Sweater done, spinning in progress...

I love the feeling of finishing things... got a few more done this week. The never-ending sweater is finally knitted. Took a picture of it before blocking:

I like the way it turned out, but there are a couple of things I still want to do before I wear it.  Blocking would be the first thing, and I have given it the first warm bath of its life.  At the moment it is drying on a screen.  Never ceases to amaze me how the stitches smooth out after blocking.  Didn't need any wires in this one, just laid it out flat.  Second thing I'll be doing is adding a band of ribbon to the back of the button bands.  The knitting is wonderfully soft, but it isn't likely to support buttonholes and buttons without sagging.  So rather than wait for that to happen, I'll be putting the ribbon on to stabilize it.

I've also been finishing up some spinning that has been hanging around for a while. Here is a small skein of Amethyst Heather merino from Ashland Bay.  It started as one of the lovely striped tops that they are so famous for.  I just got a tiny sample (this skein is 9 grams) so that I could check the colors.  I'm pleased with this colorway, it "reads" visually as purple, but it is made up of blues, reds, pinks and grays.  Very nice indeed - I'll be ordering up more of this one. Statistics: 32 yards, 9 grams; Amethyst Heather merino top from Ashland Bay; spindle spun singles clockwise, Navajo plied counterclockwise 15 treadles.

This one has been hanging out on a spindle for who knows how long.  I took it off the spindle onto a bobbin and Navajo plied it to this gorgeous yarn.  It is a black Shetland wool blended with dyed mohair locks in blue and fuschia.  I really didn't expect Shetland wool to be so soft.  Love the sparkle and shine of the mohair.  I'll certainly be doing more of this blend in the future!  Statistics: 92 yards, 31 grams; Shetland/Mohair; spindle spun singles clockwise, Navajo plied counterclockwise 14 treadles.

This brute of a skein is the beginning of a sweater project from the color study yarns.  This is the 50/50 blend of GNR and Dolly Dorset.  Love the heathering and the color.  This isn't the softest wool, so it will definitely be outerwear.  Haven't worn much green lately, but it is a good color for me and I'll enjoy working with my handspun on a larger project.  Statistics: 270 yards, 74 grams; 50/50 GNR/Dolly; spindle spun singles clockwise, Navajo plied counterclockwise 14 treadles.

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted...

Ahh, the joys of screwing things up... I'm well trained in clothing design.  At least I thought I was.  I did the things I was supposed to: knit the swatch, big enough to take measurements in several spots. Check.  Start knitting, check the gauge again.  Check.

This all went well, started knitting and didn't really think about it much more.  Until the wee hours of Monday night.  Blocked the cardigan pieces, and they kept growing and growing and growing.  Took some measurements - that sweater would fit King Kong.  I did what any sensible person would do - I walked away to keep from doing something horrible to all that knitted work.

It took another day for me to calm down enough to decide what to do next.  Declared it frogged on Ravelry, banished the pattern to the back of the work in progress clipboard, and announced a new project in that yarn.  At that point, I knew I'd be ravelling out the yarn.  Just finished doing that.  In a way, it was cathartic (though disturbing) to see how quickly I could undo the mistake I'd made.

More pondering, and now I'm thinking that I may re-knit the sweater.  A size smaller and on a size smaller needles, making all the changes I thought of as I worked it the first time.  Like doing the knitting in one piece as much as possible.  As I looked over the pattern again, I noticed it had knit up about two sizes too large - certainly not King Kong, but I'd never have worn it the way it was.  So I'll go back to Ravelry, update my projects again and begin again.

Now I have experience...



25% GNR 75% DD

 On the good news front, I finished the 25% Green Nasty Romney (GNR) and 75% Dolly Dorset (DD) skein of the color study.

Vital statistics on this skein:
25% GNR, 75% DD, three times through the carder to blend colors, singles spun clockwise, Navajo plied counterclockwise. 92 yards in this one ounce skein.



50/50 GNR/DD



I got a lot of carding done.  I was getting tired of looking at all that Green Nasty Romney.  So I chose the blend I liked best of the color study and that was the 50/50.  Carded up seven batts of that, about 300 grams total.  Might do some more, but this amount would give me enough to make a nice vest for myself. 



