This week I completed knitting on the front of the fair isle vest project. I promptly soaked it, gave it a quick, casual block, and let is dry outside in our toasty “summer preview” weather
The side steek I reinforced on each side with crochet, but arm hole and v-neck steeks I just lightly needle felted.
And then,,,,, I sliced it open!
I love how itfeels- so light and drapey. Was really pleased how well my handspun (white, oatmeal and light blue) melded with the Biches et Buches to form a cohesive fabric. Here is a shot that shows the backside
I’m anxious to get it assembled, but still thinking I might want to overdye the green wool/mohair sweater so that it is closer to the green in the front piece. I did a bit of quick playing around with colorshifting the green with blue (blue raspberry kool aid) and yellow (food coloring), and while the results were kind of fun, it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind
I think i just need to use a softer yellow. Maybe a tea stain, or calendula.(?)
The other woolly development from yesterday is a bargain bin Romeldale fleece I picked up at the Wonderful Woollies sale at Little Orchard Farm in Bow. I don’t usually mess around with finewools, but I just couldn’t pass this up at $5 a (big) bag.
It requires a bit of remediation, in the form of trimming the dirty, weathered tips. But with much of it measuring 9 inches or so, there is plenty of staple length left after cutting away anything I don’t want to work with.
And what’s left after the cutting is really amazing. It’s really fresh (bag indicates sheared 5/1/24), and I assume that’s why it is washing up so easily. I’m just washing a couple ounces at a time, and the lanolin releases so quick- leaving the water orange and the wool bright white!
Is going to be a lot of fun to play with. Between the length and the fineness of the fibers, I know that I can’t drum card it, so I’m being careful as I trim and wash to preserve the lock structure so that I can just flick out the ends and spin it from the fold. And all the skirtings and trimmings will feed the compost.
I’ve also made progress on shearing my own woolly gang- only half of Esther and half of Dottie to go!
And with that, I will wish y’all a happy Mothers’ Day and go back outside to enjoy more more of this glorious spring sunshine. 🙂
I missed you at Wonderful Woollies but you got quite a deal. That looks amazing!!!
yep- it was quite a bargain. If you’d like to try some, I’d be happy to share- probably more than I’ll be able to process in the next year!