Project Pepe, Part 2

It is the last day of August, so of course, it is the perfect time for me to post my final Project Spectrum Project. I know those TBS socks (note: I posted a much better picture to the Flickr account on the sidebar. Check it out if you care) would have satisfied my August neutral knit, but my Project Pepe is my true Project Spectrum August project.

Readers will remember that most of my Project Spectrum projects have been about using the month's color in a way that was new to me. I tried stranded knitting for the first time, made some charity hats for Dulaan for the first time, finished a long standing UFO...My goal was also to try to use stash yarn if at all possible.

For the final month of PS, I decided to do something rather drastic. Knowing that PS was also the final month of the SoSKAL, I knew I would have to get creative if I was to make something neutral. I don't have a lot of neutral yarns in the stash, and certainly nothing that would have been appropriate for my Pepe.

Can you believe I have, like, no neutral yarns in my stash?

Those who know me know that I hate waste in a terribly Puritan kind of way. I have a bazillion little baggies in my freezer filled with 1/4 cups of wine left undrunk and egg yolks saved from merengues. I have shrimp shells, brown bananas, and herb butters from herbs about to turn. And I use all of these things in cooking and baking, to varying degrees of success, sure, but at least nothing was wasted.

Readers also know that I am terribly bugged by wasted yarn, the oddballs and leftovers. So what about finished objects made with beautiful yarns that you never wear? Like my Silky Wool poncho (oh, shut up, you know you all made ponchos). I wore it, loved it, but now will not wear it. Sorry. Too 2001, thank you very much. But look at all that beautiful charcoal gray yarn! Wouldn't it be beautiful as a Backyard Leaves scarf?

How about Tempting? Mo can tell you, this sweater was love at first sight. I can remember standing next to our cars in the carpool line, raving about Tempting when that Knitty came out. That would be my first sweater for myself. I made it out of Maggi's Merino Aran bought on sale at Garden of Yarn, and I loved it. Great pattern, lovely soft yarn.

And it looked like crap. I tried, too, to get it to look right across the bust. Cinching the ribbon tightly. Now looser. How about a strapless bra? Or maybe a cami underneath?

Nothing. Nothing could make the girls look good in this sweater. The combination of the ribbing stretched across the bust and the slight silvery sheen to the yarn just made the girls look like an innertube just above the waist. It was not a good look, especially for a a mother who nursed two children.

So remember when Aileen came over with the apple martinis? That's the night we ripped out Tempting and reclaimed all that yarn for Project Pepe's sweater.