I've finally picked up my Dala sweater again. I ripped back several inches after running my needle around as a 'life line,' then started knitting again with centered double decreases under both arms to take in the body. However, one side's decreases are looking wonky and have strayed from a vertical line, so I'm going to drop those stitches and fix them. No point in spending this much time on a spindle-spun, handknit sweater only to be unhappy with it!
If only I was a quicker knitter (and spinner). Last week I picked up enough fresh roving for at least two more sweaters!
While I'd love to lose myself in spinning the above, the longer, warmer days demand a different kind of wool work – harvesting and marketing this year's fleeces. Today I started with Bridget because she's the easiest to catch – and the easiest to shear. Yeah; it's all uphill from here.
That's it for now from . . .
6 comments:
There's a fleece in a bag in a box in my basement and it's been down there for a very long time . . . I don't even know if it's still good. Do fleeces go bad?? I have not spun in quite some time. I keep thinking I'm going to pull my wheel out and get cracking, but it just never happens . . . Thought of you yesterday when I found a jar of pickled beets hidden in my pantry cupboard. They looked a funny color, and the best by date was two years ago . . . I remembered you telling me things often last well beyond their best by date . . . they didn't smell bad when I opened the jar, and I they were baby beets - so I tasted one. Nope. I spit it out, and down the disposal they went. :-D
Fleeces (and fiber) don't 'go bad,' unless bugs have moved in to snack on them. But the grease in raw fleeces gets much harder to scour out over time, and fiber can get compacted (though there are ways to deal with both). As for food, better safe than sorry!
It was already processed - it's pin-drafted roving, and I'm reasonably sure it's Corriedale. The mill that processed it (Ohio Valley) is long gone. Thanks for that info, though - maybe I could do some spinning during Tour de Fleece this year. It's my left knee going first, and I have a single treadle on the right, so I might be able to do some. I'll see how I'm feeling :-)
I love the Dala sweater and hoping to see it completed.
Me, too, Donna! 🤣
What a neat make-do use of a bit!
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