Oh, the softness!

My fellow SnB-er Sami took this somewhat embarrassing photo of me in a moment of yarn ecstasy recently. It wasn't even my yarn, but it was soooo soft! I was only going to touch it for a moment, but before I knew it, I had fallen into a reverie, and stayed that way long enough to be caught on camera. Anyway, it was with softness on the brain that I went into a newly relocated LYS this Saturday to look for yarn for the wrist warmers I'm making for Jessie. I was planning on being all practical and getting something fairly cheap and machine washable, but then I found two little skeins of alpaca, and practicality went out the window. She had asked for something "very very soft" and this stuff was beyond soft. I have an alpaca sweater I got when I was in Peru, and though it's softer than sheep's wool, it's still a little scratchy, so I never realized alpaca could be as pettable and comfy as this stuff. Jessie will just have to forgive me for giving her non-machine-washable wrist warmers, but I don't think that will be an issue when she feels them. I promise a pic once they're started. It's just too bad you won't be able to feel them through the screen...

Progress has been mixed on the rest of my knitting projects. The merino lace cardi is getting on my nerves. I'm supposed to increase right before and two stitches after each marker on the knit rows, but for some reason, I almost forget to do the second increase almost every time. So yesterday I counted my stitches, and realized that I have done either one too many increases in one section, or one too few in another. So now I get to rip back until the proportion of stitches is once again correct. Ugh. Like I wasn't sick of this increasing already! But I think (hope) it's only a few rows, so with any luck I'll be back on track (and much more vigilant) soon. At least I finally figured out what I was doing wrong with the spit splicing--I was rolling it between my fingers, rather than my hands, which meant not enough heat or friction.

The baby sweater has one shoulder sewn together and the neckband done, and now awaits sleeve attachment and side seaming. That will all be just fine. The problem is with the buttons (or the buttonholes, depending on your point of view). I bought the buttons to fit the outer three buttonholes on the shoulder, all of which were yo/k2 tog style, done in garter stitch rows. But the neckband also has one last buttonhole, and it's done the same way, but in stockinette rows on smaller needles. Yes, you guessed it, the fourth buttonhole is about half the size of the others, even though I tried to knit that part loosely. (I'll try to post a picture later). So, what to do? Do I use the buttons I have, and just expect the innermost button never to be closed? Do I find smaller buttons (which might slip out of the larger holes)? Do I find one smaller button, even though it won't match the other three? Any thoughts or comments on this dilemma are more than welcome!