Appreciating The Fiber Arts

Cold weather = time to get out the sweaters = kitty nap spot

TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Can you believe it? And still in time for the cold weather to wear it in!

This cardigan incorporates fleece samples from a total of 17 different rare breeds of sheep:

* The body of the sweater (both the white and the green) is Ryeland.

* The blue for the peeries and seeding pattern is Hog Island.

* The Sheep:
Front top row (from left): North Ronaldsay, Teeswater, North Ronaldsay (to show a different color), Leicester Longwool, California Variegated Mutant, and Whiteface Woodland.

Front bottom row (from left): Three Shetlands (in different colors) , and a family of four Navajo-Churros.

Back top row (from left): Tunis, Ryeland, Karakul, Jacob, and Wensleydale.

Back bottom row front (from left): North Ronaldsay, Hebridean, Soay, Manx Logthan, and Lincoln.

I have been working on this project for a very long time. The idea for it came during the Online Guild's Hebridean Rare Breed Challenge, back in August of 2002. I only had a sample of Hebridean fleece, and being a project person by nature, didn't want to simply let the yarn sit in a box somewhere. I wanted to do something with it. The idea of being able to show off my Heb yarn as a sheep motif in a sweater came from that.

So I started collecting small amounts of whatever rare breed fibers I could get my hands on. Some were raw fleece, some prepared rovings. Some I purchased, but many of them came as gifts from other fiber folk who simply wanted to encourage me along in this project. I got the fleece for the body of the sweater in February 2003, again from an Online Guild Rare Breed Challenge. This time the breed was Ryeland, and I was able to purchase a kilo of it. I admit that it isn't the softest choice for the body of any sweater, but the amount was enough, and I don't mind wearing turtlenecks with sweaters!

Finally in October 2006, I had enough yarns to actually begin working on swatches and a design. I am neither an expert knitter nor a knitwear designer, but as with most things in my life, I pressed on in the confidence that I can do this, and at the very least, learn a few things along the way.

Actually I have learned quite a bit, as I've had to deal with problems and challenges. Each of this took time to consider the possibilities and make a decision about them. I've had to deal with mathematical challenges, such as trying to work out the sheep motif placement; design challenges, such as choosing the seeding pattern and organizing the yarn colors; and yarn problems, such as running out of green yarn!

Speaking of that green yarn, I took your suggestions and alternated rows of the old green with the new for the button and neck bands. The new green, though an unbelievably close match, still looks "off" in certain lightings. I think if you look closely at the sweater now, you can tell there is a slight color difference between front and neck bands, and the bottom and sleeve ribbing. Hopefully not enough to be too terribly noticeable!(???) Even so, I'm much happier with a green neckband than the white one.

Another decision that required a lot of thought was the buttons. The ones I ended up using (pictured at left) are not the ones I bought at SAFF, which, though lovely, just didn't suit the sweater. I did find some adorable pewter sheep buttons at Morehouse Farm, but alas, they were all sold out.

With all that, plus the fact that I am a slow knitter who doesn't work on large projects during the hot summer months, this sweater has been quite the work in progress. There are some knitting flaws, but I'm not planning on pointing those out to anyone. Happily, the sweater is a perfect fit.

So, I've wrapped up an old project on the last day of the old year. Very exciting as I'm looking forward to starting some swatches with my Shetland yarns. And with that I want to wish you and yours a very happy and safe New Year.

© 2008 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:

Winter Knitting Project

Rare Breed Sweater Swatches

Fretting Over That Green Yarn

Firstly, I want to thank everyone for all your encouraging comments and suggestions on my last post. I got some confirmation on some ideas I had already been tossing around, and some things I hadn't considered, but which would be very do-able, if not radical! I was very interested in your different opinions, which helped me realize that the final results are very much subjective.

I did happen to find a 30 inch strand of green, hopefully enough to finish those 20 stitches! But that still leaves the neck band, which I really prefer would match the front bands, so I worked on two possible solutions over the weekend. I figured that I'd start with these, and then move on to another idea if neither one worked.

The first, was to knit some swatches to see if I couldn't come up with a two color band, imitating the Fair Isle stitches I'd used in the sweater. My problem here, was that I couldn't figure out how to adapt Fair Isle to a k1p1 ribbing.

