I want a sweater.

I’ve wanted a good cardigan sweater for years. I’ve scoured thrift shops and knitting catalogs, I’ve read dozens upon dozens of knitting books and sweater patterns, all in search of the perfect cardigan. It has to be cozy enough to serve as a light jacket for early morning walks or autumn get-togethers, and it has to have pockets. It has buttons, not a zipper.

I still haven’t found my perfect pattern – I may have to make something up, which I find myself startlingly confident in my ability to do.

But I do have a start on the yarn. I’m aiming for a worsted/heavy worsted three ply, something between 8 and 11 WPI. I got real handcards for my birthday (!) , so I’m able to make nice sizable rolags now and  spin a true woolen yarn, so that’s what I’m doing. I’m using my plain dark Spinsanity spindle – it’s 1.2 oz, and spins like a dream.

I’m figuring I’ll need about 2-3k yards of yarn for my sweater,  so I bought and washed a 5.5  lb border leicester fleece from a local shepherd.  The results so far?

Here’s the washed wool, and my hand cards — see those dog combs? I was doing all my fiber prep with those, until my birthday. I also picked up a couple of nice fabric lined wicker bins, to replace the plastic bag/plastic bin combo I had going. Plastic storage is safe for the raw fleece, but not very aesthetic for my living room.

And here’s the bin of rolags – I card rolags until the bin is full, and then start spinning. I’ll repeat until I’m out of fleece. This is what’s left of the first bin full.

And these are singles I’ve spun so far from the first binful of rolags. I’ve got two bobbins of singles ready to ply, and the third is on the spindle. That little kate is also from Spinsanity, and is the coolest gizmo ever – I love it.

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