Spinning Yarn for a Sweater
It wasn’t actually too long after I got into knitting that I also took up spinning. There’s something immensely satisfying about knitting with handspun yarn, it’s so much more “alive” than most mill spun yarn.
Though unlike knitting and sewing, my spinning mojo seems to come and go more with more frequency.
Because of this, I tend to spin accessory quantities of yarn, and I’ve never knit a sweater entirely out of handspun before.
*the main exception being the yarn I knit the swatches for the first Shawl Geometry book – that was about 1,000 yards of spindle spun lime green light fingering/heavy lace weight…
This sweater started when Michele offloaded a a giant ball of camel colored alpaca fiber on me – I figured it was about 8 oz or so and started spindle spinning it into a 2ply lace weight – which is my favorite yarn to spin (as well as knit).
3 oz of lace weight spinning later, I hadn’t made a dent. I was sick of the project, and it turns out that ball of fiber was closer to 12 oz.
(I know, I should have weighed it.)
Thankfully Michele had recently gotten a Hansen miniSpinner and she let me use it to finish spinning the last 9 oz. (Which I don’t have photos of – booooo!)
So, I have 3 oz of very thin spindle spun camel colored alpaca (about 250 yards/228.5 meters), and 9 oz of much thicker miniSpinner spun camel colored alpaca (about 500 yards/457 meters).
750 yards (686 meters) total – not enough for a sweater, and too much for most accessories. At this point, I kind of had my heart set on knitting a sweater out of this handspun yarn.
So, enter 2 oz of beautiful grey BFL,* which I spindle spun into 250 yards (228.5 meters) of lace weight yarn.
*BFL is short for “bluefaced leicester,” which is a type of sheep.
All together everything added up to approximately 1,000 yards (914.5 meters) and 14 oz of handspun yarn. I would be cutting it super close, but I might have just enough yardage for a handspun & hand knit sweater.
In the end, I cut it super close, I only had a couple grams left over, but I knit a sweater out of handspun yarn!
Since this post is already getting a little long, I’ll save the nitty-gritty sweater details for tomorrow.
203 days of handmade clothing – The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 29
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels.
DAY 197 – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13th
Deconstructed Sweater
Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater
Black Tank Top
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
I’m still chipping away at my second purple sweater perfect for layering. I’m into the second sleeve, and hoping to steal a little bit of time for it this weekend – but we’ll see how that goes.
DAY 198 – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14th
Boring Black Sweater
Black Tank Top
Black Scarf
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
Each time I wear this sweater I consider making a second lace weight black sweater – and then remember how boring it was to knit – before deciding that (for this year) I can live with only one thin black sweater.
DAY 199 – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15th
Boring Black Sweater
Black Tank Top
Cascading Flowers Skirt
Black Tights
Robot Clock Necklace
Various Rings
Day 199!!!
DAY 200 – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16th
Blue & Green Archer Button Up Shirt
Black Tank Top
Black Scarf
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
Day 200!!!!!!!!!!
Fuck yes!
It’s like day 100, but twice as good.
DAY 201 – TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17th
Deconstructed Sweater
Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater
Black Tank Top
Black Scarf
Khaki Scarf
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
Yes, I’m wearing two scarves. Yes, I look a little bit crazy. But at least I’m warm.
DAY 202 – WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18th
Deconstructed Sweater
Versio Sweater
Black Tank Top
Black Maxi Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
(I wore two scarves this day too…)
DAY 203 – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19th
Deconstructed Sweater
Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater
Black Tank Top
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
(and this one.)
(and I’ll probably wear two scarves today as well.)
Here’s to 203 days of handmade clothing!!
I also wrote December’s wrap up over on the old self-made wardrobe blog. It’s here, if you want to check that out.
knitting some sleeves and hiding from the weather
Each Wednesday, I post little snippets about what’s happening, and what I’m working on.
One big lump of knitting progress this week. Sleeves!
Over the weekend I finished one sleeve of my sweater and started the second sleeve of my second “Perfect for Layering Purple Sweater.”
Other than that all of my knitting time has been focused on knitting the sample for a project I won’t be able to show you for awhile. Sad panda.
I’m crossing my fingers that I can steal a couple hours to work on that second sleeve some more – maybe this weekend.
Meanwhile, I’ve spent most of my time hiding from the cold, wearing multiple pairs of tights, and plotting more sweater knitting.
