I finally decided to quit dreaming and start doing the sweater in Fair
Isle using our Shetland wool!
I've got roving in 5 colors: white, black, gray, moorit (brown), and
musket (grayish brown). White is the background color, ribbing, etc, as
I have more of it than anything else.
To avoid strong horizontals, I'm using vertical patterns along with
changing the pattern color fairly quickly--3-5 rows per color. The
patterns are from traditional Shetland designs, modified slightly to
suit the arrangement I wanted.
I spun a 3-ply sport or maybe DK weight yarn from the roving, and I'm
really enjoying working with it. Since it's from roving, it's, <ahem>,
rather more textured than I usually like, but it's lofty and cushy and
fuzzy, my favorite handspun wool characteristics. Singles are 32 wpi,
15 degree twist angle, balanced plied. I did a gauge swatch of another
bottle carrier, and have a gauge of 6 sts to the inch.
I've got the ribbing and 7 rows of pattern done now. I'm using a metal
doohickey I bought in Germany (20 years ago!) to control the yarn. It
slips over the finger that normally holds the yarn, and has 2 loops
sticking out, one for each color. I can knit nearly at stockinette
speed with this thing!
The sweater will be knit as a tube from the bottom to the shoulder.
I'll cut the front and armhole openings, then pick up stitches to knit
the sleeves down and the front edgings. No back-and-forth in color
patterns for me.
It's nice to finally be making a garment for myself that's more than
mittens, hat, and scarf :)
Holly
To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
