#bfl x

[milkweedman]

Ah, partially finished handspun sweater from at least 1 year ago that i will never finish, my beloathed

I frogged it. Idk how much yarn this is total (the spaghetti skeins were both just over 100 yards each)... so if the other skeins are the same size it's around 600 yards of yarn.

Not a lot you can do with that. I am gonna see if I can spin up these remaining rolags before they get even dustier (I did have the sweater panel covering the basket so that absorbed most of the dust I hope. I have been sneezing a lot and am grateful this isn't one of those dislocated jaw days). We'll see if the knees allow it. But that would maybe add another 100 yards.

I was vaguely considering weaving some squares with it to turn into a blanket ? The yardage would go further that way, but like...not that much further. I don't believe that I have any more of any of the fleeces I used on this. The brown is jacob but I've bought,processed, used/sold like 6 jacob fleeces at this point and they all vary in crimp, softness, staple length, you name it. The white I think is a bfl cross mixed with shetland. Pretty sure I used the remainder of the bfl for something else and the shetland I either used already or dyed pink. Can't remember...I have also gone thru a number of shetland fleeces at this point, and again, they all vary.

So....yeah idk. I mean adding another breed like I did with the jacob wouldn't be a terrible idea, but I'm not sure what. Ideas welcome. Yarn weight is heavy worsted to bulky.

[milkweedman]

Feeling tentatively hopeful about this newest attempt at loading a distaff. Definitely holding together, which is usually a big problem. This is the willowed fleece (I think it's BFL X, if I remember correctly) that I opened up a little more by hand, layered kinda into a batt, and then rolled onto this manzanita cane blank that looked obligingly like a distaff.

I have a bunch of stuff to ply for TDF but this is next !

[milkweedman]

Turns out its fall here, and the urge to make a sweater is... very strong. Was looking through my fleeces trying to see if ive got enough of anything for a worsted weight sweater spin, and im pretty sure i dont, but i do have a lot of that bfl x left (most of it raw... once its all washed i should have a little over a pound) and i figured i could at least start there. Plus... i remember who i bought it from and she has another shearing from the same sheep, so...

This basket of rolags is just a reworked batt ftom that fleece, plus one or two from a section of washed fleece. If nothing else it should make a nice sample to see how much yardage ill get.

[milkweedman]

That sleeve yarn is finally done drying. The picture where it's skeined up shows the couple of leftover rolags from these (a blend of shetland and alpaca) as well as the yarn ball currently attached to the back panel of the body. Should be a nice contrast in the finished piece, although again I'm not sure how much of the nuances of undyed wool will be visible once it's all been dyed.

Also, look at the stripes ! You can see where I stopped alternating white and light brown yarns every 2 rows and just switched to the light brown yarn--but that had stripes too, longer and more random but definitely still there. Interesting how the singles aligned, I usually get more of a barberpole when i just randomly pick rolags that all have slightly different colors.

Anyway, hopefully you can also see the texture--all those slubs are at least a little raised, and overall it isn't smooth (just too much texture from the slubs) but it is quite soft and nice to the touch.

Also, I'm... I think mostly done with the shoulder decreases ! Need to measure soon.

[milkweedman]

Doing a bit of work on the sweater today. I'm almost at the shoulder shaping already ! Also, i've been alternating two different yarns every two rows because one was thinner and one was thicker and i figured at least this way i wont have a whole section thats too thin or weirdly thick. Which is working fine, but more importantly, the thin yarn is white (just straight bfl cross) and the thick yarn is more oatmeal colored (a blend of bfl x, fawn colored shetland, and brown alpaca) and it made very subtle stripes ! They're much more visible in the light, as shown here (when sitting flat as i work on it you can still see them, but they don't jump out). Really like how it looks, i wonder if it'll still show up after dyeing.

[milkweedman]

Got just past the ribbing last night. Pretty much gonna be white stockinette to the top (i mean, and some shaping). Figured id do the back first, since the front will have some colorwork to look forward to.

Also--meant to post it with the yarn, but look at how many nepps i pulled off while spinning that jacob. Its such a wonderfully soft fleece, but completely full of them.

[milkweedman]

Is it insane to start knitting a sweater when youve only spun like 1/15 of the yarn youll need for it ? Asking for me (i have already started ...)

[milkweedman]

The rolags i did ended up being 2 skeins somehow. And here i thought i barely had enough for one. These are about 110 yards (90 meters) total. Should be enough to finish the back panel, although that might be a while.