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

Colorways, Navajo plying, and projects

Just a quick update on the yarn from the alpaca roving I wrote about in my last post. I have around 1,000 yards, with 6 oz left to spin. Here's a picture of one of the skeins that has been wound on my ball winder. I usually don't ball my yarn up until I'm really ready to use it, but I am dying to knit a sample from it! The skeins came out really light and airy, and have a WPI of 21 (wraps per inch for you non-spinners). I think it will make fabulous socks! I have enough to also do a scarf. With the extra left on one bobbin, I plied it with some extra wool I had on another bobbin from the Dr. G's Vest I spun the yarn for (mentioned in a previous blog...)

Upcoming projects (as always, click on the pics for a larger view)
Silk Lace: At the knitting retreat we had a schwag* event where you pick numbers and the lowest numbers get to pick first, etc. I was number 12 out of 20 something because I was a "Chatty-Cathy", so I missed out on some really great stuff, although what I got was wonderful too.

I picked out a skein of Cherry Tree Hill cascade lace (1,000 yards of 100% silk) in a beautiful Martha's Vineyard colorway with purples, blues, and greens. (Funny how all three things I got at the Retreat have the same colors! Just different shades and blends.) The silk makes the colors shimmer. I have no idea exactly what I'm going to do with it.

Soysilk: This was a lovely gift for being a workshop presenter. It's 50/50 soysilk and merino. It's called Karaoke, in the Mermaid colorway, with plum, seaweed green and some light olive greens (others may say teals, purples and blues, but I'm blue/green colorblind, so what do I know!). I pulled the roving into 2 long strips, then broke just one into 4 more. I spent some time attenuating just one strip--the "silk" feels just like real silk, has the same shimmer, and has the same "tacky" feeling from being dyed, ie., it clumps some. This made attenuating a bit of fun. Not! But, the time I spent attenuating (also called predrafting) was well worth the effort. The fiber drafted well when I spun it, and I spun enough to make a sample swatch.

I really wanted to maintain the colors in the plying, so I spun up a bit on just one bobbin, then I Navajo plied the single, with my wheel set at moderate uptake, I treadled verrrryyyyyyy sllllooooowwwwly.... Navajo plying turns a single ply into a 3-ply. It's like finger crocheting. You pull out a loop from the main "line" about 10-20", or shorter (when pulled out, the loop now has two "sides"), the leader then wraps around the two "sides", thus making a 3-ply. This takes a LOT of practice! If you treadle too fast, it's just a harsh, tight and overplied yarn. I really wanted this to be soft, and to maintain the color changes at the same time. One hard part is to ensure that where the loop meets the next loop that there is not an overlap, because you can see this. Navajo plying (in my opinion) works better on thinner yarn because the "join" is less obvious. For a lesson and video clip go here: navajo plying.

I knitted up a 4" x 8" swatch, using a modified basket weave. Mine was 3 sts edging, then *(k2, p3)* repeat between * * to last 3 sts, then 3 st edging; next row: maintaining 3 st edgings, *(p3,k2)* repeat to last 3 sts, do 3 st edging. Repeat rows 1 & 2, then do row 1 again. On the next row (row 6), do a purl row (this is the back side). Then repeat the first 5 rows, but switch the k2, p3 to p2, k3, thus offsetting the sts. On the 12th row do a purl row. Anywho, you probably get it by now!

The purl row creates a pull on the front, so that the knit blocks on the right side pop out, and almost have a convex curve. It's cool!

I plan on doing at least a scarf with this. I think it's 8 oz.

Superfine Merino Top: The last stash I got at the retreat was 7 oz of superfine dyed merino top in a green/blue colorway. This one has more greens and blues in it than the other two stashes, with some purple. I haven't spun up any of this yet, but have attenuated a couple of strips. More later!

*for a history of "schwag" go here: schwag