Saturday, November 07, 2009

The best thing I've ever made?

(At least so far.)

Here's a reminder of how I started:

M-an-ontage


Greasy corriedale locks, scoured to a creamy white. Creamy white locks hand combed into fluffballs of top. Top spun into 7 bobbins of singles, then plied into several skeins of a 3 ply aran weight yarn. Aran weight yarn sent to Amy for dyeing.

Here's where it got me:

Handspun Manon is done!


Manon, designed by Norah Gaughan, knit from a sheep. Whee!

I knit the 38" size at a slightly tighter gauge, for a 34" - 35" sweater, and of course lengthened the sleeves. Here are some more views:

M-an-ontage 2


All that work, and I'm not sure that there's much more to say. It was fun and interesting to knit, and is a pleasure to wear. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, I am kind of doing it again. This time it's a cormo fleece, dyed by me in lock formation, to become some other sweater. Perhaps in several months it will become my new best thing I've ever made.

29 Comments:

Blogger Adrienne said...

You are seriously rocking the handspun!

Do you happen to know what brand/color your wall is painted in?! (I just bought an Old House and it needs some serious interior paint...still looking for the Right Blue, if you know what I mean)

11/07/2009 2:39 PM  
Blogger Cookie said...

It's gorgeous! Congratulations! You did a wonderful job and I have enjoyed following along as you've updated on your adventure.

11/07/2009 2:47 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I love it!

11/07/2009 3:15 PM  
Blogger Jodi said...

Just beautiful! A true labor of love. The fit looks perfect, and I love the shaping.

11/07/2009 3:26 PM  
Blogger Molly said...

Yaaaay! Congratulations! It's gorgeous, and I love seeing the whole start-to-finish in one post.

11/07/2009 4:28 PM  
Blogger knithound brooklyn said...

It's gorgeous! I can only imagine the satisfaction in going from sheep to sweater! Very cool.

11/07/2009 5:08 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy! All those steps! Amazing:)

11/07/2009 7:52 PM  
Blogger diane_s said...

You should be so proud . Just gorgeous , your own back of the sheep to the back of the spinner sweater. Gorgeous!

11/07/2009 10:34 PM  
Blogger Becki said...

Very fetching!

11/08/2009 8:16 AM  
Blogger Megan said...

Amazing! What a great process and outcome.

11/08/2009 8:38 AM  
Blogger Liz said...

Just fabulous - and thank you again for sharing the whole fleece to yarn process. It's going to be my go-to post when I buy my first fleece.

11/08/2009 3:09 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Awe. Some.

11/08/2009 4:10 PM  
Anonymous Felix said...

I have really enjoyed following the process of this on your blog; it's like the slow-food movement which focusses on the benefits of being attentive to each stage of food production... the labour and love at each stage make this an incredibly rich garment and following this process on your blog an amazing antidote to throw-away culture. I love it.

And the finished product, after all this work, is...

Tasty!

11/08/2009 5:25 PM  
Blogger Saffron said...

Awesome! So cool to see the 'Fleece to Sweater' progression!

11/08/2009 6:21 PM  
Blogger Donna said...

It's just incredible - I know I say some variation of that every time you post about your handspun, but this is a labor of love that paid off beautifully.

11/08/2009 7:25 PM  
Blogger Ebony said...

Wow, beautiful! I loved hearing about this project from start to finish.

11/08/2009 8:39 PM  
Blogger LaurieM said...

I'm very impressed. Such a wonderful process and a very impressive product at the end.

The whole thing is wonderful.

11/08/2009 9:21 PM  
Blogger Stella said...

A beatiful, well-fitting sweater is one of life's joys. A beautiful, well-fitting sweater FROM SCRATCH is amazing.

11/09/2009 4:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fab-u-lous!

It has been a treat to watch your process. In fact, your photos of combing the corriedale were the final push that encouraged me to learn to spin and work with a fleece. Thank you!

-Jess

11/09/2009 8:15 AM  
Blogger Sarah said...

Absolutely spectacular! I remember watching you prep the fiber and spin it up, waiting to see what it would become. I can't imagine the sense of satisfaction it must give you to put that sweater on, knowing that you made every part of it.

11/09/2009 10:28 AM  
Blogger Linda said...

Thats just fabulous. I aspire to do that one day!

11/10/2009 3:32 AM  
Anonymous Carolyn said...

That's incredible. All of it.
Congratulations!

11/10/2009 4:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What an incredible sweater! I am in awe...you turned a sheep into that! (Well, not a *whole* sheep, but still). Beautiful, beautiful work.

11/11/2009 7:23 AM  
Blogger PlumStitches said...

gorgeous!

11/12/2009 1:11 PM  
Blogger jessie said...

Beautiful! I just finished a handspun sweater myself (waiting for a good cold day to model and wear) and I know what an achievement it is.

Lovely color, lovely style. Congratulations.

11/13/2009 5:55 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I'm totally bowled over by the hand spinning bit. That is simply amazing.

11/17/2009 8:41 PM  
Blogger alh said...

WOW!

11/18/2009 7:26 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

11/25/2009 2:08 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

12/01/2009 4:23 AM  

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