Phase One Complete

Well friends, I did it: I finished my Boxy spin! It's taken me since mid-November (with a brief break in December), but I've spun up 32 oz. of fiber into five skeins for my sweater. The last skein was officially finished yesterday.

The last skein (the one on the far right in the photo above) was spun from 6 oz. of Sky, the lightest colorway, and ended up being about 450 yards. In total, I have a bit more than 2,300 yards -- plenty more than what's called for in the pattern. I won't have any worry about running out, and I should have more than enough to lengthen the sleeves. I can't wait to cast on (but I will have to wait, because I just cast on another sweater and want to finish that one first).

So what's next? There are so many things I want to spin, but today, when I had a bit of time, I grabbed my HipStrings club shipment because it was the closest thing. I'm spinning the top first (there's 4 oz. of it) and then I'll do the batt. If I'm being honest, I got so used to spinning the Buoy that it feels a little odd to be spinning something else. If it starts to feel too weird, there is more Buoy in my stash!

So Close I Can Taste It*

As of this afternoon, I have one bobbin of HipStrings Buoy singles in Sky done and two left to spin. That means just two more bobbins (plus, of course, plying) before my last sweater skein is done. If I'm being honest, this is my favorite colorway of the whole project.

I will definitely be putting in more hours on this spin this week in an effort to finish it up.

As if finishing getting the final skein done wasn't enough motivation, I got some additional this week in the form of the first HipStrings Synergy fiber club shipment. This fiber club was a bit more expensive than other clubs I've been in, but knowing the thought and energy that Jill puts into her fiber blends, I knew it would be worth it -- and this shipment didn't disappoint.

The first shipment focuses on how fiber prep can affect the blending of different fibers and the finished yarn. The fiber blend in the box is presented three ways: as combed top, carded batts, and component parts.

The colorway is called Pebbles, and it's a blend of 50% Merino wool, 25% Zwartbles wool, 12.5% Tussah silk, and 12.5% Sari silk. You can see the top on the left, the batts on the upper right, and the components on the bottom right. The gizmo at the top is a handy tool to secure your ends when you step away from spinning.

As with all of Jill's blends, the fiber reads as one color (a sort of greenish gray) from far away, but when you look at it up close, you can see all the different colors and shades. I'm really excited to spin this up -- just as soon as the sweater spin is done -- and I think I'll likely spin each prep on its own so I can compare how the prep affects the finished yarn. I might take the components baggie and throw the content on my drum carder to make another batt, too.


*Just for the record, while I will happily smell wool, I do not endorse tasting it unless you want a fuzzy tongue.

4/5

The extra time I've been spending at my wheel lately has paid off -- the fourth skein (of five total skeins) for my handspun Boxy is done! I finished plying just a little while ago, in fact, and the skein is now getting its spa treatment. Before it went into its bath, though, I snapped a few pictures. Just be aware that it looks a little twisty because these were taken fresh off the wheel.

This was another 8 oz. skein, using one braid each of Buoy in Bay and Sky. As with the previous 8 oz. skein, I faded from one color to the other. I think this might be my favorite. I obviously won't know final yardage until it's fully dry from setting the twist, but I think it might be in the neighborhood of 600 yards or so, giving me somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,800 yards total thus far. That's already more than I likely need for the pattern, but having extra yardage will allow me to have some leeway in making the body and sleeves longer than specified should I decide I want to.

Here's a nice portrait of the four skeins together:

The fiber for the final skein -- 6 oz. of Sky, the lightest color -- is ready to go and will likely go on the wheel starting tomorrow. I am really getting excited to get this whole batch of yarn finished so I can cast on!

Just Like Old Times

After more than two weeks of not spinning, I was very much missing my wheel and made up for all that time away during the Olympics. In the past week, I've finished two bobbins of singles toward the next skein of my sweater spin:

and I'm nearly halfway through the third:

I imagine that I'll be done with the singles and perhaps even have gotten them plied by this time next week, leaving me just one more skein left to spin for the project. As lovely as this fiber is to spin, I'm going to be very happy to be done with it if only so I can spin something a little different for a change! There has been plenty of new fiber coming in to the stash while this project has been under way, including the January shipment of the Southern Cross Fibre club, which showed up later than expected due to some shipping snafus (all on the part of the USPS, not David).

