On the hottest day this summer, no less, at 98 F (Monday)! I've been
working on it in the evenings in the airconditioning. The very first
sweater I've ever made for myself!
I had a stash of wool (BL x Corrie, very soft, great crimp and length) I
had dyed for a project that didn't come to fruition. Lots of brights
(naturally :), and lots of greens (ditto :) The colors were too bright
for the original project, so they sat there and looked cheerful, then
glum, then positively sulky, so I had to find inspiration.
Then there was some Perendale in black, dark silvered gray, and 4 colors
dyed over the gray--magenta, green, blue, and purple.
Not to bore you with all the details, I ended up blending all these into
3 singles. One was heathered darkish green, one the heather with
splashes of the brights spun in, and one four shades of green from lime
to almost blue, spun from one to the other and back again in longish
stretches. Plied, the yarn was a delight to work with--lots of loft and
bounce from the Perendale, but pretty soft thanks to the BL X C, and
both short and long color changes within the greens to make it more fun
to knit. Singles were at about 30 wpi, so the plied yarn is about sport
or DK weight. Used size 5 needles and was getting a gauge of about 4.5
sts to the inch.
The sweater wasn't anything fancy--worked from the center front to the
center front, knitting garter stitch vertically. Made some
mistakes--some I cobbled answers for, some I ripped out and redid. Long
sleeves, and a fun no-sew patch pocket--picked up all the stitches for
the three sides and worked a double mitered square from them. Since the
pocket wasn't square to start with, I had to sew the last cast off edge
to itself, but didn't have to sew the pocket to the sweater :) Added a
collar to give a little more 'elegance' to the sort of boat-neck opening.
Now I need to get back to the Fair Isle sweater that's becoming a
sweater coat, but that will have to wait til fall's cooling breezes
start whispering through, it's far to heavy and hot to work on, even
with the AC on.
Intermediate project--I blended some mohair with leftover wool from the
green sweater, and will make some matching socks :)
And in between, I've been microwave rainbow dyeing some really wonderful
merino top from Stonehedge Fiber Mill, and spinning some lovely yarns
(singles at 46 wpi, then navajo plyed--makes a thinnish sport weight
after washing). I made a smallish (about 8 x 9 x 4) mitered square bag
out of one of fall colors, then lined it with some fabric I quilted,
with pockets, and a cardboard insert to give the bag some body and more
insulative qualities. It can tote 4 bottles of ice water, or lunch, or
a sock knitting project. The color changes are wonderful, showcased
with mitered squares. The other yarn I've spun so far is
green/blue/purple. Haven't decided what to do with it yet. And now I'm
spinning a fine singles from the same colorway, 60 wpi, which (unwashed)
is 30 wpi 2 ply, 24 wpi 3 ply. I'm thinking to 2-ply this, as the
colors are so closely related, but haven't decided for sure. Then a
small lacy shawl.
On the loom is some more yardage for summer shirts, with plans for
cotton dish towels (48 for a commission) and cottolin table runners.
So, what is everyone else working on?
Holly
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