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: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 12

In order to resolve the 5-row discrepancy between the body and sleeves, and eliminate my losing game of yarn chicken, I TINKed back 3 rows on each sleeve, then knit 2 rows on the body... and I'm back to each breed band being a consistent number of rows between the body and sleeves.  Whew, my need for order has been resolved.  :-)

I have completed the waist shaping and have just started the hip shaping... and am now ready to begin the next Breed Band.

But first to re-consider the remaining yarns with the button options I've found thus far...

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 11

Picking up my Save our Sheep Sweater with part 11 as I approach the end of the Gulf Coast Breed Band... So far this summer, I have been able to get one or two rows completed most mornings before chores and work while it's still cool out.

I did two extra rows on the body before starting the increase shaping for the hips next.  At this point I have 52 rows + Bind Off or about 5.5 inches left to go on the body length.  But...,

Due to the decreases allowing for more rows on the arm than I planned for, it's looking like the Gulf Coast Breed Band on the body will be a few rows less than the arms.  I need to decide if I'm ok with it.... 

At the time of this writing, the delta is 5 rows and is expected to be 3 or 4 rows.  We'll see how I feel in a few days.  TINKing back 3-4 rows on two sleeves is not a huge deal to keep track of.

Otherwise with 52 rows to complete, and about 4g per row, I laid my sweater out and considered the last two breed band options...

I've decided to not include the Leicester Longwool for the Breed Band, for the same reason that the Navajo Churro is being left out of this sweater, lack of stretch.

Therefore, the Shropshire, is now set aside for the Button Band, and the next two bands are currently planned to be Jacob (grey) and Black Welsh Mountain (black).

I'm still expecting to be complete with this sweater in September/October.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 10

After finishing up the Tunis Breed Band and eeking out the last few rows with balls of yarn attached in all three sections.

I began with Gulf Coast.   I decided to start with the smallest ball first... theoretically, if my spinning is consistent, the smallest ball will be the limiter on the breed band and I should not end up having to add rows to section that have been "completed."

At this point, I have both sleeves finished with the Gulf Coast Band and have started on the Body.

While the first two breed bands were very similar in color, this Gulf Coast is much more white and much more springy.  I will definitely need to get more of this fleece.

I will keep it close for cool mornings, but this has already slowed way down due to the hotter weather.

        

But because I am me, I figured out how many rounds remain (80+70x2+14), where the remaining Breed Bands will fall, and whether I am using yarn at the rate I expected...

Assuming I'll be able to make some progress over the summer, it will likely be September/October by the time this sweater is complete.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday... and Happy Summer!!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 9

Beginning today after the sleeve divide and working the remainder of the Tunis Breed Band on the Body, I put the whole SOS Sweater on Stich Holders and tried her on.

I'm happy to report that she is fitting appropriately for this stage.  :-)

I then continued the Breed Band for the Sleeves separately, and a few weeks later, I am complete with the Tunis.

I loved working with this yarn far more that I thought I might (which is saying a lot). So I purchased a couple of raw fleeces for another project.

While, in person, the color is almost exactly the same between the Clun Forest and Tunis, I think you can see that the stitch definition is different... especially on the Back Photo.

This is going to be really interesting to see after blocking.

Next Up is Gulf Coast.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 8

Picking up my Save our Sheep Sweater with Tunis, after TINKing out Navajo Churro.

The Tunis has brought me to the divide for the sleeves.

This stitch count mostly matches... and I believe I understand why it does not.

So I am ready to place another lifeline and then divide out the sleeves.

Working with the Tunis is very different than the Navajo Churro.  Tunis is so much more springy and stretchy.  It's quite remarkable for a wool that looks almost exactly the same as the Clun Forest.... the safety pin marks the start of the Tunis yarn.

The Tunis is much nicer to knit with than the Navajo Churro.... my thoughts are both that I'd like to still include it in this sweater, but also to reserve it for a weaving.

