Spin Me A Sweater : The First Singles - 269 days left

Spin Me A Sweater is a crazy idea. I challenge myself to spin and knit an entire adult size sweater... in a year... on my drop spindle. I told you, it's a crazy idea. And I'm crazy.

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Spin Me A Sweater est une idée totalement folle. Je me suis lancé un defi : filer assez de laine pour pouvoir tricoter un chandail de taille adulte... en un an... sur mon fuseau. Je vous l'ai dit, c'est une idée folle. Et je suis folle.

La version française suit...

Almost 100 days went by since I challenge myself to spin enough yarn to knit an entire adult-size sweater. And where am I know? Only 3 singles in. I still have 21 to go. And 6 skeins to ply... 

Looking at that picture makes me realize that yes, I want to do it, that I love to spin, and that I miss it so much... 

I didn't realize that almost 100 days went by. I know I haven't spin a lot lately, but that many days? Really? I feel some sweat running down my back and pearling on my forehead...

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Presque 100 jours sont passés depuis que je me suis lancé comme défi de filer assez de laine pour pouvoir tricoter un chandail de taille adulte. Et où en suis-je? Je n'ai que 3 mini écheveaux de filer sur 24, et il a 6 pelotes à plier...

En regardant cette photo, je réalise que oui, j'ai envie de le faire, que j'adore filer la laine, et que ça me manque terriblement...

Je n'ai jamais vu ces 100 jours passer. Je me doutais bien que je n'avais pas filer beaucoup ces derniers temps, mais pendant si longtemps? À ce point? Je sens de la sueur courir dans mon dos et perler sur mon front...

Spin Me a Sweater : The Planning - 360 days left

Spin Me a Sweater is a crazy idea. I challenge myself to spin and knit an entire adult size sweater... in a year... on my drop spindle. I told you, it's a crazy idea. And I'm crazy.

One does not simply spin a sweater. One needs to plan ahead, think about how to spin the fiber. 

Rovings!

First, I all had was a pile of 6 unorganized (but gorgeous!) braided roving. A mess.

Aah... this looks better. All side by side. Neat. But yet, my only weapon is a tiny drop spindle! I need to think about how to attack those seductive rovings. I know that my yarn has to be a 4 ply to be a worsted weight yarn. I know how I spin, and the 3 ply I spun turned out to be more of a DK weight than a worsted. So 4 ply it is.

I divided my 6 rovings into 4 equal parts and rebraided them for storage. I now have a lovely bunch of 24 cute mini braided rovings! 

Let the spinning begin...

Spin Me a Sweater : The Challenge - 365 days left

Spin Me a Sweater is a crazy idea. I challenge myself to spin and knit an entire adult size sweater... in a year... on my drop spindle. I told you, it's a crazy idea. And I'm crazy.

I had this idea when somebody on Twitter told me "Spinning is awesome: you pay for the fiber once, then you knit it. You have twice the fun!". It struck me. Why buy yarn when you can spin it? Of course my own designs require yarn, but all those beautiful patterns in my queue that would look great in handspun... I worked harder and harder to spin as smooth and as even as possible to be able to achieve the perfect sweater yarn. I now know that my spinning skills are good, and I can tackle this challenge.

The pattern choice wasn't easy. I decided to go with the Belfast Hoodie by Carrie Bostick Hoge from Quince and Co. This pattern sat for almost two whole years in my queue. I was always waiting for the perfect timing, the perfect yarn, the perfect colorway. Now everything is coming together!

Belfast Hoodie by Carrie Bostick Hoge

I asked Carolyn from Greenwood Fiberworks if she did custom orders and told her about my project and the colorway I had in mind. As lovely as she can be, she came up with this beautiful colorway, Robin's Egg, just for me! All those lovely blues and greens and turquoises and aquas will blend and make the perfect semi-solid color for the Belfast Hoodie. I also choose the BFL roving for their softness, their loftiness. Perfect pattern, perfect colorway, perfect fiber. Now, onto the perfect yarn. 365 days left, starting today!