OATMEAL IS FINISHED!!!!!

Here is my oatmeal cardigan, finished! I can't believe it fits & looks so nice for my first handspun sweater! I am so happy with the way it turned out, now the weather is warm & I won't get to wear it here in FL until November!! There were a few revisions to the pattern, I did not put patterning on the sleeves but just left them plain. I made the body an inch longer as I am 5'9" & usually have to make things longer, the sleeves were re-done with a much more gradual increase so they are more fitted than the pattern called for. Other than that, it was done according to the pattern, size 42. I haven't figured out the total yardage I used yet, but I will be adding a page in my spinning journal with all the specs about WPI for singles, plied, twist ratio, yardage used, etc. & will maybe edit this post then to include all that info. Right now I just love looking at this sweater!

The button needs to be moved slightly so it doesn't gap, or something else needs to be done here to eliminate that gap but otherwise it's great! The buttons were perfect, & they were the only ones at JoAnn Fabrics that there were enough of without having to place a special order. I am so glad they worked out as I was READY to finish this thing up & try it on!

The back looks so COOL! I love the patterning & simple design.

I can't wait for the weather to be cool enough to wear it, maybe a morning or two yet, who knows? They are having snow in ND alternating with 60 degrees (that's where my mom lives), I plan on taking it when I visit this summer. The ND weather is definitely unpredictable!

MORE ABOUT THAT DRUM CARDER I TALKED ABOUT IN AN EARLIER POST

This is the batt rolled onto the empty paper towel roll. This one probably weighs about 3 oz.
This is some of the waste that I don't want to card into the batt, mostly knots & second cuts where the shears didn't get close enough the first time so they made a second cut. The fibers are really too short to do anything with, so it will go outside for the birds to use in their nests.
This has been run through just once. It can be split & run through several more times to make sure it is fully blended & smooth, it's up to you. I will probably run this through twice & call it good.
I roll it onto an empty paper towel roll for ease in removing the batt.
The fiber has been split at the seam in the drum carder & is ready to be removed.
Here I am starting to take the fiber off the drum after carding.
Here I am feeding in some fibers to be blended. They get teased lightly before entering the licker in drum. Several layers can be put on the drum carder, this one has a really nice brush on it that helps pack the fibers down nicely & makes a smoother batt.
This is the drum carder my hubby got me for Christmas, a Straucht Finest, it's the bomb! (He really did good, huh? I mentioned this but never thought I'd actually get it & I was really surprised!) It is really great for blending & carding fibers. Recently I used it on the shorter fibers left from combing my BFL fleece.

PROGRESS ON THE OATMEAL CARDIGAN

Usually, this is what Molly is doing while I am knitting or spinning. She is the sweetest dog ever.
This is my assistant Molly, my 11-year old mini-daschund. Sometimes she is interested in my projects & comes over to check things out.

Second sleeve started. Lookin' good! Not bad progress for 16 days work (on the knitting, that is!)


Body & 1 sleeve completed.
Here is the first sleeve completed & ready to attach to the body for the yoke. I am certainly learning alot about spinning by knitting this sweater! Now, I wish I had done a 3-ply yarn instead of 2-ply as I think that would have helped with some of the areas of thick/thin yarn, but overall I am pretty happy with how this project is turning out!

My First 3-ply Yarn!

My first skein of 3-ply yarn! Still not as perfect as I'd like, but I love it anyway!


Plied, & wound onto the niddy noddy to be made into a skein of gorgeous yarn!
This is a lazy-kate, a tensioning device used for plying.


The bobbins, with the singles evenly divided between 3 bobbins, ready to be 3-plied.



This is a Romney roving, hand dyed by SheepishCreations.etsy.com. I decided to try my hand at 3-ply yarn, so we will see how that goes. The colors are so yummy, it will be interesting to see how they work out. The yarn looks a bit over-twisted on the bobbin, I'm hoping it will work out though.