Random thoughts of a fiber enthusiast - mostly fiber related, sometimes coherent

Category: FO Page 21 of 48

Sloper

At my Fair Isle Yoke Design class at Madrona, Janine suggested that we develop our own sloper before embarking on a full blown design. I built mine out of handspun 3-ply polwarth (from Rovings, purchased at SOAR 2009).

I initially wanted a tunic length sweater. But when I tried on the finished sweater, it had that whole Flashdance thing going on. All I was missing were the tights and leg warmers. Since this was knit from the bottom up, I took a pair of scissors to the sweater and snipped off the bottom (about 5-6″), picked up the stitches and knit another 3″. Now it’s a slightly longer than waist length sweater. I would prefer another inch or so. It was okay before the second soak (after reknitting the bottom), but lost some length in the wash.

I’ve found that magical length is a fine line between too short and too long. I think I need to build another to validate my measurements. All the rest of the measurements seem to be bang on.

Oh, and the left hand side of the picture? That’s Ellie, on a hunt for something. I don’t know what. I didn’t notice her until just now, while I was cropping the photo.

Balanced Singles

Fiber: 100% Blue Faced Leicester (mixed black/white, over dyed)
Source: Butternut Woolens
Colorway: Sea Glass (purple, green and blue — think I’m in a color rut? It’s just like the Peacock hankies from yesterday’s post.)
WPI: 22
Plies: Single
Weight: 4 oz.
Amount: 308 yds.

Between Janine‘s class on yoked sweaters and Kathryn‘s class on energized singles at Madrona, I have been dreaming of a colorful yoked sweater with balanced singles. And when I found the last bundle of this BFL at the market, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

I split this once length-wise before spinning. So the color repeats are not as long as they could be, but still of a decent length. After spinning, I left it to sit in a very hot bath (near boiling) and then pulled it out and dunked it several times. That bit of agitation allowed the twist to migrate/even out, set the twist, and full it lightly. I think it will be lovely. I just need to spin the singles for the main color/body of the sweater. I have plenty of light light brown merino-x wool in the house. I think any of them will do.

Twill Scarf

Warp: Gold handspun in 50/50 merino/silk; approx. 40 wpi.
Weft: Olive handspun in 50/50 merino/silk; approx. 40 wpi.
Loom: Gilmore Gem II
Sett: 20 epi
Pattern: 2/2 twill
Width: 8″ on loom, 6.75″ after finishing
Length: 70″ on loom plus hem, forgot to measure after finishing

Yarn spun February 22-26. Warped the loom on March 5. Wove on the morning of March 6. Scarf presented to birthday girl at dinner on March 6. It was a sprint to the finish.

Why so long between spinning the yarn and warping? I had a wake to plan and attend to. Then it was a week on hand wringing on whether it should be plain weave or twill. And if twill, what I should do about the floats on the edges and whether I wanted a floating selvedge or not. Yes, I was over thinking it. I think it is because it ishandspun and a birthday present that gave me so much stress. Thank you Amy for much hand holding throughout the project!

Here are a few more pictures of the project:

50/50 merino/silk top from The Artful Ewe. 3.5 oz each. As soon as I saw the colors, I just knew that it was destined for a scarf for my friend. It scream her name from all the way across the marketplace at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat.

Yarn sample card. The gold is straight off the bobbin. The olive has been wet finished.

Ellie (not) helping. In retrospect, I think she was trying to tell me she was hungry and I should be attending to her, not the loom.

Scarf finished. Starting a sampler for my records. 3/4" plain weave on each edge for a rolled hem.

Page 21 of 48

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