Help on choosing next project

I am more than halfway through Dacapo and in love with Falkenberg. I have been looking at other kits and have several questions. I am a hefty hourglass figure----I usually like swing jackets. I have been looking at Mermaid, Ballerina, and Gloria.

Mermaid and Ballerina seem to have some characteristics in common although Mermaid seems more fitted. Has anyone done both and have opinions on the pros and cons of each of them? Also, on cucumberpatch.co.uk for several of the projects it describes the yarn as 2 ply but knit as 4 ply. Does this mean the projects are knit with two strands? Looking at ravelry for these projects there seems to be a wide range of needle sizes used and i haven't been able to figure out if it is one strand or two of yarn.

I actually like small needles and fine gauge and have been quite happy with Dacapo, although I could see that for larger projects, one might want the fabric to have more heft.

Finally, I am not sure I have gotten the tension right on the self icord on my Dacapo--esp in the striped section. I was so worried that it would be too loose that I fear that I may have knit it too tightly. It does not pull, but it is considerably less stretchy than the rest of the fabric. I have not finished putting it together or blocking so that might change as well.

Thanks for any help.
Sandy

Mermaid #4

I started the body after the collar decrease with a provisional cast-on. I knit the rest of the body until the same place (I can check later and tell you precisely the start if anyone needs it) then picked up the stitches along the neck (instead of sewing the collar on later) and then picked up the front stitches from the provisional cast-on.

As you can see, I revised the collar as well, because I've not been happy with the collars, they tend to flip up instead of staying flat. So I went into SweaterWizard and used the information from that program to make a shawl collar. I knew I had more than enough yarn from the kit to do this.

Another long car trip provided the time/inclination/whatever to do the i-cord edging. (I hate i-cord, I really do!)

I just popped this in the mail for the Intended Victim (she is going to have to sew in the arms and the shoulder seams -- I was going to do it for her and realized that all of my pins are packed for moving.) This is Color #5, kingfisher, cypress and black.

Knitting Jazz Design

Hi Hanne Fans-

I am new to the blog, having just purchased my first kit, the Jazz sweater. I haven't seen that many posts about Jazz, so I thought I'd introduce myself and bring other Jazz knitters out of the woodwork.

Status on the sweater: I started swatching with a 3.0mm needle last week, and the gauge was off, so now I'm going to try a 3.5mm (US 4), but haven't started that swatch yet.

Cheers-
Tracy Hoover (aka Gamba Girl)