Trenchwork

Things are quiet on the front, although that’s partly because DH brought home and shared a nasty cold, so we’ve kept things pretty still over the holiday.  And, I’m taking the rest of the week off.  Next week, I’ll have to get busy prepping for the coming classes, but this week . . . This week I’m giving myself permission to play.  I’ve gotten nearly caught up on e-mail and have only a couple of mails left to send, the blog is functioning again and tweaking can be done later, and I’m spending my day reading, spinning, bashing a few monsters in a computer game, and playing with fiber.  Laundry and meals fit in there somewhere, but I’ll be honest and admit that they’re not the priority this week.  Next week is another issue.

So, I finished DH’s Cobblestone, and that which was intended for last Christmas was actually received on Christmas Day.

It fits, it feels good, but I’m not entirely happy with it and I don’t like the pattern. It’s an easy knit, but the garter stitch yoke has too much give and doesn’t provide the stability to the sweater it should. It allows the sweater—including the sleeves—to lengthen a bit more than it should, and the yoke puckers if it’s pulled up. Will I knit it again? No. Nor are my knitting skills good enough to redesign the structure. Had I anticipated the problem, I’d have shifted down a full needle size in order to stiffen the fabric, and would have reduced the garter stitch in the yoke to a third of what it should be. That would, I think, make a huge difference. In a way, I can’t help feeling that the pattern is a bit backwards; the softer fabric shouldn’t be at the point in the sweater which needs the most structure. Otherwise, my feeling is that the yarn needs to be very light, and a bit stiff in order to make this work. A softer yarn—while it may feel good—wants to drape instead of stick, and that seems to be a problem.

Nevertheless, it’s done, it feels good, and it’ll be a comfy casual sweater that DH truly will wear.

And I’ve been doing a little playing. These . . .

are about to be blended together.  Clockwise from top left, there’s bombyx, a lovely lovely Shetland fleece from a lamb named Flora of Stonehaven Farm, and some kid mohair. I’ve been experimenting with them over the last few days to find the right blend so that I’d have enough to do a good-sized project. I tried thirds, but the wool . . . Guys, that wool is simply wonderful. I don’t want to lose the quality of that fleece, and I think a yarn of even thirds would not have the elasticity I want. I have a dream of turning it into a laceweight or light fingering weight and making myself a lovely shawl. But a 50% Shetland, 25% kid mohair, 25% silk . . . THAT is a lovely blend. The yarn has the memory of the wool, and the mohair and silk add a bit of extra softness and shine. But I don’t want to lose the black, either; both the Shetland and the kid mohair are simply lovely true blacks, and blending with white silk leaves it greyed and tweedy. So I dyed the silk. It’s now black.

I’m carding this weekend.

I can’t wait.

By the way, New Year’s resolutions? I don’t do those. This year, however, there are two:

Happy New Year, everyone.