Finally!!

I took a break yesterday and could have had a nap or done some knitting. Instead, I dyed some superwash roving I purchased in November. Finally, success!

I decided to do one of Deb Menz' exercises (to give me focus) and dye small sections of each color. I wanted a balanced yarn, colorwise, so I followed (sort of) Goethe's ratios, dyeing 50% violet (2 different colors), 25% yellow orange and 25% royal blue. I would like to point out that this roving will also spin up well with the other Crown Mountain rovings and may very well make it into another plying experiment...

I have a feeling that the yarn from this roving will look a lot like the roving itself. I liked this dye run because the colors came out only a bit brighter than I thought they would (but the white will make them probably exactly the pastel I wanted) and the dye struck very quickly and did not migrate at all. I have NO places where the orange blended with the blue, even though they are next to each other some of the time.

I don't want to spin this from the fold, though, and blend it all together so much; the colors are shorter than the staple length. So I will have to work on spinning superwash point of twist. Which is a good thing! I think some of the Crown Mountain Farms rovings would look better this way, also, and so will practice on my remaining Hang on Sloopy till I find a good width of strip and all that stuff.

In other fiber news, I have discovered that the FIL sweater is VERY wide. I'm willing to live with that rather than reknit, oh, the entire thing. But I have also discovered that the pattern is rather short. So I shall rip the bind off of the back and knit it to 29 inches (right now it's 25.5, which barely reaches DH's waist). Ann Budd's books put the largest size length at 28.5 and Fair Isle Simplified puts it at 29, so 29 it is. However, since the pieces are wider than the schematic, I will probably make the sleeves shorter (to fit DH as a guide) and it should work out in the end. Lots of ease!

I have worked out a knitting schedule and it is not at all a panicky pace. I should be finished with the sweater on or about December 10th, which is only 10 days past my original goal. Then I can quick finish DD's poncho for her to wear at Christmas and my friend's baby hat for her new baby before we leave. I wonder if they're having a shower and how NOT ready that gift will be?

In Twisted Knitter news, I did cheat a bit and start the sock:

It's hard to see how the colors are shifting in this photo and the line of demarcation is clearer than I anticipated. Too much contrast of value, I would say. I should make sure in future to go from high to middle to low, not high to low. But I will love these no matter what. It only means I'll have more socks later!

And don't you love that ball of yarn?!?!?

Hope you're all having a nice weekend. DS spent yesterday throwing up but will probably be okay today. Luckily we had no particular plans.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!