March 30, 2016 by amcrafts

The Lichen Sweater

That’s what I’m calling it, because a number of the yarns that I used to assemble and knit this sweater are dyed with lichens. The background pale green that ties the sweater together was dyed with lichens collected in Averill, VT and the striking gold yarn at the top of the sweater was dyed with lichens collected around Dan Hole Pond in the Ossipee Mountains of NH. That that makes the sweater extra special. It was also a wonderful way to use up small amounts of handspun yarn, too special to throw away, and not enough by themselves for a project. I wasn’t sure as I knitted along whether the colored stripes were going to be coordinated enough to achieve a sweater that looked right, but I’m happy with the result.

Circular sweater ready for joining at the underarms.

Completed sweater

March 23, 2016 by amcrafts

Using up Odds and Ends

My idea for a striped sweater is taking shape. And the biggest plus is that I’m using up small amounts of left over handspun yarn that is just too nice to throw away (but not enough for a big project). Of course, small amounts get used up when I knit hats, but this project is a way to feature some lovely leftovers!

Several of the yarns in the sweater are lichen dyed, so I wanted to do something special with them. I’m almost to the join point for the yoke on this circular sweater. I will knit the arms in the light green (lichen dyed) background color with just a couple of colored bands at the wrist. Then for the yoke I will continue the various colored bands. It’s fun seeing how these colors play off of each other in the sweater.

Body of the circular sweater

Bourne Farm painting completed this week. I feature it here because of all the lichens covering the rocks. Most of these are good dye lichens.

March 15, 2016 by amcrafts

Another Sweater Project

I’m continuing to use the wools I finished spinning last fall. This project is knitted with a grey merino/silk mix. I had about 1.5 pounds of top; This was just enough for the sweater with perhaps a little left over for a matching cap.

I’ve been wanting to try Elizabeth Zimmermann’s raglan sweater pattern; it seemed as if I could use this pattern as a base for a plain sweater with Aran patterns up a panel on the front and on the sleeves. This has worked well; the patterns go all the way up the sweater to the neck band. So, I was successful in designing an Aran style sweater using this raglan as a basic pattern. It’s all done except for weaving the underarm stitches with kitchener stitch. This is going to be a nice dressy type sweater. The silk gives the sweater a shiny gloss.

For my next project, I have some green yarns (mix and match, none of them are enough for a whole sweater); my plan is to start at the bottom with wide (5″ or so) stripes, gradually decreasing the size of the stripes as I go up the sweater. I’m thinking of again using the raglan pattern as a base pattern; no stitch patterns, just the stripes as the design focus. I’m thinking, too, of darker greens at the bottom of the sweater and lighter greens at the top.