![](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6437/821/320/Donegal%20yarn.jpg)
Alas Christmas has passed and my mother sent me the Knitpicks Palette yarn to make Alice Starmore's Donegal sweater. The colors on the left are the background colors: red, purple, blue, green, and ash. The colors on the right are the pattern colors: petal, blush, cream, sky, and mist. Thirty colors seems like a lot to choose from but compared with other fair isle yarn manufacturers these colors are slim pickings. I had a hard time substituting colors but I figured that swatching them would tell me if this would work. So I have immediately swatched these yarns. This is the result:
![](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6437/821/320/Donegal%20swatch.2.jpg)
I am happy with the pattern colors but am not sure what to say about the background colors. I wish the dark colors were not so bright. I was thinking about scrapping the red and green and perhaps substituting something more in the brown range. Maybe bark and wood. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
![](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6437/821/320/Dustpan.jpg)
As for those of you who have read the post about last years Christmas gifts from my hubby, you will not be disappointed. Here is a picture of me holding my shiny new dust pan. (I think this will become a Christmas tradition.) The good news is that I also received gold earrings and a yarn store gift certificate from hubby.
![](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6437/821/320/Zephyr%20cone.jpg)
I also received a pound cone of Zephyr in ice blue that I picked out for myself. I guess that I can't really complain this Christmas.