Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 18

Since last time I have Kitchener'd the armpits closed and sewed on the buttons,... and, on the night before we got our home back after the major remodel, this is Complete!

AND now that it is complete, I think it is important to capture how large an achievement this is:

• This sweater is 100% Hand-spun by me from Rare-Breed, American Wool.  Some of which was grown very close to my home.
• Each of these yarns are their natural color.  Nothing is dyed.
• I began spinning the yarn used in this sweater in April 2019. 
• I started thinking seriously about this sweater in early-January 2022.
• Cast-on in late-February 2022.
• Final Bind-off and Finishing happened in late March 2023.

With four urgent projects (Wavy Scarf, Black Hat, Baker's Hat, Twisted Rib Stocking Cap), a little bit of time-out for one hot summer, finishing out the other WIPs (Summer Cardi, New Normal Socks, Clown Fish Socks, Very Berry Socks, Brown Socks) and Two Tours de Fleece interfering with knitting progress over the last year, I'm very pleased with this sweater.

Especially when considering at early February last year, I was just restarting regular knitting after moving our farm and getting our former home ready for sale...  so I would say that this last year has been quite productive.

So my Save our Sheep Sweater has been 4 years in the making.  :-)

There are several mistakes and I could have made the button holes 2 stitches instead of 3.  The final result is rustic and I love it!  This is my first, fully-hand-spun, sweater and I love it!  I expect it will get lots of wearing for years to come.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 17

Well, I thought I might get this project completed under the 1 year of knitting mark, which happened toward the end of February... but I avoided weaving in the ends and re-doing the Button Band Bind-off for two long.

Finally on a few cool days in mid-March, I decided it was time to get them finished.... and both were not terrible.

Weaving in ends is tedious and took a few sessions, as expected.  Redoing the Button Band went much easier than I expected.

I replaced the "standard" bind-off with the Simple Stretchy Bind-off as described in this video.

Pulling out the Bind-off was surprisingly easy...

With the new Button Band Bind-off and much less bunched-up looking...

Remaining now are sewing on buttons and Kitchenering the Armpits closed.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 16

Since last time when I completed the sleeves, I have embarked upon my very first Button Band.

Picking up the stitches was easier than I expected.

It's a bit bunched up in this photo, but I'm very happy that my existing long circular needle is long enough for this task.

The pattern instruction was to pick up and knit the first row in one step, but I wanted to err on the cautious side and understand why they wanted a multiple of 6 stitches first.

The reason is that this Button Band is ribbed in 4x2 like the sleeves.  I decided to add 4 stitches so that the rib would be the same at the bottom on both sides, and therefore should also match as the sweater is buttoned up.

At this point, I have the Navajo Line completed as well as the next few rows.  I am ready to make the Button Holes, but first I need to confirm the hole size required...

In comparing the button options I selected earlier in this project, I've decided on the bottom one.  It's a slightly oval button made from Olive Wood and stained in a Walnut finish.

Button Hole Help:

I am using Shropshire for the Button Band, and I love working with it.  It has a nice amount of stretch and softness.

Due to the stretch of the Shropshire, I decided that I will make the button hole only 3 (instead of 4) stitches wide...

And the Button Band one or two rows wider to accommodate the oval buttons I selected.

One more row was enough...

I marked the locations for the Button Holes..

Then confirmed the button would fit appropriately in the new holes before knitting the rest of the Band.

With the Shropshire being so stretchy I decided to do a Standard Bind-off, per the pattern instructions.  However, I think a Slightly Stretchier bind-off would have been better.

Now, with my first ever Button Band being complete and the life lines all removed, the remaining tasks are sewing on the buttons, Kitchenering the armpits closed and weaving in the ends.  So close!!

Happy Fiber Arts Friday

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 15

Upon starting the Jacob on the Body of my Save our Sheep Sweater, I decided that the grey Jacob breed band on the sleeves would be shorter and the Black Welsh Mountain breed band would be longer.  This has to do with the placements of the Navajo Lines and the fact that I wanted the sleeves to be about two inches longer.

Then after continuing the sleeves, I decided that I did not want the extra bulk of the Navajo Lines at my wrists.... but I really like the delineation between the field of the sleeve and the cuff.  So I put two lines of Hog Island where the Navajo Lines would have gone...

