Here is my second swatch after washing, blocking, and drying. First is the whole thing, then we have the center cable section, then the braid, and finally the filler stitch. You can see how much softer it looks than before washing, in this post. For some reason I think I like the first filler stitch swatch on size US6 needles (bamboo circs) better than the filler stitch on this swatch, which I used US5 metal circular needles on. Since the stitch guage is the same after blocking, I think I’m going to use the bamboo US6′s for the saddles with the washed yarn and see how that looks… Oh, also, I’m making a cardigan for the FLAK and I decided to do a cable with circles instead of a staghorn in the center of the center cable and divide that in half with a zipper. I also transcribed the honeycomb cable pattern (on either side of the braid) incorrectly when I wrote out the whole swatch cable pattern in Excel with a knitting font, so the “honeycombs” are actually tiny s-curves instead of honeycombs at this point. I’ll fix that on the real thing…

Here is a picture (and a close-up) of the hank of donegal tweed I unwound from the cone and washed. It’s almost dry. You can see it fluffed up a lot after washing. The before washing picture is in this post. I can’t wait for it to dry so I can start my saddles!!

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Here is my second swatch after washing, blocking, and drying. First is the whole thing, then we have the center cable section, then the braid, and finally the filler stitch. You can see how much softer it looks than before washing, in this post. For some reason I think I like the first filler stitch swatch on size US6 needles (bamboo circs) better than the filler stitch on this swatch, which I used US5 metal circular needles on. Since the stitch guage is the same after blocking, I think I’m going to use the bamboo US6′s for the saddles with the washed yarn and see how that looks… Oh, also, I’m making a cardigan for the FLAK and I decided to do a cable with circles instead of a staghorn in the center of the center cable and divide that in half with a zipper. I also transcribed the honeycomb cable pattern (on either side of the braid) incorrectly when I wrote out the whole swatch cable pattern in Excel with a knitting font, so the “honeycombs” are actually tiny s-curves instead of honeycombs at this point. I’ll fix that on the real thing…

Here is a picture (and a close-up) of the hank of donegal tweed I unwound from the cone and washed. It’s almost dry. You can see it fluffed up a lot after washing. The before washing picture is in this post. I can’t wait for it to dry so I can start my saddles!!

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Here is my second swatch after washing, blocking, and drying. First is the whole thing, then we have the center cable section, then the braid, and finally the filler stitch. You can see how much softer it looks than before washing, in this post. For some reason I think I like the first filler stitch swatch on size US6 needles (bamboo circs) better than the filler stitch on this swatch, which I used US5 metal circular needles on. Since the stitch guage is the same after blocking, I think I’m going to use the bamboo US6′s for the saddles with the washed yarn and see how that looks… Oh, also, I’m making a cardigan for the FLAK and I decided to do a cable with circles instead of a staghorn in the center of the center cable and divide that in half with a zipper. I also transcribed the honeycomb cable pattern (on either side of the braid) incorrectly when I wrote out the whole swatch cable pattern in Excel with a knitting font, so the “honeycombs” are actually tiny s-curves instead of honeycombs at this point. I’ll fix that on the real thing…

Here is a picture (and a close-up) of the hank of donegal tweed I unwound from the cone and washed. It’s almost dry. You can see it fluffed up a lot after washing. The before washing picture is in this post. I can’t wait for it to dry so I can start my saddles!!

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I finished my first knitted object in 2006! It’s my experimental raglan, which you can read more about in this first post.

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So, I just washed my second swatch. I also unwound a large hank of the donegal tweed off the cone with the help of my switft and washed that too. Here’s a picture of the hank before washing. I will post a picture of it and the second swatch after they dry, probably tomorrow or Friday. Then I will start knitting the sweater, beginning with the saddles, using the washed yarn if it looks good, which I think it will!

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So, I was disappointed in how thin the Donegal Tweed is, which I’m planning on using for the FLAK. I made my first swatch, the filler stitch swatch, with farrow rib on size 6 needles. I then washed and blocked the swatch (and got guage), and while the yarn did fluff up a lot, it’s still a bit wimpy.
Then I made the second swatch, the cable swatch, with size 5 needles. Here are some pictures. I have not yet washed and blocked it. First is the whole swatch, then a close up of the the center cable, then the braid and wave cables, then the farrow rib filler stitch. To learn more about the FLAK, click on the FLAK button in the right sidebar.

