November 23, 2005
It's So Easy Being Green (and garnet and purple and blue and...)
On the short list of fiber things that make me happy, spinning Lisa Souza's blue faced leicester is right near the top. I have this thing about screaming green, and Lisa, as ever, is very accommodating. She came up with "Spring Green," and I was sunk.
I spun it up to what wrapped as a DK weight, and started knitting. I wasn't that pleased with the initial result (too sloppy), so I ripped it out and tried again on smaller needles. It seems happier as a sport weight, and here is the beginning of the Raglan Body Hugger from The Purl Stitch:
I'm not sure yet whether this is the front or the back, as both are knit the same, but I'm nearly done with the second piece. I tend to spin serendipitously, and as such, ended up with some fairly long color runs in the finished yarn. In order to avoid pooling, I'm knitting off of three balls at once. I'm very happy with the way this is turning out. As the yarn is knitting to a finer gauge than planned, I'm making the next size up. So far, so good. In addition to being wonderful to spin, Lisa's biffle is a joy to knit.
I'm also working on Sidna Farley's 'Arches' pattern in Cotton Fleece (Candy Apple):
This is also a nice yarn; there's enough wool to keep it from being too hard on my hands, and it isn't terribly splitty for a plied cotton. This photo is a bit dark, but it closely captures the true richness of the color. This pattern was originally published in a booklet called "American Favorites, Knit Across America No. 6," put out by the Brown Sheep Company, and is still available as a single pattern leaflet from http://woobeeknitshopyarn.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page321.html, titled "Lace Arches." This is the same beautiful sweater that Prudence blogged about in the not too distant past. As Miz F has already discussed the interesting construction details, I'll stick to showing my progress to date and my yarn choice.
In the "Goofing Around with Socks" category, I found this:
at my local yarn store. Who'da thunk it would do this:
The trick, of course, will be to get the second sock to do the same thing.
In other spinning, I've recently finished Crosspatch Creations "Moody Blues," a combination of three different CVM fleeces and some colored silk noil thrown in for good measure.
I wish you could feel this; it's so soft and springy, and photos don't do justice to the lovely variations of dusky blues. Four ounces gave me about 425 yards. Ideas for what to do with it?
Finally, I've been spinning a fiber called simply, "Soft Wool."
Mmmmm.... My friend Jen was kind enough to hunt down this favorite vendor for me at Black Sheep Gathering this year. I've spun this fiber before, but never knew what blend of wool it is. Jen found out that it's largely targhee, another of my favorite breeds. The color variations in this pale, tonal green skein don't show up well, but I'm hopeful that once I start knitting with it, they'll be more obvious to the camera. I've got a few designs percolating in my brain; we'll see how it all pans out!
Posted by Sam at November 23, 2005 08:18 AMWell, if you were a sock person I'd say SOCKS - 4 ounces, 425 yards is almost exactly the putup of sock yarn.
I love how the bfl is knitting up!
Posted by: CarolineF on November 23, 2005 01:38 PMHeheh, hey, what do you call that purple thing!? ;-) But seriously, I'd do socks, but the fiber is fairly softly spun and I don't think would hold up very well. I was thinking Flower Basket, but I have to fish out my IK to see what the yardage is. Thoughts?
Posted by: Sam on November 23, 2005 01:57 PMI think Flower Basket is one of those knit-until-you-run-out-of-yarn patterns. Haven't made it yet myself, but plan to do some holiday knitting this December for the local teachers and such. Your raglan budy hugger is looking fantastic! I really love the way the colors are blending. I know you are working hard at it! Everything is so beautiful!
Posted by: Jen on November 23, 2005 02:05 PMI ask for pictures, and I receive. What wonderful work - a FBS can certainly be made with 425 yds. Go for it! I think that is enough to add maybe 2 extra pattern repeats before doing the border.
Posted by: Angela on November 23, 2005 03:01 PMYes, Flower Basket will be fine - I made mine with about that much yardage in Colinette Marinette. You will definitely get more repeats.
Posted by: CarolineF on November 23, 2005 03:12 PMYour Body Hugger is looking fantastic! I love the way the colours worked out. Arches is also looking mighty fine, and as always, your spinning is just awesome.
Posted by: Melanie on November 23, 2005 04:49 PMYummy! I love those greens - especially the body hugger raglan. Fantastic.
Posted by: Meg on November 23, 2005 06:39 PMoh no Sam I don't know what to comment on . Everything is so beautiful!!! That arches is in a great color!!
Posted by: elizabeth on November 23, 2005 07:29 PMCandy Apple is my favorite color of Cotton Fleece. All the spinning is lovely, especially the body hugger. And funny, I knit socks out of the same color of Lorna's, and mine don't do that at all! I'll have to take their picture for the blog... great stuff, Sam, keep posting!
Posted by: Karen on November 23, 2005 09:31 PMsam i LOVE the green biffle :-) flower basket would be lovely. and that pooling always happens for me with lorna's laces :-(
Posted by: vanessa on November 23, 2005 11:37 PMsam, you don't post often enough, but that was worth waiting for. thanks for sharing. hand have a happy thanksgiving.
Posted by: marti on November 24, 2005 03:50 AMYou may turn me into a green convert with your sweater picture! Everything is gorgeous. You've been busy!
Posted by: Kerry on November 24, 2005 09:08 AMI have to say ditto to all of the above, Sam!
Posted by: June on November 24, 2005 09:36 AMComing out of my turkey stupor to say thank you to everyone for the very nice comments. I think I will probably go for a Flower Basket with the blue; I've been wanting to do one for awhile. I'll have to post the second sock when I start to document either my success or failure. ;-) I think it's interesting that some people have pooling and others don't. The mysteries of knitting!I had to rip a bit on the poor biffle, but I'm back on track now. I hope to be able to post pics of a FO soon!
Posted by: Sam on November 25, 2005 08:24 PMWow Sam...where have I been? Your Spring Green looks fabulous. I love how it is knitting up! It will look gorgeous on you. The Candy Apple is one delicious red. Wow. Is your tweed something that you carded stuff into or was it something like Spinderella's thrums? I really like it for the earthiness.
Posted by: Lisa S on December 1, 2005 11:44 AMI found your blog doing search for a specific pattern and have enjoyed poking around. I saw a sample sweater in a shop done from the Brown Sheep American Favorites book #6. The sweater is called Greene Street Gansey. The shop no longer had the booklet available and I haven't been able to locate a copy on the web. You posted about the Lace Arches pattern that was published in the same booklet and I'm wondering if you still have a copy. If you do, is there any chance you might be willing to sell it to me....or perhaps rent it to me so I can do this sweater. A long shot, but worth a try.
Thanks
Ellen