Almost there

I've finished the skirt of my new sweater and I couldn't be more thrilled. 

I've still got to finish off the neckline and decide whether I want to add lace to the sleeves but it fits beautifully and it's softer than a baby's bum so I'm happy. 

It's always a gamble to design on the fly like this and the stakes are even higher when the gamble involves handspun luxury fibers (alpaca, merino, silk, angora and cashmere). I've held my breath through this process but it looks exactly like I saw in my mind's eye all those weeks ago. That's very satisfying, to say the least. 

Soooo close

I got so close to finishing my sweater. I thought sure the 400 yds of lace weight I'd done would be enough. And it almost was. 

I got down to this. 

And that's not quite enough to do the job. 

So I spent my day working on getting a little more done. 

Now I just need to ply and wash and then   I'll be ready to finish.

Work has resumed

I finished spinning and am now knitting with the most luxurious luxury yarn I've ever knit with in my whole life. 

I just can't put it down (not without having a temper tantrum). Even if I never wear it, I will have it in my lap to squish and pet. Crazy soft and cushy. And I thought the alpaca part was soft. 

I think I've got enough in the 400 some odd yards I've got but I do have enough fiber over for another 300-400 yards if I need it. Otherwise it will be spun for another project. But it will be spun. Unless I need it for this project, I'll probably wait until it warms up a little so the silk doesn't go quite as nutso. 

But so far, so good and on we go. 

We interrupt our regularly scheduled project...

It took a while but I finally started making progress on my adult (grown up person) version of the Baby Rocks Vintage sweater using my handspun alpaca, angora, merino yarn. 

This section was knitted side to side and then I knitted a section below to finish out the bodice. I didn't want to do just a plain stockinette for that section and, since the skirt part is going to be lace, I decided to try something different. 

I knitted one round and then on the second round, I used twisted stitches (knit though the back loop) and repeated the 2 rows. Ancient Egyptian knitting used this twisted stitch frequently and I like the texture. 

It makes a really interesting woven texture that I like a lot. 

Lots of progress, right?  You'd think so until you realize that I still need to finish spinning the merino/silk yarn for the skirt. Here's what it looks like right now. 

There may yet be some work left to do. 

Not everything takes 10 years

Handspun alpaca spun to cushy thickness and knitted to a lumberjack hat. Makes me want to sing, "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay. I sleep all night and work all day."

But I don't care. I've never had a hat this warm and that's all that matters. 

7 years in the making...

Or is that 8...

In the (what I prefer to call) persistence category, I present my handspun, designed, hand knitted shawl. 

I don't remember exactly when I started it but it couldn't have been less than 7-8 years ago. In my defense, it's handspun to a true lace weight (probably at least 800 yards). Part was spindle spun but the majority if it was spun on a wheel. (Don't ask me which one because that would be embarrassing - I don't remember but probably Kromski Minstrel). The fiber is Bluefaced Leicester from Frabjous Fibers. 

Then I started knitting. If I remember right, this was a project that started out as something but didn't want to be that thing so I ripped it out and made it into this. It's one of those projects that I made good progress on until I got sidetracked so it got put away then discovered. A little more was worked, rinse and repeat. 

It's actually supposed to have a lace edging on each end but I finally ran short if yarn and decided just to fish rather than cut bait. 

I have to say I do (still) like it. Even after all these years. 

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Mohair is the most ambivalent fiber out there. Some people love it. Some people love it but can't wear it. Some people hate it. Some people say it's too hard to work with and others buy whole fleeces of it to spin. 

Most mohair yarn is lace weight but about a thousand years ago I bought several skeins of chunky mohair. 

Sirdar color soft - 60% mohair/40% acrylic. 

I started a project that I ended up not liking it so I ripped it out. That's not easy. So then I had this idea that I would crochet a shawl using a large size crochet hook because that would use it up quickly. 

Tonight when I was vacuuming, I came across a project bag that was hidden under another project and I've decided to rip it out and I'm going to knit a project. 

If you think it's hard to rip out knitted mohair, wait until you try ripping out crochet mohair. Fun. 

Anyone taking bets on whether it will work out?