Something New

On Saturday I finished weaving in all the ends from Wicked and its being blocked (finished pictures tomorrow), so I started something new yesterday. Those of you who have been reading my drivel for a while, might remember me spinning this - its the yarn from the Spinner's Hill batts I got at MDS&W 2005. I bought half the weight in a teal kind of blue green and half the weight in an almost royal blue and plied them together. I spun up a total of 3 skeins in the 450+ yards ballpark. If you look in the archives around March 7, 2006, you'll see a small gauge swatch from the first skein. I then spun two more skeins, I thought, the same way. I wasn't paying much attention to my spinning (at least the technique of it) at the time and as it turns out, Skein 2, while the same number of wpi as Skein 1, isn't spun as tightly as Skein 1 and knits up looking kind of hazy and fluffy but at the same gauge as Skein 1. Skein 3 is a larger yarn (a little fewer wpi than the other two) and also fluffy - I think I just wanted to get done with it by then. I also have about 5 ounces or so left of each color, which is unspun. This might be what saves my life.

So, what you see above is the left front of the Grannie Smith Cardigan. I am knitting from Skeins 1 and 2, two rows each, for two reasons. Number 1 is to keep the fronts looking the same (Skein 1 is a smoother yarn than Skein 2), and it also helps to avoid color pooling. I am loving the way its looking so far, but I'm going to have to knit the fronts separately instead of at the same time like I usually do because the idea of 4 working yarn ends just makes me woozy. Once I finish this front, I'll do the right front and then the back. At that point, I'll see how much yarn I have left from Skeins 1 and 2 and decide if I have enough for the sleeves - I'm planning on making long sleeves instead of the 3/4 sleeves in the pattern - or decide if I need to spin more yarn for the sleeves. As you can see, the pattern has a picot hem and then goes into the diamond lace pattern (very easy to memorize). The original pattern calls for Kid Silk Haze* and uses bigger needles. I ended up using US 1's (2.25 mm) to get gauge. I also decided to work the body of the sweater straight - the pattern is an inverted slight A-line shape.

*For a bit of enabling: Woodland Woolworks has Kid Silk Haze (regular, Night, and Spray) on sale until March - I think - double check the date. Also, Janette's Rare Yarns is a great place to get any Rowan yarns for great prices any time. She's in the UK, but her shipping is very fast and reasonable. Just thought I'd mention that in case anyone else wants a Grannie Smith cardi. Also, a bunch of the patterns from Victorian Lace Today use Kid Silk Haze.