I’m also knitting the Bold color way and asked Kay for color assignment advise, and this is what she suggested:
A: Navy
B: Wintergreen
C: Merlot
D: Whisper
E: Leek
She also said that she reserves the right to change her mind and so should I (she is also knitting the throw in the Bold color way). Additionally, she said that there are 4 skeins of colors Navy, Wintergreen, and Merlot, so you can swap these colors around as you wish for A, B, and C, while there are only 3 skeins each of Whisper and Leek, so these colors can be used only for either D or E.
Hope this is helpful. Sorry, I don’t know the answer to the needle length question.
Linda