This is a colorway called Fragonard on South African Superfine, and it is as soft as you would think. I'm pondering how to spin this in a way that won't muddy up the delicate colors. Suggestions welcome!

A Possible Hiatus

It's Sunday, and usually that means spinning, but when Sunday falls in the middle of the Ravellenic Games and I'm trying to knit a sweater in two weeks, that means spinning gets largely ignored. I am taking a pause in my spinning for the time being, though it's possible I may find some time to do some if I'm really productive with my sweater knitting. Still, there's been a little more progress since the last time you saw a bobbin shot.

These are the first singles in the final color for my sweater, Sky. I was expecting the yarn to turn out a bit darker than the fiber as the other colors did, but these singles look pretty similar the original fiber. Perhaps the yarn will be a bit darker when plied, though I'll have to wait a while to see if that's the case. All things considered, it feels good to be past the halfway point on this project, and I'm definitely excited to get to the knitting part.

And Then There Were Three

Thanks to a lot of extra spinning time the past couple of weeks, I have finished the third (and, thus far, largest) skein of handspun for my sweater spin. I started plying Friday night and finished it up yesterday afternoon. It's a monster, at 8 ounces and 653 yards of three-ply fingering weight.

This skein used two different colorways of HipStrings Buoy (37.5% BFL, 37.5% Shetland, and 25% Manx Loaghtan). I split up the fiber into smaller bits so that the colors gradually shift from the purple to the blue

Here is how the completed skeins look together, as they will be used in the sweater:

I've got two more skeins left to spin -- the medium blue transitioning to the lightest blue and the lightest blue on its own -- and it's looking like I will have enough yardage. These three skeins alone total 1,270 yards, and technically the pattern calls for only about 400 yards more than that. But having more yardage means I can make the larger of the two sizes I'm considering and make the sleeves full length if I wish. I'm excited to start knitting the sweater, but the spinning has been so enjoyable that I'm not altogether sad that I still have more to do!

The Last Bobbin

Just a short post from me tonight, as I've just spent a couple of hours cooking and cleaning and I'm about ready to drop.

I'm still spinning Buoy for my sweater, but the end of the third skein is in sight. I'm officially onto the third and final bobbin, and I'm more than a quarter of way into that. Here are the two finished bobbins, patiently waiting for their triplet to be finished so they can be plied:

For now, I'm ignoring the fact that I have at least two more skeins to spin for this project (perhaps more, because now I'm thinking I might want to do some smaller skeins so the sleeves match). I'll be happy to finish up this skein and may perhaps take a bit of a break with some other fiber in other colors. With any luck, you'll be seeing a finished skein in this spot next Sunday!

Fin.

I feel as if I've reached a key milestone in my "career" as a knitter and spinner: I can now officially say that I have knit my first sweater from my own handspun.

You may recall that at the beginning of this year, I set out to spin up two pounds of some mystery wool I had inherited from a friend into enough yarn for a sweater. I knew that this sweater project was ambitious and so made it one of my spinning goals for the entire year -- by year's end, I had hoped to have spun up enough yarn for the sweater and knit it. I didn't have any specific pattern in mind, seeing as I had no idea how much yardage I'd get from the fiber, but I was aiming for a three-ply worsted weight yarn, as that seemed to be a weight that would yield a lot of options in terms of patterns to choose from and one that would be fairly time-efficient to spin (I knew that if I spun my usual thickness of yarn, I'd be spinning most of the year and would need several more months to knit up the resulting fingering weight yarn into a sweater). Moreover, I wanted to spin something a little thicker because I intended to spin all the singles at once, without spinning anything else in between, in an effort to keep them as consistent as possible.

I began spinning on January 1 and did, on average, an ounce of singles a day. I had separated out my fiber into one-ounce bundles ahead of time to make this process a little easier. After I spun an ounce, I let the singles rest on the bobbin for a day or two and then wound them off onto my ball winder and transferred the resulting center-pull ball onto a toilet paper or paper towel tube for storage. I ended up spinning a total of 30 ounces, which left a little bit of fiber from the original two pounds that I saved in case I wanted or needed to spin up some thinner yarn for seaming my sweater.

