Hopeful tweaks, BSJ, colors selected for Autumn Rose

I did the secret-ninja snip, knit, and graft to lengthen my Hopeful. I'm very pleased with the fit now. I think I used the wrong size needles, though: I started with size 6s but the fabric looked too loose, so I frogged back and switched to fives. I think 6s were the correct choice after all. Oh, well. It shouldn't be too noticeable once I even out the tension on the transitional rows (particularly the grafted row) and then block it. (The rest of the sweater was blocked in September, so it has had a chance to relax, while the inserted section hasn't.)




My next step is to make the sleeves longer. I'm not sure if I'll take them to 3/4 or full-length. It may depend on how much yarn I can get my hands on. Knitpicks is discontinuing this yarn and they're out of grey. I contacted a user on Ravelry who has two balls in her stash, but I haven't heard back yet. I'll be crossing dye lots, but I think it won't be obvious if I use the same dye lot for the entirety of both sleeves, rather than switching part-way through the body, for example. We'll see!


I'm also working on a baby surprise jacket for a family friend's coming baby. I'm going to need more yarn. I've ordered more of the gold, light turquoise, and orange. I've got plenty more of the brown, burgundy, pink, and teal, but I think it really needs a turquoise stripe before I use any more of the darker colors, so I'm waiting for the additional yarn to arrive. Here's what I've got so far:




I'm tempted to use the wrong side, since I love the mini-stripes you get on the wrong side when changing colors:


I've also selected the colors for my Autumn Rose:


I'm sitting on my hands to prevent myself from casting on (or even swatching!) before I finish the baby gifts and at least one of my in-progress projects. The yarn is Knit Picks Palette, which I love, especially now that they have more tertiary colors and heathers. The colors are:
Reds: merlot heather, garnet heather, red
Blue-greens: marine heather, calypso heather, tidepool heather (these were xmas gifts from my mom)
Oranges and Tans: brindle heather, fawn, apricot, peach, golden heather

The photo doesn't do the colors justice. The blues are much more blue-green and zippy than they appear, the reds are much richer (and move towards brown), and the oranges transition more smoothly. The oranges and reds just POP against the blues. Every time I passed by the table I had laid them out on, I was struck by how great it looked.