A dilemma

Dear Laura,

I am having a yarn indecision crisis, and I need some assistance. Nephew #2 blanket is looking just lovely, and I am on stripe number 4 of 7. The trouble is that I am not sure this blanket is going to last me until these lectures are over, and it would really be tragic if I had to sit through the last few weeks without something to knit. (Just ask Pamela...she's reading....hi Pamela! She had to sit through a, ahem, rather dull lecture this morning with no knitting. It was sad.)

Of course, we know that (apparently) KnitPicks packages can take a little while to arrive, so I'm thinking it's time to order some more yarn for my next project, which will be....wait for it....a baby blanket. The Boy's PhD supervisor is expecting, and I'm going to take a shot at making a blanket for this baby, too.

I'm not totally decided on a pattern, but I'm leaning toward a log cabin, just because I think it would be fun.

My dilemma is this: which yarn to use? And which colours? It's a nightmare, I tell you! I really like my Shine Worsted, but man oh MAN they need to expand their colour range. This baby's sex is unknown, so I can't just pick all the pinks and do something girly (which is what I'd LIKE to do) - but it's hard to find an aesthetically-pleasing, gender-neutral combination of 5-6 colours!

My next idea was to use Crayon instead. It's a frisée yarn, which I think would nicely hide the tendency of log cabins to have less than perfectly square corners. And it's machine washable and dryable, which is a key trait in a baby blanket. The colour selection is a little better - I am contemplating either red/orange/yellow/green/blue/purple/buttermilk or periwinkle/blue/light blue/azure/buttermilk. AND it's USD $1.99, which I think you will agree is a steal. The dilemma is that it is only DK weight. It says you can use 3.75mm or 4.00 mm needles, and I'm currently knitting the Shine Worsted on 4.00 mm needles, so it might end up similar - but I will be sad if I feel like I am doing a lot more knitting and not getting nearly as much blanket for it.

Help, Laura! What do you think? (And for that matter, if you're lurking out there and reading this, leave a comment with your opinion - I'd like to hear it!)

Love,
Nikki

p.s. I'm still reading Into The Wilderness, which is proving to be quite delicious. Claire Fraser even makes an appearance! (You've read the Outlander books, right? RIGHT???)