Upcoming Projects

I have finally finished my Christmas knitting (better late and hand knit than never right?) and am looking forward to a sabbatical from gift knitting. That being said, the image above is the Desert Counterpane Pullover by Pam Allen From Classic Elite Yarns Autumn book. While I may be taking a brief break from giveaway projects, the above pattern was requested by my mom and she purchased all the yarn. Since there's no deadline for it I figured I could enjoyably work on it without any of the stressors of a "gift project."
On a more selfish note, I've been coveting the lovely Vine Yoke Cardigan by Ysolda Teague from the Twist Collective, which by the way is my new favorite knitting site. While I know I will be making the pullover for my mom, the question is which will get cast on first? The pullover or the cardigan? I have the yarn for each (I have a huge stash of Riverstone Louet in the beautiful "French Blue" shade that I think would be fantastic), I have the patterns for each, and they both require size 9 needles.

While I don't know which sweater will win in the "Knit Me First" competition, I do know both should be an exciting and enjoyable knit. They both feature unique design elements/construction techniques. The pullover is actually cast on in the center of the sweater, then knit out into a large square panels with the yarn overs creating the diagonal "seams," the front and back panel are then joined together and then the rest of the sweater is knit. While the cardigan appears to be simple, it is actually knit from side to side rather than top-down or bottom-up. Both should prove to be exciting knits, if I'm ever able to end up selecting one to cast on that is!