I May Be Crazy

One of my Christmas presents came in the mail this week.  It's a copy of Twisted-Stitch Knitting by Maria Erlbacher.  There are some lovely stitch patterns in this book and some even lovelier sweater patterns at the back of the book.  Here's where the crazy part comes in.  I have decided to not only knit at least one of these sweaters, I have decided that I'm going to spin the yarn with which to knit them.

You may recall that I have >75 pounds of lovely roving that I had processed by Spinderella this past spring.  I've been trying to come up with projects to start using this up.  I could knit 800 pairs of socks from it, but I think that would get rather boring, so a larger project (or 50) is in order.  For the most part, the wool is soft enough for next-to-skin wear.  I'm thinking sweaters and shawls and scarves.  For the coarser wool, perhaps an afghan or a woven rug.  My wardrobe could use the addition of several lighter-weight cardigans and maybe a couple of pullovers.  The natural-colored wool should set off textured stitch patterns quite well, as will a worsted-spun yarn. 

Spinning to meet a project specification will be a new experience for me.  Ordinarily, I knit the yarn and then pick a project. It may be a challenge to spin a consistent yarn from start to finish. I'll need to devise a way to measure the yarn length so I can be sure that I have spun enough yarn before I start knitting.  I'm also curious about how long it will take me to spin enough yarn for a whole sweater.

I'll keep pondering the details while I finish spinning up the merino roving I've got on the wheel right now (2-ply lace weight).


On the Knitting Front...
I've got one knitted gift finished.  The other one is only half done (still haven't started the second sock).  I have been making some progress on the orange cardigan.  Haven't done much on the green cardigan sleeve, even though I'm already at the shaping of the sleeve cap on the first sleeve.  Fairly soon I'll have to figure out what my travel knitting for next week will be.