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With the Unspun Sweater pretty much wrapped up, I finally given myself permission to dig in to Thea Colmans Smokeshow vest.

When I first acquired the pattern back in Dec, I was thinking that I’d use the Chone yarn I have in my stash. But when I dug it out and took a look, I realized that it was not all the same weight. About half two-ply DK, and half 3 ply worsted. So I went back to the drawing board.

I had a big ole hank of DK-ish yarn that I purchased from Abundant Earth fiber at the St. Distaff’s Day spin-in last month (mill end, irresistible deal ) that I thought I might be able to use. At a total of 12 oz, it might have been enough itself. But doubled, it was a little too heavy.

Then I remembered that I had a long neglected sweater project that was still on the needles. Autumn’s End. It’s been sitting in a bag since 2016, and I’ve known since at least 2018 that it wasn’t going to make it to the finish line. So this week it got frogged and repurposed.

It’s nice that this Griff yarn gets another chance to contribute to a sweater project. I’d felt bad for keeping it sidelined for so long. Held together, the yarns achieve gauge and have a nice texture, too. Substantial, but lofty.

So this morning I made a start! Cast on is complete, and ribbing is underway.

A good place to be. Ever since I started using the Norwegian purl technique, I just love ribbing.

Feels good to have this underway. I’m still not exactly sure how long I’m going to make the body. The pattern is written for a cropped length garment, and I tend not to wear tops that short, but I don’t want to substantially change the character of the vest. I might just lengthen it by a couple inches.

The other thing I started this week is my tribute to Yellow Chig.

I’ve pulled out the chicken pattern that I started working on a number of years ago (how time flies!)

I was so pleased to find that I could fit all the pattern pieces one piece of Esther felt that I made last summer

I dyed the felt a bright sunshine-y, Yellow Chig color, and it’s currently drying outside. I hope I can remember how I assembled the prototype!

Have a great week, folks 🙂

Yesterday I was down at the 2024 WSU Country Living Expo ’24 in Stanwood, teaching a Wool Processing class to a great group of fiber-curious folks. As I mentioned to attendees, class materials and video resources that I developed a couple years ago for the zoom version of the course are available here.

Once I was done teaching, I enjoyed some lunch, and then hit the trade show and found some local goodies to bring home-

That’s 4 oz of Tunis wool roving from Fuzzy Britches Fiber in Stanwood, and 3 lbs of blackberry honey from Bruce Bowen Bees in Mount Vernon.

Also picked up a silly T-shirt from Hazel Blue Acres in Arlington.

They had these shirts made for a 5 K they hosted at their farm last year, and I just thought the little jogging blueberry guy was super cute.

Later in the afternoon, I pulled out a spinning wheel (Sophie, the trusty traveller) and hosted a mini spin-in kind of thing in a corner of the gym, adjacent to the trade show. Was just a few of us there, but we generated a fair bit of interest, and it was nice to spin and chat for a while. I’d brought some fun, blendy batts which resulted in these two pretty skeins

And with that, Expo ’24 is a wrap! Thanks to everyone who came out. It’s always a lot of fun 🙂

Earlier this week I had to say goodbye to my good friend Yellow Chig. It seems silly to be broken up over the loss of an old, mostly blind chicken, but I had grown quite attached to her over the years. She was kind of a special case. A sweet, feathery ray of sunshine bopping around the garden.

It’s been so cold that the ground is still frozen and I haven’t had a chance to bury her yet. Hoping I can maybe do that later today.

Ideas are also coming together about a Yellow Chig memorial project. Thinking along the lines of felt, with embroidery embellishment. More on that later.

That leaves Speck on her own in the hoophouse for now. Not sure how she’s feeling about being a solitary chicken. I expect it will be easier in better weather when she can range around the yard.

Despite the chicken drama, I did manage to finish the unspun sweater this week-

I’m really pleased with how it turned out! As I was knitting the body and sleeves with the carded Alice wool (which was still kind of greasy) I was a little worried about the texture. But it washed up beautifully, and feels lighter and fluffier now. I also was a unsure of how I was going to fix a ugly smudge of oil or grease or some thing that somehow got on the sleeve I was working.

Gah! Crubbed even before it’s gotten worn!

I decided to just knit on and address it afterwards, when I was washing and blocking.

It turns out that my handy Tide To Go pen was effective on whatever crud had gotten on there. I wonder if there also being natural sheep grease left in the might have helped with the stain not penetrating the fibers (?) Anyway, it all came out in the wash. Thank goodness. A fresh start for the Unspun Sweater (neckline finishing question tabled for now).

Have a good week folks-

Been mighty cold the last few days.

Spent most of my time hunkered down near the pellet stove, with trips out to tend critters.

No snow to speak of, just cold and wind.

The sheep don’t seem to mind, thankfully. I’ve got a defroster in their water, so that helps.

Speck the chicken would probably be ok in the hoophouse overnight as she’s pretty robust, but almost lost Yellow Chig overnight Thursday, so I’ve been bringing them both into the laundry room in a dog crate the last two nights. Despite that, Yellow Chig seems to be losing steam. Way too skinny, and having crop issues but still hanging in there. Poor girl.

Anyway, one bright spot this week was getting a completely unexpected package in the mail from The Shepherd, whose fancy vest I finished up a couple/few months ago.

12 oz total of Sister Jean roving. What a lovely surprise!

Not sure yet what it wants to be, but I took it for a test spin yesterday (Dala) to get a feel for it.

Notes to self: chain ply, .455 oz, 23 yds knit on size 3/4 needles, 5 st/in, 7.25 rows/in .455 oz, 23.5 yds

If my math is correct, and I spun it all up to those specs, I could get about 600 yds. or I could go finer with a two-ply. Two ply would be nice for colorwork. Decisions, decisions.

While hunkered by the pellet stove I’ve made more progress on the unspun sweater, serving as background here for my most recent blendy spin.

Really close to done with the knitting now (though, as I mentioned last week, I expect I’ll need to reknit the last few inches of the other sleeve)— so the finishing bit has been on my mind a lot lately.

I’m considering steeking it up the front and making it a cardigan/jacket. Been thinking about the best way to do that, and if button/loop closure would still be viable, or if I’d be looking at working a button band.

But I’m tired and grumpy from the cold, and having a hard time making a decision. Maybe once my brain thaws out.

Take it easy, and stay toasty folks-