The other thing I decided to try, was to dye some of the white yarn to see how well I could match the green. I realize that the chances of actually accomplishing this were slim to none, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. My first major at university was painting, and one thing I had was an eye for matching color. It wasn't something I could explain how I did, but by mixing paints on my palette, I could match any color on anybodies canvas. However, I know that dyes don't work the same way paints do, but I still had to give it a try even if only to prove to myself that I couldn't do it.

I knew that the green in the sweater was Cushings, and I seemed to recall that the old dyestocks I have on hand were mixed at the same time. I was out of the Ocean Green, but still had some Lemon and Sky Blue dyestocks leftover. So I set about, adding one spoonful of each at a time, turning up the heat, and checking my progress.

I kept a small snippet of the yarn I was trying to match in a bowl of water. this way I could compare the colors while wet, as I know that colors lighten some with drying.

When I got to the point where the color values were about the same, my green experimental skein was still a tad too bright. So I mixed a little Scarlet dyestock and added a smidgen in hopes it would dull it enough. Here is a photograph of the results...

And below is a scan of the newly dyed skein with that 30 inch strand of original green yarn mixed in. The scan didn't turn out the same color as the photo, but it is still useful for a comparison.....

What do you all think???? Would anyone notice if I used it for the neckband????

One difference I notice is that I did a better job on the new skein. The original skeins were a little spotty, which shows up in the knitting. Still, if was just for the neckband........ maybe it would work?

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
So. Whatever Happened to That RBS Anyway?
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

So. Whatever Happened to That RBS Anyway?

Ah yes. My Rare Breed Sweater. Last seen about a month ago. Well, I got this far .......

... and then ran out of green yarn!!!!!

That's right, I ran out of green yarn with only 20 stitches to go to finish the right front band.

So. Everything has come to a halt while I am in the problem solving mode.

One other thing bothers me too; the neck band. I don't like the look of the green going up the front and then just ending there like a tall green column leading to nowhere. So I am trying to rethink that as well. I think I would like it much better with the neckband in green, but alas....... I knitted in in white in the first place because I knew I'd be cutting it close with the green. On the other hand, I don't think I'd like the bands to be all in white, either.

Of course, if I kept impeccable dyeing records, I could simply dye some more, as I do have more yarn in the breed of the body (Ryeland.) But I don't keep impeccable dyeing records. In fact, it's been so long ago since I dyed this yarn, that I don't really recall much except that it was Cushings. It occurred to me yesterday, that it might have been 'Ocean Green', as I kept that around for a long time. But then again, it might not have been. I don't have any Cushings 'Ocean Green' anyway.

This cardigan has been in the works for a long time. I first got the idea back in August of 2002. The Online Guild was doing a Hebridean Rare Breed Fleece Challenge that month, and as I worked with my 150 grams of raw Hebridean fleece, I wondered what I could do with it. Being a project person, I wanted to be able to show it off in something. That's when I got the idea for this sweater, with each little sheep being a different rare breed.

The yarn for the body of the sweater was spun in February 2003, when the OLG had a Ryeland Rare Breed Challenge. I was able to purchase an entire kilo for that one, and decided that this would be the bulk of the sweater. For the sheep, I've been collecting and spinning rare breed samples since then.

So, considering that I've been working on this for over five years, I don't reckon a little more time is going to hurt anything. *sigh*

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Fretting Over That Green Yarn
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

SAFF

Originally, I had hoped to entitle this post "Sheep To Shawl," because that's what I participated in at SAFF this year. The WNCF/H Guild hosted a Sheep to Shawl demonstration again, and this year was the first time I took part. My plan was to take photos of every step in the process, and post them in this blog post. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way, mostly because the crowds were so huge that good photographic opportunities were difficult (for this amateur photographer anyway.)

I started by trying to get a pic of the shearing demo, but due to the crowds I couldn't get close enough and at a good enough angle for a good shot. Then too, the area we had to spin and weave in, was long and narrow; the long part running from the public area to a door in back. That meant that it wasn't easy to set up the spinning wheels in any orderly fashion, especially as the ground wasn't level. We were set up in a crowded, hodge podge arrangement, and with the steady stream of curious onlookers, I never could figure out how to get some good shots.

