The sweater, with a quick/basic blocking, on the recipient, over the layers already being worn. Yay, it fits! It is still a little too loose in the shoulders and upper arms for my liking, though I didn't really adjust the sweater before snapping a pic. I think much of that is a style and body type thing -- it probably would have been more flattering on someone with wider shoulders and/or a burlier upper body. But it's done and in the possession of the Intended Recipient, who is very pleased with it. The recipient often wears multiple layers, especially in winter, so oversized enough so that lower layers don't bunch up is not a bad thing.
The handspun worked very well for the sweater.
Now on to the next thing(s).
I'm almost done with the latest charity hat, so I'll get that finished up and start the next one.
I'm doing some quick gift socks for a friend. I'm using two strands of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride (worsted weight, 80% wool 20% mohair, single ply) from the stash. I felt like doing top-down generic socks, so I'll have to get my actual gauge after a few inches of knitting. I'm starting with 32 stitches but might need to go down to 28 or even up to 36. But I think this will be OK. The friend wants these to be slipper socks that will felt a bit especially while being worn, so a little big isn't a problem, not to mention that one needs a bit more ease for fat yarn.
I'm not completely sure how much yarn these will take, give my friend's foot measurements. Eh, maybe I'll just keep on knitting socks (for various people) once this pair is done, until the skeins I'm using are done. I have 2 skeins of dark teal green and 4 skeins of dark aqua/turquoise in a shade that is very similar to the green. I'm using one strand of green and one of blue, held together, mostly so that the socks will be quick to knit and very warm, but also since a single ply tends not to be as durable as a multi-ply, and 2 strands of single ply yarn will hopefully be more durable than one.
I ended up with someone else's remnant Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride stash, all seconds, mostly 2-3 but sometimes 4 skeins per color. The thing about seconds is that sometimes the yardage is short, or there are lots of knots, or there are funky bits in the skeins. I've slowly been going through it. I'm looking at some of what's left and seeing three skeins of a light brown, three skeins of a heathered gray, and two skeins of black, all of which kind of go together. So... that's enough for a sweater, if I can figure out what I want to make. I also have oddments from old projects over the years in a variety of colors that could be added.
Stripes. Those are easy. But. I usually look pretty terrible in horizontal stripes. Also, there would be ends. So many ends. I could do helical/narrow stripes, maybe, though there might be some weirdness where the sleeves join the body if I don't calculate it exactly right.
Color patterns. A lot of fun. But, things like Lopi-style yoke-patterning usually require a main color of about 800 yards, and I have a bit less than 600 yards. But not impossible. Fair-isle is another possibility, especially if it's enlivened with leftovers in contrasting colors. Faroese style color patterns could be interesting -- alternating gray and brown stripes with simple black color patterns on each. But then we get back to stripes, lots of ends, unattractive, etc.
There are some ideas in Knitting in the Nordic Tradition by Vibeke Lind -- not only a few sweaters with Faroese and other small motifs, but also her vertically-knit striped smocks, which would be straightforward but would require seaming.
I don't do steeks, by the way, so patterns get adapted around that. I don't fear cutting the yarn. I fear wanting to unravel and sweater to reuse the yarn and having zillions of cut ends that aren't easily reusable. And maybe that too is part of why I don't want to knit stripes. Though usually I carry the yarn ends up inside the sweater and only cut them and sew them in when the sweater is finished and I'm content with the results. In my experience, sewing in the ends carefully makes the smoothest-looking stripes in circular knitting. Nothing else I've tried has been as unobtrusive. Though honestly I'm fine with jogs and not worrying about it.
Hmm, EZ's bog jacket is a possibility, too. I've made a baby bog but not an adult bog. That too requires seaming. The stretch of kitchener stitch is long enough that it also counts as seaming, at least in my opinion. A ribwarmer, maybe, since 600-ish yards (i.e. 3 skeins) might be just about enough and then there would be no stripes? I've already knit a 3-skein vest from the Lamb's Pride Seconds stash, so if the yarn usage is comparable, then it'll work. EZ also has a few vertically-knit panel sweaters, similar to ones in Lind's book but usually mostly done in garter. In general, EZ has seaming in her garter stitch sweaters. Though, sigh, I can seam stuff even if it's not my favorite thing to do.
Or I could throw it all back in the stash. Or make things that aren't sweaters.
I do want to make another sweater, though, now that the Appledore-ish gansey is done. Colors, cables, gansey, something plain, interesting construction, real pattern, vague template, etc., so many options. Ditto for yarn choices. I've been conscientious about acquiring sweater quantities of yarn for a while (as opposed to oddballs and odd quantities), and there are plenty of good choices available in my stash, both handspun and commercial yarns. I still have lots of oddballs and odd quantities, too.
Now that everyone is all bored, I'll go back to the hat and socks and continue dithering about the next sweater-equivalent project.
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