I finished the first sleeve on Monday, January 2, 2023 and the second on Saturday, January 29th, 2023.

I'm always impressed by the depth of black when I work with the Black Welsh Mountain.... what an incredible and naturally-occurring color.

Remaining now is to make the Button Band (which I've not done before), Kitchener the armpits closed, weave in the ends, and sew on the buttons.  It still sounds like a lot, but I am getting closer to the end.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 14

Since last time (early October), I reached 25 rows for each portion of the Hog Island Breed Band.

I put both sleeves on stitch holders and cut a couple of the life lines to allow for a better fit check.... at this point, the body is ready to begin the final section.

The final section is supposed to be about 3-inches long, after 4 rows of Navajo Lines... which means I did not have enough Hog Island available to complete the Navajo Lines.  Therefore I spent some time considering the end in context of my available yarns.

After contemplation, I added 2 rows of Jacob-American, before beginning the final Navajo Line section, since I didn't like the idea of starting it on a color change.

Then did the final section in Jacob-American, with the last two rows and bind-off in Black Welsh Mountain.

Binding off took a few sessions, since the deep black yarn is hard to read and my needles are quite slippery.

I did the bind-off using the Simple Stretchy Bind Off demonstrated in this video.

Remaining now are to finish out both Sleeves, make the Button Band, Kitchener the armpits closed, and weave in the ends. Getting Closer each day.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 13

As is always true with my fibery projects, changes are expected.

The Hog Island has been in many places of breed order and configuration over the life of this project.

I have currently decided to leave the Jacob out (grey), because I have worked with it before... therefore making this project 100% new-to-me breeds.

This also means that I'm reasonably settled on the smallest/darkest buttons from my short list.

After weighing and winding the separate balls of Hog Island, I began the Right Sleeve... this time starting at 19 rows, a few less than I could make, so I could check progress against the other balls, in the hope of preventing TINKing.  :-)

Progress slowed down a a lot in July, with ~100F Daily Temperatures.

I started to pick this back up on cooler mornings in late August/early September... and at the end of September I am now working on this again for a few minutes, nearly every morning.

I'm through most of the Hog Island and approaching the final section of instructions, so decided to try it on for a length check...

As of this writing, the left sleeve (23 rows) is four rows longer than the right, and the body is one row shorter than the left sleeve.

I would like the sleeves to be about 2 inches longer, prior to starting the cuff, so I added a life-line-like marker to measure from.

Also as I was checking the waist length, one of the needle stoppers fell off, along with a bunch of stitches.  Ack!

Fortunately Hubba was home, so he was able to help me remove the sweater while I contained the loose stitches in one hand, thereby preventing a series of running stitches and a lot of repair.

Whew, catastrophe averted.

I need to think more about what's next on the body... and whether it's important to me that the breed bands on sleeves and body are the same length... or if the last set of Navajo Lines should be at the same distance from the shoulders.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: County Fair 2021

Our County Fair was not held last year because the venue was being used as an overflow hospital for COVID patients.  This year's fair is being held, but is a scaled down version.

There is no knitting or crochet and my weaving is not ready to share.  But the spinning classes are being held.

So back in early June I entered 5 handspun yarns, one of which is not yet completed.  So I will be bringing four yarns: 2 Tibetan Mastiff, and 3 SE2SE wool breeds.

Like most of these type of competitions there is a qualification window, and entries are required to have been finished since August 1, 2020.

From Top to Bottom:

Tibetan Mastiff, 2-ply - July 2021

Tibetan Mastiff, 3-ply - September 2020

Hog Island, 2-ply - December 2020 (I haven't posted about it yet)

Shropshire, 2-ply - August 2020

Drop off is Tuesday.  Judging is Wednesday.  The Fair opens on Friday.

Judging is open to the public, but (again) I am not available to observe.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2020, part 11

Day 21 - Friday, September 18

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 35 Minutes

With finishing the 3rd Single on Thursday, I began plying my yarn today.  There are 222g in the three singles.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 15 Minutes

Day 22 - Saturday, September 19

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 76 Minutes

My bobbin is full, Full, FULL... with 81g of singles still to ply.