The plying phase went much more quickly. I wanted to randomize my singles to some extent to combat any unevenness between them, but because I am also a little anal about things, I also wanted to have a system for how I plied them. I ended up plying the first, 11th, and 21st "bobbin" of singles and then the second, 12th, and 22nd and so on. I stopped plying when the first of the three storage bobbins I was plying from ran out and threw whatever was left on the other two into a bag for later. After I had my 10 skeins of plied yarn finished, I plied up an 11th skein with all the leftovers, adding in more each time one ran out. In the end, I had approximately 1,250 yards of three-ply worsted weight yarn, spun in about six weeks, with virtually nothing leftover.

Now came the hard part: picking the sweater pattern. The Ravelry database was enormously helpful once I had some specific parameters set regarding the yarn weight and yardage available, but looking through the patterns on Ravelry can sometimes be more confusing than helpful because there are so many great patterns from which to choose. Then I happened to be listening to Chrissy over at the Manic Purl Podcast and heard her talk about the sweater she was working on. When I looked it up on Ravelry, it seemed perfect: The yardage and yarn weight specifications fit, it had a nice mix of fabric textures, and it had a look I loved. Without much thought, I bought and downloaded the pattern. I swatched almost immediately, got gauge, and cast on on February 20.

And a little more than a week ago, I finished the last of the seaming and weaving in of ends and sewed on the buttons -- less than four months from fiber to sweater.

Pattern: Acer Cardigan (Ravelry link) by Amy Christoffers, 38" bust size
Yarn: my handspun, three-ply worsted weight from mystery wool
Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) Knit Picks Options and US 5 (3.75 mm) KP Options for button bands and collar
Started/Completed: February 20/April 23
Mods: added more length to the body and picked up more stitches than specified for the button bands and collar

I really enjoyed knitting this pattern. The construction of the sweater was a bit new to me, which was part of the enjoyment. The body is knit back and forth in one piece from the bottom up to the armholes, at which point stitches are bound off for the underarms and the back and fronts are worked separately. The shaping at the shoulder is worked in short rows and the seams are joined using a three-needle bind off. The sleeves are knit in the round from the cuff up to the underarm, where again stitches are bound off, and then the sleeve cap is worked flat. Finally, the sleeves are set in to the armscye in the round (and frankly that's what scared me a bit at the end, because set-in sleeves always give me trouble and I'd never done one in the round, but they ended up being a lot easier than a typical set-in sleeve).

I did add some length -- I think about an inch -- to the body because when I'd knit to the specified length, it was hitting me in an unflattering spot and I knew any shirt I'd wear underneath it would likely hang out the bottom if I didn't make it a little longer. I also had to fudge the numbers for the button bands and collar a bit, as you may remember, though that's a pretty typical mod for me to make because I never can seem to pick up the same number of stitches as the designer. That didn't bother me too much, because I was more concerned with getting a button band that fit the sweater (and obviously I needed more stitches because the body of the sweater was longer). I believe that I ended up adding an additional buttonhole and button because of this added length as well. The buttons themselves came from my grab bag of buttons; they're a dark blue that I selected mainly because they were the right size for the buttonholes, I was able to find the right number of them in the bag, and I was too lazy to wait until I had a chance to go button shopping. I think they're actually a pretty good match for the sweater; I didn't want anything to draw attention away from the details in the sweater or the yarn, so in that respect, I think they're a success.

The pattern was, for the most part, a delight to knit. It's very clearly written, with easy-to-read charts, a schematic, and only a few pictures that show key parts of the design. I did run across a couple of areas of difficulty, though, that I think you should be aware of should you decide to knit it yourself. The first was a very obvious typo near the end of the directions for finishing the back where it's clear that several words were copied and pasted or typed twice; I sent the designer a message on Ravelry about this, and she said that she is going to be correcting the error in the PDF. It's not an error that will cause a mistake, though, so if you already have the pattern or buy it before the correction is made, you won't have a problem. Though I didn't really follow the numbers, as I mentioned above, I'm not convinced that all the numbers given for the collar are correct. It should be a multiple of four plus two (it's a 2x2 rib but the first two and last two stitches should be knit as seen from the right side). The smallest size and the largest three sizes all have numbers that are multiples of four only, so if you're knitting one of these sizes and are picking up the number of stitches specified, keep in mind that you will need to add in two more stitches somewhere. Finally, though the supplies list on the first page of the pattern does say that you'll need a size 5 needle "for edging," the directions do not specifically state that you should switch to the smaller needle when you get to the button bands. This is probably something I should have marked myself so I wouldn't forget, but I did forget and had to rip out my first attempt at a button band because of it, so it would have been nice to have had it stated explicitly in the directions.

