An unintentional BFF jumper

When we were in China Leon and I stumbled across a yarn shop around the corner from the Forbidden City. The guy working there didn't speak any English, but, when I picked up this lovely dark grey wool he indicated it was sheep, by making horns with his fingers and and baaing! I bought 750 grams of wool in dark grey.

It looks like an eight ply. I'm pretty sure it's pure wool, because it felts, which is good, because I will be doing felted joins. I bought it in 2 big skeins, but when it came time to ball it up I discovered that within the skeins the yarn was divided into 50 gram lots, so I have 15 little balls of wool.

I was originally going to make a Jo Sharp cabled jumper for Leon, but I discovered the smallest size would give him 9 inches of positive ease. Also, it was knit in pieces, which really isn't as nice as seamless, and he thought the cables were too chunky. So I headed back to the inimitable Elizabeth Zimmerman. I decided to make a cabled seamless raglan. I'm hoping that I've done the maths right and the shoulder decreases will line up nicely. Only time and knitting will tell.

I designed (or thought I had designed) a cable and rib pattern that is, I think, pleasing to the eye. I was knitting happily away on it at knit night, when I looked over at Nicola's BFF sock. I looked back at the jumper sleeve I was working on. I realised they have a lot in common. I have unintentionally used the cable and rib pattern from Cookie A's BFF sock pattern. Still, it means if I have any yarn left over I can make him a pair of matching socks.

In other fibre related news yesterday I took a very long lunch break and went by the Spinners and Weavers guild shop. I bought some green dye, some more of the red silk so I can actually finish my red wool and some bright green silk thread, which I am going to experiment with plying with some army green I have. But first I am going to actually spin that beautiful Corriedale I have prepped from fleece. I'm not sure if I keep putting it off because 800 grams of three ply double knit weight is an intimidating amount of spinning or because I want to be spinning the pretty shiny colours.

Comments

Geogradiant MKAL Part 1 - that was unexpected (spoilers)

Stephen West released the first MKAL clue on Thursday night. I started knitting it without looking at spoilers. When I got up on Friday he had sent through an "alternative" clue one. I then went and had a look at the spoiler thread to try to work out what was going on. Which was that some people thought the pattern looked like a "German hate symbol". I knit on anyway, since I was half-way through. Then he took down the original clue, replacing it with a mitred square in garter stitch. The Ravelry forums and Instagram are a complete shit-show, even though Rav is being moderated. It's been a bit disheartening, having something that is usually quite light and fun weighed down with all this. I admire Stephen's quick and sensitive response to this drama. I also feel that anything can look like anything if you squint. To me this looks like a Celtic knot. I think mine is pretty, and I'll knit on through all crises.

Linky Wednesday - the one with the drama

The drama about the Stephen West MKAL continues, and I can't be bothered with it. It's meant to be a fun, interesting, communal knit and and that's not what this year has turned in to. Stephen has done his best in a difficult situation, but I'm just not feeling it. Meanwhile, Israel is at war, and we (as a country) are going to vote "no" on a referendum that asks for basic consideration for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders. So yeah, lots of turmoil here. It's very tiring. I'm knitting a sock and considering what happens next. Luckily the reading was dramatic in a good way. I'm reading a NetGalley review copy of Last Summer at the Lake House and it's great. Super dramatic family drama about three sisters who loose their father unexpectedly and then find out that the family has secrets. I 've nearly finished it and I don't know what I'm going to read next. I've got a bit of a break between review books, so maybe Sta

Mussleburgh musings

I made a Mussleburgh hat earlier in the year, and even though I thought I was following the directions exactly it did not come out quite right. It was a little bit loose. My head is 51 cm, my gauge was 7 stitches, so according to the pattern I knit the right size. It's also a little bit shorter than I would like it. Too long for a beanie, too short for a good turn-up. I couldn't work out why. I still wore it, but it was not quite right. When I decided to knit one for Elise I knew I wanted to make it longer, and tighter. After I finished Elise's (with 24 fewer stitches) I realised something about mine: Now, this is a knit tube. I know how to knit tubes. When I make sleeves or socks, they don't balloon out in the middle. So I decided to reblock it. The instructions actually specifically say to fold it inside each other after blocking, but I probably folded it and dried it on my head, because that's how I block my hats. Not this time: Now it's longer and thinner

What I made, by Sharon

Search This Blog