Steadily, slowly and lovingly I have been working away on the Jacob from The Double Ewe in the UK. In an effort to enhance my woolen style spinning and work towards knitting a super warm sweater, I am spinning this with a long backwards draw. When I first taught myself to spin eons ago, this is how I spun everything. And then I couldn’t understand why all of my singles would constantly break when plying. I knew nothing about fibre locking or low twist or … well … anything!
I have also been craving a ‘comfort spin’ because at the beginning of the month my 2000 Honda Civic hatchback, which happened to be my first car and a gift for university from my parents 14 years ago (!!), was stolen and torched. It was very upsetting at the time and I, of course, have lots of good memories in that car. It was my lifeline to independence in my twenties – taking me to school, work and friends reliably and safely. I love driving (especially manual transmissions like he was) and so while I have been spinning these last hundred or so grams of this Jacob, I have enjoyed remembering Calvin in his glory days back in nursing school and beyond. RIP Calvin, my Honda Civic That Always Could (even when he couldn’t because he had a tiny put-put engine!).
It is funny to me that now I am aspiring to spin this old way! But I am really enjoying it and it is going like the wind! Fast fast fast!
Thus far, I have about 400 yards of Sport weight (~14WPI), traditional 2-ply. I have only spun the first 150 grams of the 300 grams in my stash. I had 3 braids to begin with, but only have 1.5 left. Due to the woolen spinning, my bobbins fill up quickly!
I already know exactly what I am going to do with this yarn so I swatched up my little sample swatch to ensure I was able to do what I wanted to do. Yup *phew!* I am going to be able to :)
Needles: 5.00mm
Pattern: Shapely Boyfriend by Stefanie Japel with modifications again
I never actually blogged my first Shapely Boyfriend because I was on blogging hiatus but it is actually one of my most loved, most worn hand knit cardigans. The fit was perfect because the ease was about 2” positive which I really like. I would not change a thing on it, and like my Acer, Aidez and Cozy{me}, it has been worn a ton. So, why not make another one?!
The St st will showcase the handspun yarn and it isn’t going to knit into fabric that I will want around my face, hence the v-neck style. My plan for spinning this is to finish it this fall but in the meantime, I might cast it on …
Happy spinning & knitting :)