Overall, I am very pleased with how my sweater tuned out. I did have a fair amount of yarn left over, including the rest of the skein I used for my swatch, so the yardage estimate seems to have been pretty accurate. It fits perfectly and is the right length, and obviously it was a fun knit. Unfortunately, it's also as itchy as all get out, even when worn with a long-sleeved shirt underneath (as it was on Saturday morning, when it was still a little chilly outside and I decided to give the sweater its first wearing). I still have no idea what breed of sheep the fiber came from, though my guess is that it's a dual-coated sheep based on the coarser guard hairs that both fell out as I was spinning and stick out and poke me when I wear the sweater. I even gave the sweater a good long soak in the tub with some hair conditioner when it was finally all sewn up and finished in the hope that it would soften some, but it's still extremely rough and rustic.

So, my big spinning project for the year is finished. While the sweater I ended up with isn't the softest, most luxurious garment ever, it is very warm and I can tell that it will wear well and will last for many years to come. The bigger sense of accomplishment, to me, comes from the fact that I was able to spin enough yarn to knit a sweater in a relatively short period of time and to the specifications I wanted. I know that I can do it now and that this handspun sweater will not be my last.

Ever So Close

I haven't posted about my Acer Cardigan in a while because it went into brief (and probably undeserved) hibernation. I was about halfway through the increases on the second sleeve while knitting at my LYS when my friend, who is also the store manager, asked me if I would mind knitting a sample for the shop. It was just a simple ribbed scarf, and would be a short one at that, so I of course said yes. It took me maybe a week to knit the thing, which isn't bad at all considering how much I usually loathe knitting scarves, but that meant that the sleeve was ignored until the scarf was done.

Fortunately, once the sample knitting was done, I was able to make fast work of that sleeve. I finished up the sleeve cap and bound off last night at Hurricane Knitting. I had already done the three-needle bind off on the shoulders when I finished the body, so once the sleeve was done, the next step was to start in the button bands.

Picking up stitches for button bands and collars and things always makes me a bit nuts because I can never seem to pick up the right number. This time around, I decided to be a little logical about how I was going to do it, especially because my row gauge was a little off and I knew I'd have to pick up more stitches than specified. The ratio of stitches to rows in this pattern's gauge was about 7 to 10, so I rounded that a bit and decided to pick up about three stitches for every four rows. I also took into account the pattern for the button band, which is in a 2x2 rib with an extra stitch at the bottom and two extra stitches at the top -- or, in other words, a multiple of 4 plus 3. I figured I could follow my 3 stitches for every 4 rows guideline and fudge it a bit if I had to to get a multiple of 4 plus 3. I picked up all the stitches according to this plan and was pleased that I ended up picking up the first three stitches and also the last three without trying (I really don't like it when my button band doesn't line up with, say, the cast on edge of the sweater). Then I counted the stitches, figuring I could undo a handful and pick up fewer or more to get a number that would work, and was amazed when I came up with 99 -- a multiple of 4 plus 3! It's a bit more than the recommended number for my size (which I think was about 83), but it looked just fine. Moreover, because I picked up exactly three stitches for every four rows, I know I can replicate it for the second button band.

This was clearly the extent of my knitting good luck for the night, because after finishing three rows before we were kicked out* of Barnes & Noble, I discovered that I had neglected to go down a needle size for the ribbing. So, as soon as I got home last night, I ripped back to the picked up stitches and started again with my size 5s. I managed to get the whole band knit and began the bind off while watching the hockey game (though I put it away and went to bed after the first overtime), so I should be able to finish it and get a good start on the other one tonight.

