This sweater was a surprise and a gift to myself. There was a point that I thought this sweater would never be. I had started the sweater using semi-heavy 2ply wool. I believe the wool came from a Corriedale/Coltswold cross. I originally planned a plain sweater for barn wear on cold mornings. The sweater planned isn't the one you always end up with. In all my years of working with fiber this is the only sweater that I have ever completely unraveled not once but, twice. The first issue I had with sweater turned out to be my dyslexia playing with the math for the sleeves. I unraveled both sleeves and had to re-knit them after both were finished. When the sweater was finished I didn't like the ribbing on the bottom. I spent an evening unknitting that and re-knitting one that went more with the entire sweater. I finished the sweater and just wasn't happy with the "feel" or "fit" of it. After two nights of staring at the finished project I sat down and unraveled the entire sweater and started over again. This time it "felt" different and the body worked up fast. When I reached the bust area I had a whim of adding just a touch of the left over Rene' hair/wool 2ply. I needed to double the yarn to make the same gauge as the wool I was using and threw in a gold metallic thread. I purled the dog hair blend to give the sweater a little humph. The second dog hair rib was when I joined the arms to the sweater. I hit a snag in this area when I ran out of left overs from Rene'. I'd like to thank the big guy for making another deposit in my fiber bank. After spinning up another batch of dog hair I found singles in my stash basket and plied 2 strands of dog hair, one of wool and one metallic thread. The same gauge size as the 2 ply base wool. After attaching the sleeves I added one more rib of dog hair to balance the sweater. The neck is worked in a k2-p2 rib with dog hair and wool until the last 3 rows and finished off. The sweater is now my favorite. The "feel" of it is just right. I can wear it everyday or as an evening sweater. The little touch of gold which I'm sad you can't see in the photo makes this sweater something special.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Dog Hair Ribbed sweater
This sweater was a surprise and a gift to myself. There was a point that I thought this sweater would never be. I had started the sweater using semi-heavy 2ply wool. I believe the wool came from a Corriedale/Coltswold cross. I originally planned a plain sweater for barn wear on cold mornings. The sweater planned isn't the one you always end up with. In all my years of working with fiber this is the only sweater that I have ever completely unraveled not once but, twice. The first issue I had with sweater turned out to be my dyslexia playing with the math for the sleeves. I unraveled both sleeves and had to re-knit them after both were finished. When the sweater was finished I didn't like the ribbing on the bottom. I spent an evening unknitting that and re-knitting one that went more with the entire sweater. I finished the sweater and just wasn't happy with the "feel" or "fit" of it. After two nights of staring at the finished project I sat down and unraveled the entire sweater and started over again. This time it "felt" different and the body worked up fast. When I reached the bust area I had a whim of adding just a touch of the left over Rene' hair/wool 2ply. I needed to double the yarn to make the same gauge as the wool I was using and threw in a gold metallic thread. I purled the dog hair blend to give the sweater a little humph. The second dog hair rib was when I joined the arms to the sweater. I hit a snag in this area when I ran out of left overs from Rene'. I'd like to thank the big guy for making another deposit in my fiber bank. After spinning up another batch of dog hair I found singles in my stash basket and plied 2 strands of dog hair, one of wool and one metallic thread. The same gauge size as the 2 ply base wool. After attaching the sleeves I added one more rib of dog hair to balance the sweater. The neck is worked in a k2-p2 rib with dog hair and wool until the last 3 rows and finished off. The sweater is now my favorite. The "feel" of it is just right. I can wear it everyday or as an evening sweater. The little touch of gold which I'm sad you can't see in the photo makes this sweater something special.
Fancy open work sweater
This natural colored Corriedale sweater is exceptionally soft. The open work allows the wearer to compliment the sweater with a Cammi or a turtle neck, depending on the weather. The sweater is light enough for a cover up for an evening on the beach, yet warm enough over a shirt for winter months without getting over heated.
The pattern was worked on a #9 American needles. The pattern was found in a English pattern book Great Big Knits by Dawn French and reworked using the Sweater Workshop Book. The sweater is the perfect weekender sweater
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)