About the big ticket items

I've had two "big ticket" items in my immediate mental queue for a while now. The first (you might remember from this post) is the Heather Hoodie, but in a regular person size. I've been wanting to make it for a while now. I bought the Fall 2009 Knitscene magazine and even bought yarn for it, too.

The second is Mayer. I loved it immediately when I saw this picture on the Berroco website. I loved it even more when I saw this picture on the Webs Yarn Store blog. I have eight balls of this yarn perfect for it. Shhh, I've even done the S word for this project! Yes way! So this has been in the top position for when I am done with Holiday knitting, kidster knitting, and the other small projects I want to finish first. I figured it was about time I made something big again. And for myself. I even thought about returning the bulky yarn I bought for the Hoodie.

Then it happened.

I was out gift shopping and with an arm full of stuff when I saw this. It's not exactly the same but it has a lot of similar elements, the most obvious being the wide collar and the similar (not exact) stitch pattern. It has snaps that can turn that wide collar into a turtleneck (which at first I didn't think I'd like, but once I tried it I did). I tried it on in off-white because it was close to what I was going to make. But because of the snaps being a darker color it looked a little odd and they stood out too much. There was a black marl that I liked but three quarters of my sweaters are black or gray and I couldn't justify it. This brown one was a nice color and those big snaps blended in a lot better.

I hemmed and hawed, a lot.

1. This one is longer than Mayer.
2. I'm tall and can manage a long sweater.
3. If I did try to make Mayer it would probably take me until next winter, at least!
4. With a 30% off sale and a coupon in my pocket it would cost less than the yarn I had at home.
5. If I buy it then I wouldn't have the pleasure of making it.
6. The brown blends in with my hair color and I might look too washed out.
7. It's still not the same as Mayer and I might still want to make it and then where would I be?
8. Buy it for $20 and you can wear it right away.

Get it, or not? What do you think happened?