fabric with both of these yarns. My gauge is about 8 sts. per inch on the 2mm, so a little off but not too bad. I would not go up to the 1 1/2 size needle though..because again the tension would be too loose for me. And considering that socks are usually a tad bit too big on me, the gauge and fabric seem perfect..so why not just pick one of these right?

The yardage.

STR has 360 yds. per skein. Which would mean I would have 180 yds per sock.

The CHP has 172 yds per skein.

That is a far cry from the 280'ish yards per skein that was posted. And I am not sure if either of these would give me "some leftover" or even enough to finish the socks.

I can just see myself getting 2/3 of the way through my 2nd sock at 3:30 am and realizing that I am OUT OF YARN!

So..I guess these are out as well??

Next up, the good old Lorna's Laces. This is what was used to test knit the socks..so I should be totally fine in the yardage department.

And even though my gauge is off..it gives me an OK fabric with the 2mm's.

(Sorry for the bad picture. This yarn is impossible to photograph.)

I guess this yarn would be the most logical choice. But I am just not all that jazzed about using it. I love Lorna's, but there is nothing "special" about it..for me anyway..and the colors are pretty, but, well..I just feel "blah" about it.

And trust me, when you are trying to knit a pair of socks in less then two days..the last thing you want is to feel "blah" about your yarn choice.

So here is my final option. Final because this little dilemma has occupied way too much of my time, and I refuse to dive into my sock stash again. ( I say this and realize that my stash is sitting right next to me..and I have been pulling out yarn at random through out writing this post, hoping one of them will say "pick me, pick me! I am PERFECT!"..Nothing yet.)


OK, here is my final option..and after doing a search..I think this one might be saying "Pick me!"
This sexy little number is Yarn Pirate in the Sonoma colorway.

I adore this yarn..this is the yarn that sits out on the table so I can enjoy its loveliness. This is the yarn I pet when I need soothing.

Now I originally thought there were only 400 yds. per skein, but after the search I just did I believe it is a whopping 480 yds....that is a huge bonus! I think that would allow me to have "plenty left over".

And on size 0's I am getting a nice fabric..not as tight as I would like..but doable. Again gauge is totally off...I am getting about 8 1/2-9 sts. per inch...but I still think that would be alright..(it just would slow me down a little bit..but then again..all my choices will do that.)

So maybe this is the one? I would marry this yarn if I could. And I believe it deserves to "grow up" into something spectacular..so my concern lies in the fact that I don't know what the pattern looks like yet. Will it be worthy of the Sonoma?

Please help me, I am in meltdown! Forget global warming..forget the starving children in Africa. Forget the Iraq war and the terrorists! THIS IS SERIOUS! I can't decide! The fate of the world..I mean my socks...rests in your hands. Don't fail me now!

What would YOU do?