Once the button bands and collar are done, I'll have to face the music and set in the sleeves -- I'm saving it until the end mostly because I always have trouble sewing in set-in sleeves, and this is the first time I'll have to do it in the round -- and find some buttons. I am guessing I will have this done by the end of the month, so now I just have to hope that it's cool enough in Maryland to wear it at least once!


*Only because the store was closing -- we were actually on pretty good behavior last night.

One of Two

We have a sleeve! Finished at knit night last night and it fits perfectly.

Would you like to admire my sleeve cap shaping? Of course you would.

The second sleeve will be cast on this evening and I anticipate a matching pair in another week or so!

Sweater-shaped Object

Though the calendar says spring here, Mother Nature clearly has other plans, because it's been in the 30s and 40s all week. As much as I hate the fact that tomorrow is April and I'm still wearing my winter coat, the chilly weather is conducive to sweater knitting. My Acer Cardigan is starting to resemble a sweater! I finished the back the other night and did the three-needle bind offs needed to join the shoulders.

(Yes, I'm aware that this is the worst picture ever. Have I mentioned it's also been snowing and therefore there's pretty much no sunlight?)

Now that the body is done, the rest of the knitting is pretty much smooth sailing. There's no patterning on the sleeves at all save for some ribbing at the cuffs, and they're knit in the round up to the sleeve cap, so I don't have to pay much attention. I managed to get about five inches knit in an hour and a half last night at knit night.

Assuming I can pull myself away from my spinning and some secret knitting, these sleeves should get knit up pretty quickly. I have about five weeks until Maryland Sheep and Wool, and I'm pretty confident this sweater will be done by then.

Marching Forward

Just a quick post for tonight, because my Mac and I are still getting to know each other and it took me 25 minutes to find the pictures I wanted to upload.

My Acer Cardigan is moving right along. I have a few more rows to do before I split for the fronts and back.

I'm currently on my fourth skein of yarn and already starting to freak out that I'll run out, even though I know I have more than the yardage specified. I have a feeling this sweater will start to move a lot faster once I do the split -- it's very slow going when you're doing the entire width of the sweater in each row.

Although I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, I do have a little bit of spinning to show you -- also slow going, because I'm spinning for lace. I absolutely love love love this fiber, though.

This is the alpaca/merino/silk from All Spun Up that is the February/March spinalong fiber. The colorway is called Enchanted, and it's certainly enchanted me! It's been a while since I spun anything with alpaca in it, so it took me a little while to get the hang of it. After all that dark brown, it's pure pleasure to spin my favorite colors again!

Sweater Project, Week 7

It took a full six weeks, but the yarn for my sweater is done. I finished plying the last skein (a mishmash of all the scraps from the previous skeins) last Sunday night. In all, I have 11 skeins that total roughly 1254 yards. It is worsted weight, about 10-11 wpi, which is just what I was going for.

My camera was not cooperating with me yesterday when I was trying to take advantage of the sun to get some good shots of it, so the color isn't very accurately represented here. In reality, it's a deep chocolate brown with some flecks of white here and there.

The above pictures were taken without the flash. The picture below is taken with the flash, and it's a little darker than the real thing, but you get the idea.

After determining my final yardage, I purchased the pattern for the Acer Cardigan and printed it out, and then last night, after Rainbow went to bed, I wound the first skein into a ball, turned on an episode of Masterpiece Classic on the DVR, and knit a swatch.

I was a good girl and let it soak in some water and dry overnight before I measured gauge. I got 20 stitches and 26 rows/4 inches -- spot on for stitch gauge, but half a row off on row gauge. Totally manageable. I cast on this afternoon!

Sweater Project, Week 6

It's been a busy week of plying here and little else, which is why I haven't blogged since last Sunday. I do have a nice pile of finished yarn to show you, though it's not completely up to date. This is the first seven skeins:


As I type, the eighth skein has been added to the pile; skein #9 is drying in the bathroom upstairs after its bath; and skein #10 is on the wheel, ready to be wound onto my niddy noddy. All that's left is to deal with the leftovers, which I'm planning on combining to make the 11th skein, and I'm officially done with all the spinning for this sweater!* I should have at least 1,100 yards, though I'm hoping for about 1,200. Just about time to pick out a pattern -- please share any suggestions if you've got 'em! I'm thinking cardigan, nothing too fussy or fancy (or in any stitch pattern that would get lost in this dark color).

