by Janet Ware
Last Spring, when I first saw this large fleece from Alexa at Somerset Farm, I was first taken with its lustre. But, as a spinner/knitter, I was then quickly impressed by the soft yet tough feel of the fibre. So I was excited to skirt it and get it into the wash. In hindsight, I was maybe too excited and in a rush and should have been more aggressive with the skirting process as there was a lot of vegetable matter that refused to wash out despite several washings with Platinum Dawn. With my husband’s help, I laid it out in the workshop to dry on wood-framed metal screens he uses for various gardening purposes. It took several days as we turned it over a few times and picked out straw, etc.
When it was completely bone dry, I carded it on my electric carder. The soiled ends required extra combing to remove the congealed matter. Carding into roving took several days which I alternated with spinning, not only to have a break but I was eager to see the resulting yarn. The roving spun nicely into yarn but it was uneven with a few ‘nepps’. This kind of thing I didn’t mind as I think it adds depth to the overall hand-made, artisanal look!
Meanwhile, I searched through my pattern book for an Aran pattern I thought would work really well. Of course, I picked a challenging one! I made swatches to check the ‘gauge’. I’m impatient so this is not my favourite task! Impatient or not, I find though, that swatching is a worthwhile and important step with hand-spun fibre as you really have to ‘guesstimate’ the number of stitches and needle size to make the right fit. Without this step, it can easily turn out to be too large or too small.
The complicated pattern I’d chosen had several individual patterns across the front and back. Hmmmm. It required concentration and patience to get it going— definitely not something one can manage whilst watching TV! After a few stumbles and unravelling (and starting over…again), I managed to get the hang of the pattern. A friend gave me the idea of using different coloured threads to delineate the areas between the stitch markers that are essential IMO when working with several different patterns in one row.
Fortunately, I decided to forego the complicated pattern on the sleeves (see picture, Kristin Nicholas 1995 pattern), as I felt the extra cables would add too much bulk to an already hefty sweater! It needed more balance and lightness in my opinion. I’m very happy with the result! It is both soft and tough and due to its toughness I feel it will last for years!