Pink NR, Sierra and white icicle



I also carded up four smallish batts of Pink Nasty Romney, Sierra (silver gray Corriedale) and a little white icicle sparkle fiber.  I've had batts of the Pink and Sierra sitting around for a while, and I got inspired by the Helix Scarf pattern in Spin Off magazine.  I really like the fact that the brilliance of the really hot pink was toned down by the silver gray of Sierra and a bit of sparkle from the icicle fiber.  Should spin up well and knit up to a pretty scarf - enough going on to be interesting, but not so much as to fight with the interest of the ruffling of the scarf.

More good news - got my first Cormo fleece in the mail yesterday.  What lovely stuff that is - washing it up now.  I'll take pictures when it gets dry...

Third skein of color study...

Here is the group so far.  The 100% Green Nasty Romney (GNR) is in the back, the middle skein is the 75% GNR/25% Dolly Dorset (DD). The one in front is the 50% GNR/50% DD. 

This color study has been fun to do.  I've still got two more skeins to go, but I like what I'm learning from the process.  Good to know that I can make many shades of yarn from one dye process.  These skeins are also proving that the blending works, even when the two types of wool are vastly different and actually can make the finished yarn more interesting.  The GNR is very long and wavy in structure with a luster, while the DD is a shorter, crimpier wool with a lot of bounce, but very little shine.  The difference in length is also making the heathering more interesting - little "blips" of color appear once in a while, and I find that I rather like that effect.



50% Green Nasty Romney/50% Dolly Dorset

 Here is the newest skein and it's stats:
50% GNR/50% DD, carded batt three times to blend color well.  Singles spun clockwise, Navajo plied counter-clockwise.  Spun singles entirely by handspindle, plied on the wheel.
106 yards, this yarn is a bit finer than the others, somewhat by intent, since I wanted to test the fineness I could reliably attain on the spindle.

I'm pleased with this yarn, I'll be doing more like this for a project I'm planning.

Stashdown update...

100% GNR at top, 75% GNR 25% DD at bottom

Two down, three to go.  Here's a shot of the first two skeins in the color study.

I really like this heathered yarn. The DD tones down the brilliance of the green just enough.  Very pleasant tweedy yarn.  The colors didn't blend perfectly and I rather like that feature.  Probably a function of the different staple lengths more than anything.  The GNR is probably about one and a half to twice the length of the DD. Spun well, washed and air dried. The DD didn't really fuzz out much in this blend. I'm expecting more "bounce" as the percentage of DD increases.

Vital statistics of the 75% GNR 25% DD:
100% Wool.  75% Green Nasty Romney, 25% Dolly Dorset.  Batts carded three times to blend colors.  Singles spun clockwise, Navajo plied counterclockwise.  80 yards, 1 ounce skein.

Next up: 50% GNR 50% DD.

Works in progress - Part Four

Pretty Thing for Janet

Well, here is "Pretty Thing" in Regia.  I'm doing it for a friend of mine and her favorite color is green.  Made sure that she likes lace before I started on it though!  I'm finding that I really like this pattern... not too fiddly, but very pretty all the same.  I found a link on Ravelry for this one too.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pretty-thing

I've always liked the look of knitted lace, and this piece is going much faster than the shawlette.  I'd like to finish this one up and get back to my other works in progress.  But for now, I'm really enjoying the process, watching the pattern come to life on the needles.  Gets prettier with every row, she really gave this pattern the right name!

Spinning of the Green...



Green Nasty Romney on the picker

 Here's a Stashdown update.  Picked the Green Nasty Romney. It turns out that it does have pretty long staple, and surprisingly it is somewhat glossy and silky feeling.  Still a lot of veg falling out at this stage.

Weighed out and carded all the batts, ran them through three times to completely blend the colors.  I also noticed that I missed one combination in the original posting, so I did that one too.  I think it was the 25% Green and 75% Gray that was missing from the lineup.

Here's a shot of the completed one ounce batts.

March Stashdown Color Study Batts

From left to right on the picker:
100% Green Nasty Romney (GNR)
75% GNR 25% Dolly Dorset (DD)
50% GNR 50% DD
25% GNR 75% DD
100% DD

Being the orderly sort, I started on the green end and started spinning.  The GNR is a delight to spin, long and silky, still picking out veg and second cuts and a few noils. As I mentioned, not the most impressive fleece I've ever worked with, but it is making up a nice yarn.

Finished up the 100% GNR batt, plied and washed the skein and here's the result:

100% Green Nasty Romney yarn

Details: 84 yards, 1 ounce. Spun singles clockwise, Navajo plied counterclockwise. Hand dyed in the fleece with Dharma #447 Emerald Green Acid dye.