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: Shave 'Em to Save 'Em, Black Welsh Mountain

copyright: Desert Weyr

Black Welsh Mountain - At first glance, I'm really looking forward to spinning this wool.  The preparation is spongy without the immediate feel of lanolin and feels very consistent.

This is a naturally Black Fleece... with a generous 3-inch staple length.

There was a small amount of VM, that came out during the spinning process.

I started the Tour de Fleece with one single complete and 1 7/8oz remaining of this sample.

My thoughts while spinning this breed is that it would make a lovely felted pea coat, and also be nice in socks.  I love the natural black color.

From the Livestock Conservancy:  The Black Welsh Mountain sheep is the only completely black sheep breed from England and first came to the US in the 1970's.  The Black Welsh Mountain is listed as Threatened, meaning that fewer than 1000 sheep are registered in the US each year and that the estimated global population is less than 5000.

This roving was sourced locally from Desert Weyr.  I've mentioned before, it feels good knowing that I am able to support a Colorado breeder of rare livestock.  :-)

Final Yarn: Black Welsh Mountain
Single Duration: June 23 - July 5, 2019
Ply Duration: July 5 - July 13, 2019
Ready to Submit: July 20, 2019
ounces: 4 7/8 oz
yards:256, 2-ply
wpi:  12
Source: Mill-prepared roving

SE2SE Status:
Total Breeds: 22
Breeds Sourced: 11
Breeds Spun: 3
Breeds To Go: 19

Months Remaining: 28

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2019 - Epilogue

As I discussed last time, I did a crazy thing and joined two teams.... Chiengora and SE2SE.

Since I was on the road for most of this tour, I decided to do a weekly summary.... hopefully you haven't missed my daily progress log.  ;-)

Week 1:  July 6 - July 12

7 days of spinning.

I had more time than I expected for spinning before the TdF started, so I had finished the Black Welsh Mountain singles prior to the Tour and I plied all but 1/4 oz this week for SE2SE.

Plied Black Welsh Mountain

I also spent at least 15 minutes each day spindling Tibetan Mastiff.

Friday, July 12th was the first Challenge Day.  I didn't have any specific challenges planned for this year, so I spent a little time doing free-spindling.  I'm primarily a park-and-draft spindler, so I would like to practice this more... of course my yarn is nicer when I park-and-draft.  ;-)

1/8 oz of Tibetan Mastiff

Progress as of Friday: July 12:
Tibetan Mastiff (TM): 1/8 oz
Black Welsh Mountain (BWM): 5 oz plied
Time Spent: 7 days of spinning at least 15 minutes each
Challenge: 1 completed


Week 2:  July 13 - July 19

6 days of spinning.

Tuesday, July 16th was the first Rest Day, which I did not observe.  I had two very long work days planned, and there was a high risk I wasn't going to be able to spin on these days.  But I was able to spin every day this week, and had a couple of days that were closer to 30 minutes.

As a result, I added 3/8 oz to my Tibetan Mastiff spindle.

1/2 oz of Tibetan Mastiff

After completing the Black Welsh Mountain from last week, I started spinning my Jacob-American sample on Saturday and was able to complete 7/8 oz.

7/8 oz of Jacob-American

Progress as of Friday, July 19:
Tibetan Mastiff (TM): +3/8 = 1/2 oz
Black Welsh Mountain (BWM):  4 7/8 oz plied, washed and dried
Jacob-American:  7/8 oz
Challenges: 1 completed
Rest Days: not observed
Days Missed:  0 (net +1)


Week 3:  July 20 - July 26

6 days of spinning.

Monday, July 22nd was the second Rest Day. - which I did observe

Thursday, July 25th was the second Challenge Day - I did not intend to observe, but Ruby the cat was so excited to have me home that she rubbed her face all over my face and arms while I was spindling, so I think that counts.  ;-)

I also worked a little on the Jacob I started the week before.


Week 4:  July 27 - July 28

2 days of spinning.

I was out of town for a family event over the last 2 days of the tour.  I thought I might be able to get some quiet spinning time in before everyone else work up, but there are a lot of earlier risers in my extended family.  :-)

So I completed my 15 minutes each day... and one of the littlest cousins knew what I was doing.  He told me where he learned about it, but did not want to try it.  :-)

Final Tally:

The Tour Guidelines were::

• Spin every day the Tour rides:  Saturday, July 6 through Sunday, July 28
• Days of Rest:  Tuesday, July 16 and Monday, July 22
• Challenge Days:  Wednesday, July 12 and Wednesday, July 25

My Goals were:

• Spin every day the Tour rides for at least 15 minutes - complete +1
• Make progress on both projects - complete
• No challenges were planned - one completed

3/4 oz Tibet Mastiff

Black Welsh Mountain: plied 4 7/8 oz

Jacob American 2 7/8 oz

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2019

As we approach mid-May, I start thinking about the Tour de Fleece...

• What are my goals?
• What does my schedule look like?
• What do I think I can accomplish?
• What do I need to prepare before the Tour starts?

Then as we approach late-June, I've settled on what I'm likely to accomplish and may still have a stretch goal.

Back Row: Karakul, Lincoln, CVM

Middle Row: Jacob, Gulf Coast

Front Row: Tunis, Shetland, Santa Cruz

I am spinning rare breed wools as part of the Shave 'Em to Save "Em (SE2SE) Initiative and have a good sized backlog.  So I was hoping that I could focus on completing 3 breeds.... one for each week.  But I'm going to be traveling for most of the tour, so this much will not happen.

My Chiengora Group is planning a team... and I love my Tibetan Mastiff Yarn so much, that I want to make a hat for myself.

The Shave 'Em to Save 'Em group is also planning a team.

So I will be spindling Tibetan Mastiff for the Chiengora Team while I am on the road and spinning Black Welsh Mountain Wool for the SE2SE team when I am at home.

First and foremost (because I usually forget) my empty spindle weighs 1 oz.

I have 5 1/8 oz of prepared Tibetan Mastiff ready to go.

I have also already completed 3 3/8 oz of Black Welsh Mountain Wool,

leaving 1 7/8 oz to complete during this Tour.

Tour Guidelines:

• Spin every day the Tour rides:  Saturday, July 6 through Sunday, July 28
• Days of Rest:  Tuesday, July 16 and Monday, July 22
• Challenge Days:  Wednesday, July 12 and Wednesday, July 25

My Goals:

• Spin every day the Tour rides for at least 15 minutes
• Make progress on both projects
• No challenges are planned

The Tour starts tomorrow!!

Happy Fiber Arts Friday, and Happy Tour de France and Fleece!