Enjoying the Ravellenic Games!

After much thought, I decided to attempt my first Ravellenic Games!  I had been signed up for a team for a while, but didn't even start to think about projects until two hours before the start of the games.  I managed to pull my resources together and get some patterns picked out just in time, and am I ever happy that I did!

I have decided to compete in four events this year with the overall goal being destashing:

I've suddenly been in a sock making kind of mood (it might have something to do with seeing so many of Andi's beautiful socks) and cast on a pair of vanilla socks using this yarn I hand dyed last month using egg dyes. 

I've had a small skein of Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend sitting around for a while and desperately wanted to use it to make something I would use.  I decided on a pair of fingerless mitts, which work really well with the yarn and don't require much yardage. 

Perhaps my most ambitious project, which I may or may not conquer is knitting a Gemini top with this stashed, copper colored Hempathy I've been saving for something special.  I'm probably going to have to order more yarn for this project (why did I have to leave Webs?), but that doesn't matter because it is a perfect match for the project.

Of course I cannot do anything without somehow working spinning in.  So I started spinning up this disastrously hand dyed Cheviot wool, because I really want to see if dyeing it again after spinning might improve the color (ugh, pastels...). 

I've got a lot that I'm working on, but I'm loving the challenge and the fun of knowing that I'm knitting and spinning alongside some really fantastic people from all across the world! 

Thrift Store Sweater Into Cashmere Yarn

I'm very excited to show the results of my second upcycled sweater project!  Some of you may recall that the first one did not go too well because I had inadvertently picked out the wrong sweater for this kind of project.  The second attempt was definitely not a failure!

This whole adventure came about as a result of my going to Goodwill (or Mennonite thrift stores, those people know what quality is) and happening to stumble across a large, men's L size, 100% cashmere sweater for $4.28 (includes tax).

Let me share this little secret, if you want good sweaters to upcycle, don't even bother with the women's section because the men's section is where it's at.  As a whole the sweaters are often cheaper, larger, and usually hardly worn (why don't American men know that sweaters are sexy?).

My mother and I had a nice time unraveling this one and then I plyed, and plyed, and plyed, which is why I'm contemplating building an Arduino microcontroller based e-spinner (don't worry, I would continue to spin my handspun by spindle, I love the process so much).  I plyed the yarn together because on it's own, it was brittle and unbalanced.

This ended up as a 4-ply, 100% cashmere (assuming average quality), worsted weight yarn in a pretty gray color that I don't think I will dye simply because it is a color I don't see a whole lot in yarn colorways.  I ended up with 265 grams and ~ 1,100 yards of yarn total.  I wish that I had kept track of how many hours this project took with the unraveling and plying, but sadly I did not.

I was interested to see how much money I likely saved by doing it this way (not counting labor), and so I did some rough calculations against what I'm assuming is a comparable yarn: Jade Sapphire Mongolian 6-Ply (which I haven't tried, but am definitely tempted to if only the price weren't out of my reach).

New, store bought cashmere yarn: 150 yards, 55 grams -->   $45.00 a skein (before tax)

Upcycled thrift store cashmere yarn: 220 yards, 55 grams -->   $1.13 a skein (including tax)

Even if the resulting yarn is not of comparable quality (which I can kind of sense by touch), that is a huge savings and allows me to knit with a luxury fiber!  This is a really fun and rewarding process and I would highly recommend it, just be sure to follow my upcycled sweater rules.

Ambrosia Sweater

I started this sweater back in May as a way of getting me through a rough breakup.  As I knit this soothing sweater my grief faded and was replaced by calm and a sense of hope.  I'm not sure if knitting might help everyone through a rough time, but in my case it definitely did.

The pattern is Ambrosia by Katya Frankel, which overall I really liked.  I especially enjoyed the lack of seaming, as well as the top down construction of the sweater.  The cabling down the front helped to get me through long stretches of stockinette stitch and adds some extra interest to the sweater.  I also really liked that the bind off method was an i-cord bind off, because it made the whole project look much more finished and attractive.  The pattern directions were very clear and easy to follow.

The one problem I had with this pattern was with the recommended method of securing the sweater with hook and eyes.  When I first saw the pattern, that aspect really intrigued me because I had not seen many projects that way, and now I certainly know why.  No matter how much I block this sweater, there are still unseemly gaps down the front due to the hook and eyes.  I think that if I were to knit this sweater again, I would probably modify it to work with buttons.  I'm thinking that someday I might install a zipper onto this particular sweater, because with that one little change it would be perfect! 

The yarn was an absolute dream to knit with, as I've mentioned before, I'm not sure why my entire stash isn't made up of Madelinetosh.  I used Madelinetosh Vintage in the Nebula (isn't that perfect?) colorway.  I love the solid, crispness of the yarn base that they use for this yarn, and as an added bonus it still had that lovely merino smell!  Of course the best part of Madelinetosh is the almost iridescent color and this one in particular is just gorgeous.

Despite the fastening problem in the front, I really love this sweater and I hope to have many a chance to wear it this Fall! 

Work-in-progress Wednesday - #11

I'm back from my trip to Las Vegas, it was definitely an interesting experience!  I was able to get quite a lot of knitting done over the course of the trip and so in the next few days I'll have some new projects to show!

But until then I'll show you my current WIPs:

Knitting:

A family friend recently had a baby and so I'm happily working away on a new sweater in this jaunty red Berroco Vintage.  The pattern is Garter Yoke Baby Cardi by Jennifer Hoel, a project I have knitted before and really enjoyed!

I'm also still powering away on this cotton sweater in Classic Elite Yarns Classic Silk.  So far I like the pattern (Gaia by Kristen TenDyke), but the lace sections are taking me a little longer than I anticipated. 

Misc:

I'm a little more than halfway done with my cashmere sweater upcycling project.  Rather than post yet another photo of my plying spindle, I thought I would show how much better the yarn looks after plying.

The yarn is really attractive and soft and I'm hoping to have enough by the end to make a small sweater.  It is definitely taking me a while to ply this much yarn and I've been looking into wheel options for that very reason. 

I hope that you are all having a great Wednesday and I hope that you also join in for WIP Wednesday with Tami's Amis.