*I still have an ounce of fiber left that I may spin up later in a two ply for seaming, if I go the seamed route for the sweater, but that shouldn't take me more than a day or so to do.

Sweater Project, Week 5

For the record, this is what 30 ounces of fiber look like when they've been spun up as singles:


The last ounce was finished yesterday afternoon, so it took me 36 days to spin all 30 ounces. Plying starts today!

Sweater Project: Week 4

Rather than showing you what's been spun so far, it's easier to show you what's left. There are six ounces in my bag ...

and one on the wheel, partially spun up.

The goal is to have this all spun up by next Sunday evening -- I don't think watching the Super Bowl will be conducive to spinning a consistent single!

Sweater Project, Week 3

Although I thought that by now I might've been slowing down in my spinning, I seem to be keeping a pretty good pace. Here you see my status as of this morning -- a total of 17 ounces spun. This afternoon, while Rainbow took a nice long nap, I caught up on some old podcasts and finished spinning ounce number 18. That means I'm keeping a pace of about 6 ounces a week, or a little less than an ounce a day. If I can keep it up, I should have all the singles spun in two more weeks.

Plying should take me less time by a significant amount -- I'm hoping I can ply a skein a day -- and then I'll have to pick out my sweater pattern. Dare I say it might be possible to have my sweater done by Maryland Sheep & Wool?

Sweater Project: Week 2

As of yesterday, 12 ounces spun, three more from the first pound to go!

Coming soon: a real, live knitted finished object!

Sweater Project: Week 1

As of this morning, when I took this picture, I had six ounces spun up and the seventh on the wheel.

The seventh ounce was finished this afternoon and ounce number eight is now in progress. We're moving right along here! (By the way, how do you like my high-tech storage bobbins?)

Spinning 2011: The Sweater Project

After many years of failing to keep my new year's resolutions, I have pretty much quit making them. This year, however, I've decided to embark on a pretty ambitious project for the year. Some time ago, I inherited about two pounds of naturally colored wool from a friend who had learned to spin and then decided it wasn't for her. It's been sitting in my stash ever since while I've entertained myself spinning dyed fiber, and late last year I decided that it was time to tackle it. It is a mystery wool -- soft enough that I can bear to spin it but also "tough" enough that it should make a yarn that will wear well. The label calls it "natural black" in color, which really means a deep chocolate brown (in real life, a little darker than it appears in this photo).

The goal of this project? Spin up this fiber into yarn and knit that yarn into a sweater. I haven't selected what sweater I will knit yet -- I'm waiting to see how much yarn I can get from the fiber before I pick a pattern -- but I'm trying to spin a three-ply worsted weight yarn. I split up my first pound into little bundles of an ounce each and am spinning one ounce at a time. As of last night, I have finished spinning singles from two ounces and have started in on the third. The plan is to spin all the singles (I have a large collection of empty toilet paper rolls waiting to hold the singles so that I have free bobbins for spinning other things) and then ply. I was worried about getting bored with spinning only naturally colored fiber for a long period of time, but so far I'm enjoying it; an ounce is also an easy amount to spin up, so I can take a break between ounces.

To clear off my bobbins in order to start spinning my sweater yarn on January 1, I finished up what was on my wheel on December 31 -- Welsh top from Crown Mountain Farms, the September 2010 shipment. I spun the singles from the fold for a two-ply heavy worsted weight yarn measuring about 115 yards. I don't love the feel of this yarn -- it's definitely way too rough for next to the skin -- nor did I love spinning it, as it shed all over the place, but I did love the colorway (Walpurgis).

I finished 2010 having spun up all but two of my CMF shipments; one of those will definitely be spun, one may never be spun. Another fiber going into the definitely will be spun category is the first shipment from the 2011 fiber club, this South African top in a colorway called Celtic Glow.

This should be a perfect break from my sweater yarn when I get sick of "natural black"!