Salix caprea

And it came to pass that in that week, that the socks were sent away for tech editing, leaving our heroine at leisure to begin Something Completely Different.

And by Completely Different, I mean different from pretty much all my work, to date.  Different in that there are no man-made colors in this project.  Different in that it's a yarn with less elasticity than I would normally choose, and a lot more halo.  And probably a lot more drape, as well.

I give you "The Catikns Cardigan":

My initial swatch told me what I needed to know in terms of guage, but not much else, so I'm starting small, with a cuff and sleeve.  I'm thinking that any surprises this yarn has to offer me will appear before I start on the major acreage of the body.  My observations so far:  YUMMY.  This DK is a 50/50 blend of Alpaca and Jacob.  The gray on the skein is 60/40 Romeldale and Angora.  The former is soft and fuzzy, but with a fair bit of backbone, and the latter is absolute butter.  You already can see the halo on the skein, and it hasn't even been worked or washed.  It was that gray fluffy one that really inspired me first:  The minute I touched it, I thought of Pussy Willows.  And since "fuzzy" isn't normally the way I roll, nor is "undyed", I think this project is going to have a lot to teach me.

Lint roller, anyone?