I did have fun though. Besides the shearing demo, there was a fleece skirting demonstration. We had a good number of volunteers carding and spinning. We spun worsted weight singles, which were immediately wound off onto weaving bobbins. Our weaver used these as weft on a pre-warped loom, to weave a lovely shawl. No photos of that either, *sigh*.

What I can show you however, are the goodies that followed me home. Unfortunately, this won't be your typical fiber fair eye candy, as I had decided that fiber and yarn weren't at the top of my list. Consequently, my purchases are visually boring, but very useful.

Any type of fiber is usually a temptation for me, but I decided to close my eyes to all of it and focus on some items that I didn't want to have to mail order later, and pay shipping on. I used to do a lot of mail order shopping, but as shipping costs have gone up, my mail ordering has gone down. Fiberwise however, I couldn't resist this package of silk hankies.

I had so much fun knitting them, that I wanted to dye some of my own and do that again. Or maybe try weaving with them.

What I mainly wanted to focus on were dye supplies. I have done very little dyeing these past two years, but now with the prospect of moving to a larger place where I can have room to set up and get outdoors, I want to get back into dyeing.

The tall bottle on the back right is supposed to be Synthrapol. It isn't. It's Retayne, which isn't the same thing. I just noticed this when I set up for the photo! Grrrr. Don't ya just love it when someone shelves an odd bottle without watching where they're putting it. *sigh*

The other items include a few Cushings dyes, a pound of alum, 4 ounces of cream of tartar, and a Procion Starter Set from Earth Guild. I got the Procion kit because I want to experiment painting some cotton warps. All my dye experience has been with wool and silk, so this will be something new for me.

The other thing I looked for and found, was buttons for my Rare Breed Sweater, which I was unable to find locally. This project has been set aside since last April, when I completed everything but the neck and front bands. I knitted the neck band last week, but had to wait until I got some buttons before I could knit the front bands.

I don't know why, but I always agonize over choosing buttons. I had something sheepy in mind, but wasn't able to find anything with this theme that I really liked. I know that buttons can either compliment or distract from a finished project, so I am usually hesitant when it comes to fancy buttons. Most of the time I opt for something plain, just to be safe. I really liked these however .....

What do you think? Are they a good choice for this sweater? Knitting on the button bands will commence soon.

So that's it. That's the SAFF report. It was a fun day with beautiful weather and good friends. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Rare Breed Sweater - The Home Stretch

The home stretch ................ or at least I hope it is.

Over the weekend we had a chilly snap, so I worked on weaving in loose ends of yarn (of which there seemed a gazzillion) and sewing Rare Breed Sweater pieces together.

I have to admit that warm weather usually dampens my enthusiasm for large knitting projects, but the frosty mornings and brisk north wind all day were perfect for having a knitted sweater on my lap.

I have the fronts loosely pinned together with t-pins in the photo below, so you can get an idea of how it's looking.

I was so relieved that all the pieces fitted perfectly, especially the sleeves!

What's needed now is the front and neck bands. I have to admit that I've been dragging my feet over this because I haven't completely settled on how I'm going to do this. I'm not sure of solid white bands in front because of the stripes of green. I'm not sure of trying some patterning, as I've never done this on sweater bands before. I will probably spend some time thinking about this.

Hopefully they will go better than the front bands on this sweater did. For some reason I had a heck of a time getting the pick-up right on that sweater! I can't tell you how many times I had to re-do it before I was satisfied. Even though I re-learned to knit about a decade ago, I'm so slow that I honestly can't say I've progressed to much more than an intermediate knitter.

And then there's finding buttons. Something sheepy I think? Decisions, decisions!!!!

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Rare Breed Sweater - Sheep Faces

I've finished both sleeves for my Rare Breed Sweater. So all that's left is to sew the pieces together, knit the front and neck band, and add buttons.

First however, I decided to add a little detail to the sheep faces.

Not sure they all look like actual, for real sheep faces, but to quote a favorite line from a favorite movie, "That'll do Pig."

