Kraken...Vest?

The body of the sweater is done! I love it, and it fits nicely. I finished the fronts and connected them with the back via a 3-needle bind-off, and knit and connected the "neck extensions" (really the back of the collar).

Now I need to knit sleeves!

Kraken Sweater - Growing!

The yarn:

And now, big progress:

There is nothing that I don't love about this sweater. The colors are gorgeous, the feel of the polwarth handspun is delicious, the knitting is easy. If I didn't also spin and weave, I'd probably be finished already, but the sweater has had to share time with my other pursuits.

The pattern is the Bailey Cardigan  (Ravelry link) and is very straightforward and easy to understand. It HAS to be - I needed a simple pattern for my first handknit adult sweater! I've knit children's sweaters before, with chunky yarn, but this one has to fit ME, and be useful for daily wear.

Since I'm knitting it in a light fingering-weight polwarth wool yarn, it will be lightweight, yet warm. I can see wearing it in the fierce air-conditioning of our local NOLA restaurants even in summer, and as daily wear in the winter. It will serve as indoor warmth in Montana, as well - and as a layer under a jacket.

I've used a little more than half the yarn spun - I'm thinking I'll need to spin more for the sleeves. I have a few more ounces of the fiber, no problem! Oh, the joy of being able to spin my own yarn - a dream come true!

Here's the post about the beginning of my sweater.

Kraken Ahoy!

The rest of the fiber for my handspun Kraken polwarth sweater arrived this afternoon. So gorgeous! I love this colorway. David of Southern Cross Fibre is a genius with the dyepots.

Now that I have all the fiber for the sweater, I'll split it all up and combine the two dyelots to ensure the yarn will be homogenous.

Along with the Kraken, there was a hitchhiker - a sneak preview of David's new semi-solid line of colorways. This one is "Dark Cheddar", a color that made this orange-lover swoon with delight when he revealed it in his Ravelry group.

There will be over 30 new semi-solids available over the next 6 months, in colors that will coordinate with so many of the colorways in my stash. My wallet may not survive!