OK, I admit - I splurged without thinking it through, based on lovely colors, and bought 24 ounces of Lincoln roving. I was figuring a sweater - I've lost 60 pounds and making sweaters for myself now seems doable. I've made dozens of sweaters for others and not one for myself for decades, literally - time for a change! :)
This is very soft Lincoln, not prickly next to the skin, though when spun it's not as soft of course. It's quite shiny, lacks crimp so won't have any elasticity to speak of. It requires more twist than I'm used to doing to make a nice-looking yarn, but with the espinner that's OK. I was thinking 3 ply, just because I usually 3-ply anymore, and I think it's a good choice with this wool to avoid the yarn looking stringy, based on a quick couple of small samples I spun up (I've got several major projects stacked up right now, so won't have time to really work on this until probably January). The color is two-toned: a soft butterscotchy yellow sandwiched between two streaks of a soft warm green, kind of celery-ish (doncha love these technical color descriptions? :) The result is the colors blend pretty well on the whole, and candystriping isn't real obvious because the values are quite similar. It also means the color isn't real interesting, and I may decide to overdye the finished yarn. The fact it's both Lincoln and roving means I can't get the best of either the smooth combed wool world or the fuzzy wooly roving world. The yarn halos a little, but not like mohair. Irregularities shine out because of the sheen, and are common because of the roving (which is very good quality, but that's just the way roving is). So, currently I'm thinking a sport-weight 3-ply yarn with some extra twist (20 degrees) in the singles. But I can't quite imagine what would be a good knitting stitch to use. I think the color variations won't be enough to keep stockinette stitch from being a total bore. It might do well with a knit-purl combo. A simple lace pattern might be nice, but the irregularities and possibly the halo might detract. I don't want to do cables for this project, unless maybe just a few sprinkled about to contrast with other stitches. Anyone have any ideas? Holly