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Modular Knitting

On the knitting front, I am still diligently working on my Rare Breed Sweater. I am about 2/3 along with the second sleeve. However, since it (hopefully) won't look any different than the first sleeve, there isn't much to show for it.

In random bits of time, I am still slowly working through Iris Schreier's Modular Knits, which I started working on back here. I decided to work through all the exercises in the book along with a few projects, my ultimate goal being the Diamond Panel Vest on page 109.

My first project has been the Patchwork Eyeglass Case on page 22. I was a bit puzzled and stumped at first, until it occurred to me to check for errata for this book. I found a very handy list of corrections at Artyarns.

In experimenting, it seems to me that this technique is a perfect use of space dyed yarns. So I'm thinking about handpainted yarns for that vest.

My first patchwork square of variegated yarn:

And a completed eyeglass case:

Not quite as elegant as the one in the book, but then I didn't knit mine out of silk. I used Bernat acrylic and polyester yarns. I wasn't too sure about the crochet edge of eyelash yarn, but was pleased that it hid any irregularities of my knitted edges.

Next up, knitting triangles.

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

First Rare Breed Sweater Sleeve

The past several days have been busy with family doings and little time for computer. However, I did get some knitting done.........

Ta-Da! I have finished the first sleeve for my Rare Breed Sweater!

Sleeves always make me a little nervous as they often end up a tad off. So far all seems to be going well. It wasn't as quick to knit as I'd hoped as I had to unknit a few times. I'm not convinced I'll have it done in time to wear this winter, but at least it won't be my longest sweater on record (2 years.)

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Rare Breed Sweater Progress

We interrupt this spinning discussion to bring you a Rare Breed Sweater Update! I have slowly but steadily been working on completing the right cardigan front and am pleased to announce that I finished it last night.

Pictured below:

The bottom row is my Shetland row, featuring yarn from black, morrit, and grey Shetland fleece.

The top row features two colors of North Ronaldsay on the left and right, and Teeswater in the middle.

The body of the sweater is in Ryeland, and the blue seeding and Fair Isle details are from Hog Island roving.

Here are the three main pieces laid out together:

The sleeves are next, which shouldn't take so long. I've used up all my rare breed samples and so the sleeves will be simpler in design. I'm planning to knit the ribbed cuffs in the green, and the rest of the sleeve in the white and blue seeding pattern.

I am very relieved that it's turning out so well.

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Rare Breed Sweater - The Shetland Row

Is there such a thing as a knitting klutz club? If there is, then I'm a member. Or perhaps I have the distinction of being the founder. I've been busily knitting away on my Rare Breed Sweater, highly motivated to get it done. I'm on the right front now and have finally finished the first row, the Shetland sheep row. Not without problems however. First I discovered that I started the sheep legs on the wrong count, and then discovered I'd dropped a stitch about 20 rows back which threw the whole thing off. Talk about feeling like I'm spinning my wheels and getting nowhere!

Anyway, here it is, unblocked and rather rumply; photo taken while my helper was catnapping.


My friend Anne in Canada tells me there 11 main colors of Shetland sheep, with 32 variations. These all have Gaelic names to distinguish them. However, I had three colors to work with, enough to fill a row; two ewes and a ram (with the horns.)

My knitted ones started as commercial tops which were simply called black, moorit, and grey. The moorit came from Paradise Fibers. The black and grey came from Woodland Woolworks. At the time I ordered them, this was about all the color choice available via commercial retailers. Tina has since give me a link to the North American Shetland Sheep Association. I have this bookmarked as a future resource.

My Shetland tops were lovely to spin and lovely to knit. Perhaps someday in the distant future I can collect and spin all the colors. I would love to knit a Fair Isle vest or sweater with them. However, my project list is long, so don't expect this any time soon. :)

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Rare Breed Sweater - Left Front Finished

After three major unknit/reknit sessions, I finally finished the left front to my Rare Breed Sweater last night. I frogged and reknit the bottom row of sheep once, and the top 4 inches twice. Once because I counted wrong for the neck decreases, and once because I discovered that my seeding pattern was off by one stitch.

So here it is, with help.........

and with help removed..........