Day 23 - Sunday, September 20

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 65 Minutes

I skeined the full bobbin from yesterday and finished plying the remaining Tibetan Mastiff.  All but 7 grams made it into the final yarn... this makes me happy with my batt division prior to the start of this Tour.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 17 Minutes

I did not expect to finish the Hog Island during this Tour, but I did make some progress, bringing the remaining roving from 44 to 25 grams.

Weekly Time: 208 mins

Total Time:  4:42 + 7:03 + 5:26 + 3:28 = 20hrs 39mins

Epiloge

Carrying on a bit from Part One, my Podcast backlog has improved as follows:

• Wise Traditions by the Westin A Price Foundation - I finished Part One of this Tour with a 1 year and 6.5 month backlog.  I began Part Two with a 7.5 month backlog and finished with a 4 month backlog.... equating to an improvement of another 3.5 months.
• Professional Weaver -  I finished Part One with a 3 episode backlog.  I began Part Two with a 2 episode backlog, listened to a few episodes, and finished with a 2 episode backlog... so I'm holding steady on this one.

I took two rest days.

I spun 19 Batts in 18 days of spinning (20 days minus 2 Rest Days) which means that I met my goal of averaging 1 Batt per day.

I finished the Tibetan Mastiff 3-ply yarn.  It is not a sock yarn, but I think I have a new plan for it.

2 skeins

229 yards of finished 3-ply yarn

7 7/8 oz (223g) spun

I'll give it a bath later and get a final wpi measurement, but I believe this is close to a Sport or DK weight.

It's clear that if I don't plan to spend a certain amount of time, it's harder to work spinning in every day.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2020, part 10

Day 14 - Friday, September 11

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 18 Minutes

Having finished Single #2 on Thursday, I wound off the cake and began Single #3 this morning with Batt # 14.

Day 15 - Saturday, September 12

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 51 Minutes

Begining Batt #15.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 15 Minutes

Day 16 - Sunday, September 13

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 16 Minutes

Continuing with Batt #15.

Day 17 - Monday, September 14 - Rest

Day 18 - Tuesday, September 15

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 87 Minutes

Started on Batt #17.

Day 19 - Wednesday, September 16

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 85 Minutes

Finished Batt #18.

Day 20 - Thursday, September 17 - Challenge

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 54 Minutes

Today is supposed to be a day for challenging my spinning.  But since this whole Tour is about starting and completing an entire 3-ply, sock-weight yarn, I chose to focus on keeping on.

I completed the last batt (#19) for Single #3 today!

I have 3 days left for plying.  I hope that's enough to finish this yarn.

Total minutes for the week:  326

Tour Time Total:  4:42 + 7:03 + 5:26 = 17hrs 11mins

Completed Singles:  3 of 3

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2020, part 8

Tour de Fleece 2020 v2.0

As I mentioned last week, I have been working on this Hog Island since early August.  So here's a before photo.... more than half of the single is complete, with 44g remaining.

Day 1 - Saturday, August 29
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 88 Minutes

Beginning the first single today...

My goal is to average one batt per day.  Today I completed two batts and started on a third.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 16 Minutes

My intent with the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em (SE2SE) breeds for this Tour is to spend about 15 minutes after I complete the first batt of TM each day, if time allows.

Day 2 - Sunday, August 30
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 61 Minutes

Batt #3 finished and #4 started.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 15 Minutes

Day 3 - Monday, August 31
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 51 Minutes

Batt #4 finished.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 15 Minutes

Day 4 - Tuesday, September 1
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 10 Minutes

I didn't have much time for spinning this morning.  I have started Batt #5.

Day 5 - Wednesday, September 2
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: TBD Minutes

Still in the midst of Batt #5.

Day 6 - Thursday, September 3
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 12 Minutes

Somehow it's already Thursday.  This week flew by.

I did not have time for spinning this morning, but got a few minutes in this afternoon.  I'm still working on Batt #5.

Total minutes:  282 (4 hrs 42 mins)

Completed Singles:  None Yet.  I was hoping to finish the three singles in less than a week each.  The first one will be complete once I finish Batt #6.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!