Sweater Spin and Knit Along
We’re into week 2 of the Scarf Spin and Weave Along and so far, except for a few missteps by me, I think things are going just swimmingly. Since the Scarf Along is only 4 weeks I thought it might be time to introduce the next Along that will begin on February 1. This will take place mostly in my Patreon group so if this is something you think you might like, head on over and join me on Patreon. The Alongs are available for all support levels.
But just so you have an idea of what you might be in for, I thought I’d lay out the whole outline here.
February
- Choose a Pattern for a sweater to knit
- Choose a few fibers and make samples with different spinning and/or preparation techniques. Use those yarns to make swatches and make a final decision about which yarn to use.
- We will talk a lot about how to make the best choices and how to match the yarn gauge. I will do some live videos with some general information about how to go about choosing
- If you are a Patron at the Tiara Level I will do a video where I answer questions sent about the process, If you are at Coronet or above maybe this is where you’d like to use your chat for the year.
March
- Start Spinning
- Here’s where I’ll talk to you about consistency over the whole spinning process in posts and videos.
- storage bobbins
- sample cards and how to use them
April
- I love to talk about how to keep up your momentum over a large project and what I do to stay interested.
- Maybe we could have a discussion about our favorite shows to binge:-)
May
- We’re still spinning
- I want to give you plenty of time to get all of the yarn spun
- Here’s where I’ll talk about how much I spin before I begin to ply
- Also there will be a video here about all of my plying tips and how I use that sample card we made way back in February when I start Plying.
June and July
- Still spinning for many of us.
- Now I’m going to talk about how to finish your yarn after you spin it. Finishing choices based on your spinning and pattern choice. There will be a video here and plenty of discussion about how your finishing choice is just as important as your spinning and plying.
August
- Cast on your sweater.
- I’m leaving 2 months for knitting here because I am super slow and I will need lots of people bullying me into knitting every day.
- This is where I’m hoping to bring a knitting guest in to give advice and tips. I’m a good enough knitter but I could use some advice too:-)
September we will finish up and I’m hoping that everyone will post a photo to the group of their finished sweater.
Doesn’t that sound fun?! Plus you get all that for only $3 per month! And there isn’t a shipping or handling charge in sight.
I have lots to talk about and I definitely need a new sweater since every single one of my handmade sweaters has at least one hole that has been patched or is waiting to be patched.
So for my question – I was thinking that maybe some of you might want to start with raw fleece. I have a few…or 300. I’m thinking about selling some if anyone is interested. i have a wide range of breeds. If there is interest I will happily hike out to the garage and choose a few to post in the webstore. Just let me know. I would sell them by the full pound.
I also need to come up with a good #hashtag# for this spin along so if you wake up in the middle of the night with something snappy, let me know. We still have a few weeks.
19 thoughts on “Sweater Spin and Knit Along”
Hubby has been asking me to knit him a sweater for years. I have always been too intimidated by the thought of having to knit consistently enough to have everything match up when it comes time to put it together. This sounds like the kind of support I need to tackle the project.
Yes! It’s going to be so fun and also at a pace that will be easy for everyone.
I’m definitely interested in buying some fleece! Let me know what you have that might work well!
I’ll get it there and dig around tomorrow. It’ll be a bit warmer. Lol
Any new thoughts on fleeces? I’m thinking of doing a colorwork sweater called Vintersol on Ravelry. I’d need roughly 600 grams of the MC and roughly 300 grams each of two contrasting colors, which should include 100g each for sampling. I was hoping to do all three of them as natural sheep shades, no dyes. I just don’t know where to look to get good fiber!
If you want smaller amounts of several colours you might try the spinningloft.com and CVM might be something you like which comes in several colours. Also Shetland might be fun and comes in Los of colours. The Spinning Loft sells in 4 ounce quantities.
The fleeces I would be listing might be bigger than you want and I dont have as many colours as you want.
If you go in that direction remember to order twice as much as you need to account for scoring and processing waste.
Beth, What will be the cost of this spin and knit along?
It’s free to all of my patreon patrons! Woohoo!
What are patreon patrons?
Here is the link to check it out. https://www.patreon.com/BethSmithSpinning
I signed up as a patreon patron so I can participate in this. I’ve never knit a sweater and it’s been on my to do list for a while! I’m interested in starting from raw wool, but I already have several fleeces. I’m interested in your thoughts on the best fleece for a sweater. Since I live in Florida, I’m going to want laceweight or fingering weight yarn for a sweater. I’ll almost never have the opportunity to wear anything heavier than that.
The most fun thing is going to be the sampling we will be doing all through February. I’m sure one of the fleeces you have will work. No need to worry:-)
I scoured 4 fleeces earlier this week (Finn, Texel, Icelandic, and Coopworth) and on Saturday some friends and I are getting together to scour more fleeces, some of them mine and some other people are bringing. I already had 4 or 5 fleeces that I’ve scoured but not yet processed (Romney, Corriedale, Icelandic, and a couple of others that I’m forgetting atm). I’ll have lots of options!
I’m not sure how you’ll choose!
I would love to do this
I would love for you to do it too! Let me know if you have any more questions.
This is going to be so much fun! Having a hard time choosing which sweater pattern to use. I usually choose my pattern first, then decide on fiber….have I been doing this backwards?
No way. Choose the pattern is the first step in February. 🙂
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