The top row is (from left to right): Leicester Longwool, California Variegated Mutant, and Whiteface Woodland.

The bottom row is a family of Navajo-Churro sheep, showing off a nice variety of their lovely natual colors. The spacing between the adult on the right and the lamb looks better than it did at first. Even though it was the same measurement of 4 stitches as between the other sheep, the smaller lamb created a larger visual space.

And here it is, pinned to the back. It gives an idea of how the sheep motif is fitting together on the two pieces.


I still need to weave in a lot of ends and embroider the details: eyes, facial outlines, and a tail for that one seam-side sheep on the bottom. It is working out better than I'd hoped. I've had to do a lot of thinking and calculating to get the sheep to work out right. For awhile I wasn't too sure that would happen, but it is.

© 2007 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Getting Back on Track

By Leigh

Whew. The holiday weekend has been long and continues to be exceptionally busy. We've had a full house, full tummies, and full hearts. My focus has been on family and friends; consequently, I haven't been on the computer much, nor made progress on the fiber front.

Knitting has progressed no more than a few rows beyond this. Not because I haven't been working on it, but because the spacing between the rightmost sheep and the lamb bugged me so much that I frogged it and have been reknitting, one stitch closer together. Bibliotecaria's comment verbalized something I was musing over, so I took the plunge to reknit.

My decision to do things like this usually boils down to this: which is worse; the thought of having to re-do an entire section of a project, or having to live with the regret that I didn't do something about it while I had the chance. I haven't caught up yet to where I was when I decided to do this, but hope to make good progress over the next several days.

For spinning, I am getting anxious to start on this, which was dark to photograph and therefore difficult to see.......

........10 ounces of luscious raw black Rambouillet, received in a trade with Dianna. It is a new breed for me, and I am looking forward to making my wheel sing with it.

Weaving. Well, I wish I had more to report, but the loom only looks like this:

Since completing the Lace Weaving Workshop last November, it has been on my mind to go back over the workshop notes and explore what I learned in greater depth. My plan is to start back at the beginning, with huck. But this time, instead of weaving samplers, I plan to weave a series of dish towels.

A long time ago I took up a good suggestion to weave scarves as samples, and I have done a lot of these. However, I'm not exactly a scarf person, and now that I've exhausted my giving list from my scarf stash, I still have more than I know what to do with.

A some point along the way, it occurred to me that I could weave something else as I explored various weave structures, color effects, and yarns. Huck is a traditional weave for towels, so that seemed to be a good project to switch to.

Actually I love kitchen things. I love kitchen stores and the kitchen department in any store. I love looking at dishes, pottery, containers, kitchen towels, and table linens. So the dish towels seem like a more logical project for me than scarves.

Having queried several of my towel weaving friends, I have measured 5 yards of white, 8/2 cotton. As you have seen I've gotten it beamed, threaded, and sleyed. I'm planning to use a royal blue for the weft.

I also hope to start visiting and reading blogs again, though the blogosphere is not surprisingly quite these days. In addition to the December holidays, we also have a late December birthday to celebrate in our family. Even so, a calendar imposed break isn't too bad. I'm finding it is renewing my motivation and enthusiasm, which will be a good way to start the new year.

© 28 Dec. 2006 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

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Huck Towels 1
Rambouillet - From Fleece to Yarn

Rare Breed Sweater Progress

In my last Rare Breed Sweater post (right here), I mentioned being in the problem solving mode. I had two issues I had to deal with before I could start knitting my rows of sheep on the front.

My first problem involved gauge. After I knitted that first tension swatch over 4 years ago, I calculated 4 sheep per row across the back, and 2 for each row in the front. I planned for a row of dark colored breeds and a row for white and light colored breeds. That meant I needed a total of 8 dark yarn samples and 8 light for the body of the sweater. So over the years that's what I collected. 8 dark fleece samples and 8 light ones.

However, when I did a gauge swatch before actually starting the sweater, I discovered that my tension is much tighter now than it was back then. That meant I had to adjust the motif, ending up with 5 sheep for each row across the back. No problem, it worked fine.