Next up is to knit three sections of the sweater at the same time.... body + 2 sleeves.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 7

So while my Save Our Sheep Sweater was in Time Out and I pondered the options of to-TINK or not-to-TINK, and prepared the next yarn, Tunis, as if I would TINK.

Tunis

This skein would take me past the arm divide and into the effort of knitting 3 sections at the same time.  While I've been thinking I did not want to do this, I will for this breed band.

In each of the breed skeins, I am reserving ~3g to be included as yarn samples for a (hopeful) competition entry later this year... and with 6 rows before the sleeve divide at ~3g per row (same weight is a coincidence), I divided the cake as follows....

• Body:  18g (to get to the divide) + 3g + 50% = 63g
• Sleeves: 25% each = 19g x2
• Total Yarn = 101g

Ultimately, I did TINK.

After TINKing Navajo Churro, this is Clun Forest only

Hopefully, I'll find a way to use the Navajo Churro in this project later.

reclaimed Navajo Churro yarn

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 6

Picking up near the end of Section 5 of my Save Our Sheep Sweater...

I finished the Clun Forest yarn and started Navajo Churro.

My initial plan was to match the breed bands across both sleeves and the body.  But the more I thought about it, the more I think it will be too much to wrangle.  Thereby removing the fun and making it stressful instead.

So I decided to pull the Hog Island (yellow-ish) from the bottom of the plan up to the sleeves.  This should make the sleeves primarily yellow, and each of the breed bands thicker on the body.

Navajo Churro is a Rug Yarn

I have been back-and-forth on whether to include Navajo Churro in this project.

You can see from the picture above, that the color flows nicely....  from the sweater thus far in Clun Forest, to Navajo Churro (top cake) and on down the line.

Navajo Churro is more of a rug or outer wear yarn but as a primitive breed, there is a lot of variety between fleeces, and this one has a nice hand.

Navajo Churro

The experience of knitting with it is very different from the Clun Forest.  It was clear, even in the first few stitches, that there is not much spring/bounce.

However, with the intent to make a fully-informed decision, I knit two rows and then set the project aside to think about it.

Clun Forest with 2 rows of Navajo Churro

I am concerned whether Navajo Churro is appropriate for a knit sweater... and it's placement in the lineup puts it across the bust and into the armpit... where extra stretch and give would be favorable.

I may still find a way to use the Navajo Churro in this sweater, but at this point,  I'm all but certain I will TINK it out.

Until next time.  Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save Our Sheep Sweater, part 5

Continuing my Save Our Sheep Sweater with section 5... (part 5 and section 5, ha)

My gut kept telling me to add a life line.  While section 5 appeared straight forward, that doesn't mean that I won't make a mistake.

So, as I like to say.... it's better have a life line than to need a life line.  ;-)

As the sweater gets larger, the risk of losing work due to a mistake increases.  So I have been employing the generous use of life lines to ensure I don't have to rip back too far in the event of a mistake.  Therefore protecting the work that is correct.... aka Risk Mitigation.

Part 5 is almost complete now.

The Navajo Line detail across the upper back is interesting.

At the time of these photos, I had 8 rows to get to the point of dividing out the sleeves and not enough of the Clun Forest yarn to get there.  So this seems like a good place to pause for a progress report.

The next yarn is Navajo Churro, which I'll talk about next time.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Save our Sheep Sweater, part 4

Continuing with my Save Our Sheep Sweater...

Recently, I had a weekend with very little we had to do and no where we had to be.  These were unusual circumstances and the weather was kind of icky, so I was able to relax a bit and spend some time with my sweater.  Both of which were supremely wonderful.

I finished Sections 1, 2 and 3 - Upper Back and Shoulders.

I picked up all of the stitches, counted them, and got the correct number.  WooHoo!

Then, since the next set of instructions were confusing to me, I added a life line.

After thinking a bit, and reading ahead in the pattern.... I believe the decrease instructions listed in Section 4 are not necessary, and actually intended for Section 5.

At this point, Section 4 and the first set of Navajo Lines are complete and I am still using skein #1, Clun Forest.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!