In Which All is Revealed

The last four days of playing professional laundress (except without the pay) has severely interfered with my spinning, knitting, and writing time. Honestly, if I had my druthers, which I don’t, I would spend 90% of my day doing something creative. Unlike other media that have eventually left me bored and drifting away toward another artistic outlet, both writing and “fibering” still leave me aching to do more and I find myself straining to stay awake each night trying to either knit one more row or write one more paragraph. It’s a blessing and a curse.

Yesterday morning, though, whilst both washer and dryer were running and every bit of laundry was either sorted and waiting to go into the machines, in the machines, or, best of all, out of the machines, folded, and put away, I finished plying the last of the wool for the Recreation of the Favorite Sweater Sweater. In the past, I had promised that all would be revealed in time and, yes ladies and gentlemen, it is time. (I’m sure you’ve been waiting with baited breath unable to sleep at night. I am here to relieve your suffering. You’re welcome.)

This is the Favorite Sweater. I bought it for Hunky Husband years ago as a Christmas gift. He loves it, the simplicity of it, its sole decoration being a few assorted stripes. He prostrated himself across the bed and cried like the baby he is when I told him the ink stain that he himself had put there would not come out. Not really, but he was majorly bummed out. “It’s my favorite sweater,” he moaned. This is when the rusty gears inside my head began turning and a plan was hatched.

Obviously, the Favorite Sweater is machine knit. In order to truly recreate it, I would have to knit it on size 0000 needles and it would take me from now until the end of time to finish. Perhaps, instead of a recreation, I would design an interpretation. I would knit it solely from yarn I would spin from the first shearings of four of our sheep, Charlotte, Leroy, Cookie, and Carmela (lambswool, I can’t say yum enough).

As of yesterday morning, they are all spun and I have everything I need (with perhaps the exception of time) to make David a new favorite sweater.

Here it is so far, overlaid with my homespun in the order of sheep written above. It is knit in the round (204 stitches a row) and is just shy of the raglan stopping point (where I stopper the cable, start on the sleeves, and once they are to the same point, join everything together to begin the raglan decreases, and finish the yoke). I am hoping to get it done by Christmas but Lord knows what domestic goddess I will be forced to impersonate next.

Plus, even though the yarn is all spun for this project, I can’t live without at least a little spinning and a certain baby I will someday be privileged to know is in utero and, once sprung, will need to be adorned with the softest handspun, made from hand-dyed merino wool.

This washed and dyed mess needs to be carded into
this roving which will need to be spun into hopefully lovely yarn and made into an adorable wee cardigan, cap, and booties. All will be revealed in time (C’mon, I needed to give you fellow fiberholics something to look forward to/lose sleep over).

Comments

[Shepherdchik]

The new favorite sweater looks great! I'm sure he'll love it. Who is having the new baby?

[PixelPi]

Gorgeous yarns! I love to see knitting projects and the beautiful yarns. Still wondering if I should ever make the leap to try the pointy sticks. I might have a career in potholders.

Your lambies make good wool!

[Michelle]

Waiting for further revelations about David's favorite sweater past and future has not left me all atwitter, but the new teaser about an upcoming birth definitely piqued my curiousity! I'll try to wait patiently.... Lovely roving, BTW!