But it also meant I had to recalculate the sheep for the fronts. If each front is approximately half of the back, and if I had 5 sheep across the back, then that meant 2½ sheep per front. I can't knit half a sheep -- dilemma! At this point I lamented not starting the whole thing on a circular needle in order to omit the side seams, but the idea of having to juggle twice as many yarn butterflies quickly brought me to my senses.

To think through the problem, I laid out the sweater back to study it.

I realized that each sheep was separated by 4 background stitches, and that I had knitted these background stitches at both edges of the sweater back. That meant that the sheep on the front side seam could start almost on the seam. That saved me some stitches!

I redid my calculations and figured that by starting the sheep at the edges of the front, I could fit three sheep on each front. What a relief!

My second problem involved the number of yarn samples I had spun. My original plan (based on that first guage swatch) was to knit each sheep in a different rare breed yarn. According to my original calculations, that meant I needed a total of 16 different rare breeds to work with (8 dark and 8 light.)

My new calcualtions, however, require 11 samples of each color category, for a total of 16 rare breeds. I had picked up a few extra rare breed fleece samples, and have also worked out a fleece trade for after the first of the year, but that still left me short a few samples.

On the one hand, I could start ordering more samples. Hmm, not sure I actually want to do that. Also in my mind were the three boxes of different breeds (Navajo-Churro, North Ronaldsay, and Shetland), each with a lovely variety of breed colors. Trying to choose just one color of each had been hard when I first started planning my rows of sheep. Why not incorporate more colors of at least one of those breeds, maybe as a little family(????)

So here's what I came up with:


A family of Navajo-Churros, each in a different NC color. This did mean I had to spend some time figuring how to best fit them all on the front, and I hope I've come up with the best solution.

At the moment I've stopped knitting just to look at it for awhile. I'm trying to envision this on the completed sweater. Alternatively, I could frog these and knit three adult NCs, each in a different color. I still haven't decided yet. What do you all think? If I leave the little family will it give the whole thing an off-balanced look in the end? Or will it add some asymmetrical interest? Now that I've met the challenge of actually fitting the adults and lambs on the sweater front, I'm not emotionally attached to either idea and so could go either way.

Opinions welcome.

© 2006 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Finished Object Non-Gallery

Not much progress to report on the Rare Breed Sweater knitting front. Hmm, an unintentional pun.....


I'm at a problem solving junction regarding my sheep motif for the fronts of my cardigan. More on that after I get it figured out.

Instead of that, I thought I might post photos of my other stranded finished knitting work. I love Fair Isle and stranded knitting. However, being an all thumbs knitter, I doubt I'll ever feel like I've mastered the technique. I worry over proper tensioning and am always amazed when it finally comes out right.

Many bloggers have a Finished Object Gallery of their work, which I don't have, so this post will be my

Non-Gallery of Finished Objects

Wool Caps

These are leftovers from my first stranded/Fair Isle knitting experiments. The wool is an unknown breed, dyed with Easter egg dyes, and handspun . The watermelon cap on the left is my favorite.

Sweater for Dan

After successfully knitting those caps, I bravely struck out on this more ambitious project. Knitted of handspun commercially dyed black Wensleydale top and hand dyed blue Border Leicester. The Fair Isle patterns comes from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears, one of my all time favorite knitting reads. The sweater pattern was just copied from the measurements of one of DH's favorite sweaters.

Navajo-Churro Vest

Next came my project for the Online Guild's Navajo Churro Challenge several years ago. The vest pattern comes from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Vests. I developed the knitted Navajo patterns from Navajo rugs. The yarns are all handspun and the colors are natural NC colors except for the hand dyed madder.

Norwegian Roses Cardigan

I finished this one last winter. It's more of a jacket actually. The pattern is from The Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book, and the yarn is KnitPicks Merino Style. It's wonderful to wear.

I've also enjoyed experimenting a little with Aran style knitting. But that's another story.

© 2006 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Rare Breed - North Ronaldsay

Jackie and Judy made some interesting comments about the North Ronaldsay sheep on my Rare Breed Sweater update. So I have spend several days pulling together a few things to share. I have long been interested in collecting samples and information about as many different breeds of sheep as possible, but I find the rare breeds especially intriguing.

