Biting off more than I can chew

I was at my aunt's today (Piet stayed home with Claire, and Elizabeth and I drove down with my sister) and she dug up a set of interchangeable needles of significant vintage. So I blithely came home and started knitting a gauge swatch for my alpaca sweater, with one strand of medium blue and one strand of navy held together on size five needles.

I think perhaps this project is currently too ambitious for me. I haven't knit in years, I've never tried to knit continental style, and I've never knit a garment. I need something less ambitious, with an easier yarn and bigger needles, to get my feet wet before I'm ready for the alpaca.

I won an auction yesterday for some chunky tweed yarn, and I have a bid in for ten more of the same colour. They're being shipped from Ottawa, so if I win the second auction they should be here in a week or two (depending on Paypal, which has been clearing very slowly lately.) I'm thinking that stuff should be perfect for a first basic sweater. The alpaca is lovely - but not yet.

I don't have a knitting icon, so my crochet one will have to do.