Handspun Shetland Sweater...for ME!

It's finally done! And I can now update my blog. I've been getting nudges from people e-mailing me, asking me to update my blog. The last time I blogged was around my birthday in October, and I've been kind of busy since then.

I meant to blog a couple of weeks ago, but we got a new computer, and I've been getting it up and running and transferring files. Then, there was that little thing--you know--the election, that kind of got in the way! I'm really excited my guy got elected. I just hope the pile of crap the current prez left for him doesn't sidetrack the new administration too much.

And, I'm teaching a couple "learn to knit" workshops at A Stitch in Time Yarn near the Jericho/Underhill townline on Route 15 and River Road. I'm really excited that the owner Kelly has given me this opportunity to teach workshops there. I just taught three women how to knit last week. It was super fab to see them "get it" and the glow on their faces when they were "stitching" as one put it!

So, what's finally done? My handspun Shetland sweater. My extremely talented friend Joanne of Pine Ledge Studio and I visited the Maple Ridge Sheep Farm in Randolph, Vermont, oh, about ten years ago. I believe this was one of the first, if not THE first, Shetland sheep farm in the United States. I picked out three fleeces: a black with a hint of white, a lovely creamy color, and a light grayish brown--either a Musket or Mioget. You can see the wide range of Shetland colors here: Shetland Color Range.

Joanne meticulously washed and carded the fleeces for me, and even divided the carded batts into over a dozen paper grocery bags, labeled "best black", "best grey", "mixed", etc. These bags have been sitting around in "the fiber room" for years, along with pounds of roving, and other forms of fiber, waiting for me to get around to spin them. It's only been recently that I have fallen into the "use up what I have mode"--everything from a back-stock of shampoo and soap, to spinning what I have, and knitting what I have already purchased--before buying more. It's been a combination of my not working very much lately and the economy souring that has put me in this use up mentality.

Months ago I posted pics of spinning this yarn, so I'll skip that for this post. Plus, all of the pics are on the old computer and I haven't transferred them to the new one.

The Knit Game
Okay, how many times can one re-knit sleeves on a sweater? Depends on how anal you are. I re-did the sleeves three times. Really. I used a basic top-down raglan sweater pattern, but made several changes to it. I wasn't happy with the looseness/baggyness of the sleeves, and kept ripping them back to the shoulder or to the elbow until I was happy with the size and the amount of decreasing.

I did a 3x1 ribbed pattern between the shoulder sections on the top. I wanted to give the sweater more strength on the top, just in case it sagged/grew a little while wearing.

Another change I made was adding a split welt to the bottom. I wanted this sweater the drape freely, and I also am not found of the bulkiness created by having ribbing on the bottom (it also makes one look, well, heavier). I haven't blocked this yet, so the bottom rolls up a bit. This should end up flat after washing and blocking.

The other big change was the collar. I made a stand-up, fold-over collar, by knitting about 2.5 inches of shetland, doing a K2, yo, row, then a knit row, then 2.5 inches of handspun cashmere I had hanging around. I then folded it over inward, and tacked it down.

I knit this in a 1x1 rib, which made it nice and stretchy. For the V-neck section of the collar, I just crocheted one row in black, evening out the edging, which made it nice and uniform to pick up stitches for the collar. I then knit a couple rounds in black, then 4 in the grey, then single crocheted 1 row of white cashmere. I followed this up to the standup collar, creating a nice and even white edging. It might flatten out with blocking, but I don't mind the outward curl. It makes it more relaxed looking.

It fits pretty well! The only thing I'd change would be to have about 1.5 inches less in the underarm. The pattern called for 4 more inches than what I had, and it was too baggy. The spinning is light and lofty, and will be a very warm sweater! I tried it on with just a t-shirt to take the pics, and it was not very itchy at all! The cool thing about it is each one of the different fleeces yielded a different hand (feel) to it! The white is the softest, the greyish is closer to the white in softness, and the black is the "roughest" but I use that term loosely.

I'm pretty psyched that I finally have a handspun sweater for ME! J has 2, plus a vest, so I thought it was my turn to get one!

Thanks for visiting my blog!
Chris

And the Wheel Keeps on Turning, Turning...Summer Stash Bustin'!

No knitting. No swatching. No tea reviews. In the last week I've just been spinning. Spinning up a storm! I wrote a couple posts ago about this being the Summer of Stash Busting--knitting with yarns that I have stock-piled, and spinning yarn out of the stash of rovings and batts (rectangular sections of carded fiber).

Over the last week I spun up 600 yards (4.75 oz) of Lincoln/silk blend roving from something I bought way back at SOAR at Smuggler's Notch, Vermont in 1996; 475 yards (3.1 oz) of Cormo almost-lace my friend Joanne at Pine Ledge Studio carded with perfection for me over 8 years ago; 380 yards (4.1 oz) of alpaca/merino/silk roving from the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat in Easton, New York in May; and 255 yards (3 oz) of dark brown alpaca from my friend Maple at North Star Alpacas in Michigan.

First four pics are of the Lincoln/silk blend...
click on for larger view...

top pic is of the attenuated fiber
next pic is of the first attempt balled up
third pic is a close up of the second attempt of lace, next to the control lace yarn
last pic of this project is of the finished skein

The Lincoln/silk blend was fun at times to spin. I have oodles of it, about 12 oz, and spun up the best of it in this skein. I had to pre-draft it (attenuate it to make it easier to spin), as it was sitting around in a bag in our fiber room for years, which compacted the fiber in places. Lincoln is a long, shiny, hairy sheep fiber, very durable and strong, but not too soft. The silk blended in with it adds more sheen and shine, and some softness. My pile of this was a mixture of part rovings, which were kind of snarly (from the Lincoln), and some larger sections that I think were "clouds" which is kind of like a batt, but thinner.

I spun up about an ounce of the stuff, trying to achieve lace-weight yarn, but it was late at night and my spinning got worse as the night went on. I plied it from a single that I balled up on my ball winder, using the end from the center of the ball and the end from the outside of the ball to yield a two-ply. I washed it up, let it dry overnight. See the pic of it at the right. It's about twice as thick as my true lace sample I had hanging from my wheel, so I spent the second night spinning up another 4.75 oz onto two bobbins.

My second attempt (the third pic) was closer to the true lace, but I'm pretty happy with it, as the fiber just got more wiry the thinner I spun it. I could have spun it a bit thinner, but I think it would have been termed "iron yarn" at that point!

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The second spinning project was the Cormo, a supersoft sheepwool, that I think is 3/4 Merino, which is the softest sheep fiber. Cormo is typically white, and yields a brilliantly white yarn, although I believe there are now black and possibly gray Cormo sheep. I think that it is spongier than Merino, is extremely soft and is great for against-the-skin garments, but like Merino, it also felts easily.

Pics at right: first one is of the white Cormo batt
Second one is a shot of the attenuated fiber

Third pic is a shot of the spinning
Fourth pic in this group is of the two skeins of Cormo yarn

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The third spinning project was the alpaca/merino/silk roving I got at the Knitter's Retreat, and was really fun and easy to spin. It is a luscious yarn, and I can't wait to knit it up! Maybe socks...

The dark alpaca from Maple in Michigan was fun, easy, and quick to spin up. I spun it all up last night, plied it today, and washed/soaked it and it's drying right now. The true weight of the skein may be a little lighter, as it is still slightly damp. I absolutely love the dark color of it, I believe it is from an alpaca named Polaris--I'll have to check!

More later! Have fun...