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I am going to show you my entire yarn stash! If you see something you like, let me know! If you think a certain yarn should become a certain something, let me know! I think my stash is too big right now. Even though I have many projects planned, it will be nice to plan projects for the rest of my yarn.

Here is the first installment…

1) Cottons : Here we have some burgundy and yellow Sugar n’ Cream in worsted weight (I also have some blue somewhere) and several blues and greens (left over from turtle and Mr. Stegs), red and orange Cotton Classic in DK weight (I bought this to make stuffed animals).

2) Acrylics: Here we have the Red Heart rainbow left over from Lilla’s sweater and the cat toy. Above that we have Lion Brand Micro-Spun in lilac left over from my Picovoli sweater. Above that we have the white Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted with little sparkles in it (see detail picture) left over from Anika’s lace scarf. To the left is some multi-colored chenille left over from a scarf I wove in high-school and some red chenille left over from Viviane’s hat.

3) Acrylics – Lion Brand Homespun. This is all Homespun, a bulky acrylic yarn. The Williamsburg blue I bought way too much of for Claire’s baby blanket. I need an idea for what to do with the 6 skeins I have left. You can see the color better in the close-up.

The lighter blue yarn at lower right is left over from my fluffy cuff mittens. The pink I don’t know why I have. The multi-colored one with purples and oranges is left over from Nhyx-Selene’s hat.

4) Acrylics: Bulky! Here we have Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick n’ Quick in burgundy, black, red, and green.

The red and some black are left over from dad’s scarf. Randall was talking about crocheting a blanket out of the burgundy and black, but I don’t think that’s enough yarn for a blanket…

5) Acrylics: Fuzzy! Here we have some fuzzy soft worsted weight acrylics.

The green and black are TLC Amore, left over from Stefan’s alien illusion scarf and crazy hat. The purple is from Anika.

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Apparently I can’t put more than 5 photos in one post, so here are 3 more planned projects.

This is some very soft blue sky alpaca sport yarn in tan and brown for a monkey stuffed animal for my (almost) niece Claire.

After dad heard about Oni’s fingerless gloves with mitten flaps he put in a request for some of his own. I’ll be using this Cascade 220 in red and variegated red.

Lastly here are 9 skeins (some are underneath) of Red Heart in multiple colors. I was going to learn how to crochet and crochet a blanket out of this, but I got too frustrated. Luckily Randall volunteered to jump in and do the project, so he’s got the 10th skein and a hook in hand…

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This is the yarn for mom’s aran sweater from Debbie Bliss’s book Cotton for All Seasons. It’s called the cotton/silk aran, but I’m using Knit Picks Andean Silk in Cornflower (21 balls!), which is 55% superfine alpaca, 23% silk, and 22% merino wool. Very warm and soft with a little silk shine. Here’s an image of the sweater from the book.

This fun sock yarn, Knit Picks Sock Memories in Gladiolus, is for mom’s future socks! If you click on the link you can see what the self-striping yarn will look like when I knit the socks. I’ll probably use the same sock pattern I used for my socks.

This fun sock yarn, Knit Picks Parade in Checkers, is for dad’s future socks! If you click on the link you can see what the self-striping yarn will look like when I knit the socks. I’ll probably use the same pattern as I did for my socks in a larger size.

Here we have some Karabella Aurora 8 in oatmeal and a light blue. I had the light blue and I just bought the oatmeal this week on sale as an early birthday present to myself so I have enough yarn to make a sweater. I will design a sweater for this yarn either before or after the Jaeger Chamonix sweater.

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Here is my cable swatch using the yummy Jaeger Chamonix (48% angora 47% extra fine merino 5% polamide) in a subtle blue (color 902). For more on this topic, see the experimental raglan sweater in my on the needles post. This sweater will wait (I think) for the completion of at least the experimental raglan and probably also another aran sweater I shall be starting soon as part of the Follow the Leader Aran Knitalong (FLAK). I’m waiting for my yarn to arrive to start the FLAK. I ordered donegal tweed in linden green from WEBS on sale. I want to know more about sweater construciton and design before I use the Chamonix.

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