I cheated on my sweater

I feel guilty because I was getting some really nice comments about how I am so disciplined that I am not spinning the fiber I got at WS&WF because I want to finish my sweater.  Well…I cheated.  Friday night I got home, we had our fish fry (which was delicious for those of you wondering, I put Lawry’s on the fries kind of like Red Robin and they were great) and I decided that I needed to spin.

I have been dreaming up ways to spin all this stuff over the week, and I had the best motivation and ideas for the citrus batt, so I decided it was time.  First, I unrolled it on the counter and divided it into strips that I could make roving out of to spin from.  Here is a step by step pictorial of what I did.

First, I unrolled the batt on the counter to lay it flat.

Second, I split it into strips of color and left a little at each end to create one long, zig zagging strip.

Third, I started pre-drafting the fiber and rolling it onto a toilet-paper core.

I did that for both batts identically so that the colors would ply next to each other

I then spun it and had a blast, it was really nice to spin with.  A reminder from previous posts, this batt is from Biggie ,2oz of millend wool, mohair and hemp.  I spun it to a worsted (on the heavy end of worsted) and wound up with 108 yds.  Here it is!

Finished Citrus Batt yarn

Closeup

So, since I did cheat on my sweater, I thought it at least deserved an update.  The little denim sweater is now at 12.5 cable repeats of 18.  It is working its way along nicely, I hope to get it done soon, but when I get to the ribbing I might kill it, who knows.  I am going to put the goal out there to get to the ribbing next weekend.  We will have to see how much knitting time I can make.  Here is a photo to prove the progress:

Little Denim Sweater at 12.5 cable repeats

On fun other news, yesterday Joel and I had a fun day in the fun town.  We went shopping!  I got fabric for his Halloween costume (yet to be announced) at Hancock.  Then we went to the new Jo-ann’s and managed to buy nothing, but I saw a lot of fun stuff and yarn I wasn’t expecting, so that is good to know.  Next up was the new Michael’s, yay!  We have never had a Michael’s in town, and it was fun.  We came out with a few odds and ends, but I did get some glass seed beads to use in plying the blue batts I also got from Biggie.  I have never plied with beads before, so that was my new goal.  Oh, and then at Sam’s Club I scored a deal on some of those foam matts that everyone is using for blocking.  8 huge 24″ square blocks for $20.  The packaging says they are extra thick and they are reversible, so there is a bright color on one side and grey on the other, and they came with edger strips, how cool!

I also borrowed my mom’s serger to use in my sewing projects.  I think I might try getting some sewing done today before going to the in-laws for what I am sure will be a wonderful dinner!  Happy Sunday everyone and GO PACK GO!