I was introduced to the North Ronaldsay breed through an Online Guild Rare Breed Challenge. It was led by Elizabeth Lovick, who lives in Orkney. She sells and works extensively with North Ronaldsay yarns, and kindly provided these photos.

North Rons are an ancient, primitive, and once feral breed of sheep, named for North Ronaldsay, the island on which they once resided exclusively. They are intelligent, agile, sure-footed, and difficult to catch! Being a primitive breed, they have short tails and actually shed if not shorn. They roam the island in loose herds, eating seaweed washed up on shore.

In late April, the pregnant ewes are caught and taken into care by their owners, as lambing is in early May. Ear clips identify which sheep belong to whom. A second round up occurs in August, when the sheep are inspected, clipped, injected, and dipped. Each shepherd receives a percentage of the total clip, depending on how many ewes are owned.


With a world population around 4500, North Rons are classified as 'vulnerable' by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (UK). The majority of these remain on the island of North Ronaldsay.


The fleece is dual coated (another primitive breed characteristic) and comes in every color imaginable, from chocolate to white. Fleeces are processed at a local mini-mill, where the guard hairs are removed by centrifugal force. While the two coats are easy to separate by hand, the real bugaboo are these little black kempy hairs (pictured at right) which I ended up pulling out semi-successfully by hand. The amount of guard hair in a fleece varies according to color; chocolate having the least.

Below are some samples from the fruit of my labors for the challenge. The range of colors is lovely, and getting them out of their storage box once again reminds me that they are still awaiting a project.


I reckon thinking about that will be one more pleasant way to spend my time as I continue knitting on my sweater.

© 2006 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Rare Breed Sweater Update

I have completed the back of my Rare Breed Sweater.

I am a fairly slow knitter, so for me, this is good progress!

It is being knitted entirely of rare breed yarns. The body (both the white and the green) is Ryeland, and the blue in the seeding pattern and peeries is Hog Island.

The sheep are intarsia knit and each one is of a different rare breed sheep wool.

Top row, starting at the left: Tunis, Ryeland, Karakul, Jacob, and Wensleydale.

Bottom row: North Ronaldsay, Hebridean, Soay, Manx Logthan, and Lincoln.

I will embroider in the eyes and facial outline later.

It is interesting to knit a row using 6 different types of yarn. The differences are very pronounced.

Next, I will knit the fronts. I'm entertaining the idea that I might actually finish this before the cold weather is gone, but I know myself too well to take myself seriously. :)

© 2006 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Rare Breed – California Variegated Mutant 2

I spent two pleasant days carding and spinning my CVM fleece.

Since the staples were about 5 inches long, I used my drum carder to prepare them. Whenever I prepare fleece for woolen spinning, I automatically think "hand cards," but really, anything over 3 inches in length really isn't suitable for hand carders. Then when I use drum carded batts for longdraw spinning I think, well, this technically isn't prepared correctly for a true woolen yarn. However I never let that stop me!

Most of the 2 ounce sample measured 6 crimps per inch, I decided to spin it with 6 twists per inch. Since I wanted to spin it longdraw, I consulted one of the appendix in Mabel Ross's The Essentials of Yarn Design for Handspinners.

The formula for calculating the number of treadles needed for an 18 inch draw is:

18 (inches) x twists per inch required ÷ wheel ratio = treadles

So in this case that was:

18 x 6 ÷ 10.5 = 10

Well, actually it equals 10.28, but who's going to quibble about that!

The particulars:

* Fiber Weight, 2 ounces
* Fiber length, 5 inches
* Occasional neps
* Spinning ratio 10.5:1
* Spun woolen method
* 10 treadles per 18 inch draft
* Singles, 28 WPI
* 2-ply, 16 WPI
* Yardage, > 112

This stuff was lovely to spin. It is soft, lofty, and delicious; full of subtle variations of gray and just enough luster.

I don't have anything specific in mind for this yarn, but it makes me want to spin more of it. It would make a fabulous sweater of vest. And since Cathy has offered such an encouraging comment nudging me in that direction, I probably won't wait too long to indulge myself!

