Continuing with trying to spin the handspun in my stash, I began this as a way to cut the monotony of knitting my Monkey socks. [Those are done, by the way, I finished them last night, and wore them today. I’ll take pictures as soon as I get a sunny spot.]
My friend Sue has spun some yarn, and said that she wasn’t going to use it, and was I interested? I love knitting with handspun yarn, and knitting with yarn from a friend is ever better. She tends to spin singles, and I just didn’t think this one would hold for how I knit. I have no idea what it’s fiber contents are. Matt held it and he said it didn’t have any wool in it, but I find that hard to believe. It’s pretty, but I don’t know if I”m going to keep it in this pattern. It doesn’t really show off the colors the way I would like, but there isn’t enough in the skein to make something large. Maybe this just needs to be plain garter stitch and I should accept, knit, and move on.
The handspun blue blob from earlier is done and blocked. Ths is from the same Sue. It’s not very large, probably about three feet across at the diagonal. I plan on using it as a lap blanket. Scratchy when knitted, and kind of stiff, a dunk with the all natural conditioner made it MUCH softer and the yarn bloomed nicely. I can’t use the condition on my hair for various reasons, but I think it’ll work well on knits that need softening; it also smells like citrus, which is a huge plus. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it, or if I’ll even keep it. For know it’s going into the cedar chest with the other blankets.
I finally have some image of my finished Mr. Greenjeans. I used Cotton ease, thinking that the acrylic in it would help the cotton hold some kind of shape. Not really. I should have knit this a size smaller than my actual mesaurements; this sweater tends to run large, even when I did manage to get gague. I mostly wear it around the house and out running errands, as it tends to slip off my shoulders.
I learned a lot from knitting it, though. Firstly, I like my cardigans with a bit of negative ease around the bust, looser around my middle, and the sleeves need to be able to go over a few layers, but not much. I’m keeping this in mind when I start the February Lady Sweater, hereto referred to as FLS.
Top down raglan contruction is great for me, as long as I keep in mind that my shoulders aren’t as broad as I think they are [which I constantly over estimate] and my arms aren’t nearly as large as I think they are, even when I measure them. I think, if I knit this again, I wouldn’t have the V neck, or I would increase at a greater rate. And really, my buttonbands leave A LOT to be desired. For the FLS, I’m going to not put in any button holes, but rely on either snaps, or the loop and button method.
I do, however, love that the cardigan goes right back into shape when I dry it.
Wow, I didn’t think I had as much to say as I did about Mr. Greenjeans. I am going to knit it again, I think, in wool, with a few more modifications. Matt got me both sets of the Knit Picks interchangeable sets for Christmas, ordered early as not to have to wait on back order, so I think a smaller needle will fit the ticket.
Happy Halloween!
Amazon Mink Knits 