Monday, September 10, 2007

10 of these

And now on the 10. Fulmar is an AS Aran sweater that I have always wanted to knit. One of the groups I belong to will be starting a KAL. It is fun to see what others are doing and easier to press out the wrinkles if there are some. The pattern is written for Scottish Fleet guernsey yarn. The gauge in one of the pattern stitches is 30 stitches to 4 inches with 3mms needles.
I have about 9 lbs of Shetland roving plus 2 Shetland lamb fleeces..... I spun up a couple of samples and here are the results:



The swatch is the total number of stitches across for the back. It is a bit too big.
I am set on the yarn I am spinning. It is 2 oz batches of singles then plied into 4 oz skeins. It is a bit thinner than the original Scottish Fleet, that's ok since I don't want a very heavy sweater. So far I have two 4 oz skein and one 2 oz bobbin. It will take a while but I am enjoying every minute of it.
What I don't know for sure yet is if I will dye it of not. I might once the sweater is completed and if I can find ONE huge pot to put it in.





I looked again at the pictures in the book and some swatches that people have been knitting. It turns out that the ribbing does not flow into the body. Similar cables but they get badly disrupted when you move into the body. I pulled up a spreadsheet and have modified the stitch distribution for the body. I think it will look better and I will have less stitches. That will take care of the extra width I did not want.
Then there is of course lace on the needles and a couple of sweaters that are "this" far from completion. Pictures to follow once they are finished.

5 comments:

fleegle said...

Well, hurry up so we can see the pictures. "This far" is a bit of a tease!

Lorette said...

That should be lovely, whatever color you end up with. I hate it when ribbing cables behave badly. The Jo Sharp sweater that I finished this year did that, but I didn't have the energy to do it over one more time. It surprises me that you-know-who would be that sloppy in her designing.

carolyninAlaska said...

I know you're thinking of dyeing it... possibly, but it has great stitch definition in that natural color. Your ribbing looks great!

Romi said...

Ooooooh. I love Fulmar. It's so gorgeous!

Lacefreak said...

I've always admired that pattern but I think I'd suffer from brain-fry if I tried to do those cables now. I will root for you as knit this beauty up!