© 2006 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Rare Breed - California Variegated Mutant 1
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

Rare Breed – California Variegated Mutant 1

My knitting (Rare Breed Sweater) and weaving (huck lace) projects are in progress but without a spinning project, I feel like somethings missing. So with rare breeds on my mind, I have been anxious to work with the California Variegated Mutant fleece I purchased at SAFF.

I really don't need any more rare breed samples for my sweater, and I really don't need any more fleece, but when I saw the baskets of CVM and fondled its luscious softness, I couldn't help but buy a couple of ounces.


My sample contains a variety of staples which show a range of color and crimp. Length seems to be fairly consistent across the sample, about 5 inches. It's not especially lustrous but very clean with no VM or 2nd cuts. The staples are tapered. The crimp is well defined and I have some locks which measure 6 crimps per inch, and some which measure 2 waves per inch.

There is a lovely range of color, from pale gray to a medium charcoal. The tips are light colored and range from white to tan. The tips are sound.

It is soft enough to wear next to the skin.

It had been scoured before I purchased it, so I can't comment on the amount of grease or the percentage of weigh loss before and after washing.

I did a little research about the breed, I learned that it was developed from colored Romeldales. Perhaps someone thought that the Romeldale color genes mutated to produce a wide range of natural colors (????) I'm not sure about that, but I do think it is some of the loveliest fleece I've gotten my hands on recently. I plan to handcard it and spin long draw from rolags. I think it will make lovely yarn.

© 2006 Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:
Rare Breed - California Variegated Mutant 2
Winter Knitting Project
Rare Breed Sweater Swatches
TA-DAH! Rare Breed Sweater Done!

SAFF

Yippee, it's good to have things back to normal again! Computer problems over the weekend had me in a mad scramble to try and copy all irreplaceable files, not knowing whether I'd be losing this computer and having to buy a new one or not. But, thanks to the consistently super-fantastic eMachines tech support, I can hang in there with this machine for awhile longer. And it runs so much better.

Enough of that and on to the fiber stuff.

Dan made it possible for me to attend the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) over the weekend. It's been 2 years since I've been able to go so I was delighted to spend the day seeing old friends and immersing myself in all things fibery.

The drive to Asheville, NC was lovely. The weather was perfect and the autumn color, though just past peak, was still glorious.

This year's SAFF was the best I've seen. There were more vendors, more workshops, more demonstrations, more people, and less parking than before.

This is a shot of the inside of the main arena, where the vendors and workshops are. The workshops are held in the partitioned areas in the center, and vendors are packed into the different levels. The nice thing is that the arena is covered, so that rain isn't a problem.

I would have liked to have taken Eileen Hallman's point spinning workshop, but our transportation situation prevented me from knowing whether or not I'd have a vehicle for the weekend. As it was, it was a last minute spontaneous decision to go anyway.

Here is the Beginning Spinning workshop.....

..... I loved the spinning wheels and couldn't resist taking a pic.

I went with a shopping list but didn't buy a lot. Typical for me, I got quite overwhelmed at all the beautiful fibers, yarns, tools, garments, projects, etc., and become exceptionally indecisive.

Some things I was looking for I found, other things I didn't. And I saw some things I wished I'd added to my list and planned on getting. I did buy more Cushings acid dyes and weaving bobbins. My luxury purchase was this......

...... some clean California Variegated Mutant fleece from Delly's Delights Farm who traveled all the way from Trappe, MD. Now I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze it into my Rare Breed Sweater, for which I already have plenty of samples!

We also had a chance to visit the barns. My favorite (besides the angora bunnies who were all in the main arena) is this......

I love alpacas. We were introduced to them at Alpaca Magic USA when we lived in Florida and my dream then was an Alpaca ranch............ which will probably always remain a dream. :)

The best part of SAFF was getting to see friends. From the Blue Ridge Spinners I saw Carol, Mary, and Eva. From the Western North Carolina Fiber/Handweavers Guild I saw Betsy, Pat, and Charlene (though Mary and Eva are members of this too.) Betsy was my weaving teacher, so I was especially glad to visit with her. She is still just as encouraging as ever.

It's fun how an event like this can be so inspirational. It's refreshing as well as energizing. Now all I have to do is put that inspiration and energy to work.

© 2006 Leigh's Fiber Journal