A finished item -- my handspun Appledore (ish) gansey (ish)

Almost a year to the date from when I finally cast on, with this yarn and this number of stitches etc., my Appledore Gansey is finished!

I still need to tuck in the ends and block it, but I am excited that it's done and want to write about it now instead of later.  I know I've written about it before and thus this might be repetitive, but too bad!  It's my blog and I'll bore if I want to.

This started with me being intrigued by the Appledore Gansey in Rae Compton's Complete Book of Traditional Guernsey and Jersey Knitting.  I liked the plainness of the gansey, livened by a bit of decoration on the shoulder straps.

The traditional Appledore gansey is a plain gansey with all the trimmings -- a side seam in purl, underarm gussets, one-piece knitting of a drop-shoulder design with the sleeves picked up and knit down after the shoulders were joined, and shoulder straps.  I'm not 100% sure what the traditional range of patterns for the shoulder straps would encompass.  Betty Martin (often rig and furrow strips then betty martin strips, alternating) and seed stitch are what I see in modern patterns and most old photos.  A lot of old photos are fairly indistinct so aren't too discernable in the books and websites I have available to me, so I don't really know what other shoulder strap patterns were used by the Appledore knitters.

There's also a photo on page 2 of Beth Brown-Reisel's Knitting Ganseys that shows a plain gansey with only rig-and-furrow on the shoulder straps.  The photo is from the Sutcliffe Studio, and I have no idea if those ganseys were a specialty of anywhere in particular.  Google searching for the photos has not yet led me to any more info, alas, though I suppose I could email BB-R and ask her.

I wanted to use stash yarn for my version, and in particular, handspun.  This meant that I needed to reconfigure the pattern for my new gauge.  Also, my handspun is not uber-smooth like traditional gansey yarn, so knit-purl patterns aren't necessary going to show to good advantage, especially with the not-so-fine gauge.

So, it's gansey-ish rather than a classic gansey made with the traditional fine machine-spun yarn.  And it's Appledore-ish since the shoulder strap pattern is rig-and-furrow rather than a documented knit/purl design like betty martin or seed stitch.

For those who care, Rig and Furrow is a name for stockinette and reverse stockinette stripes.  Purl-knit-knit-purl for a 4-row pattern repeat, though one can adapt for all kinds of variations.  Seed Stitch is alternating knit-purl on one row with purl-knit on the next.  Betty Martin is 2 rows of k2p2 followed by 2 rows of stockinette, with the k2p2 blocks usually but not always aligning with each other.

My first attempt was several years ago.  I got to the point where back and front would split and decided I didn't like it.  I had put in a reverse-stockinette horizontal ridge just about the ribbing and decided it looked really stupid.  Plus the yarn was pink and, well, it was a bit TOO pink for my current tastes.  So I took it apart and returned the yarn to my stash.

My second attempt was sometime in 2025.  I tried a different batch of handspun.  After a few inches, I decided it wasn't quite right and unraveled that, too.

My third attempt began last September, with a batch of dark forest green handspun that was roughly Aran weight.  I don't have a great photo of the yarn, alas, or I'd inflict it on y'all.  Maybe later.

A family member wandered by during my planning and swatching and expressed interest in receiving a handknit sweater, so I declared them the Intended Recipient and took their measurements.

Rae Compton and Beth Brown-Reisel and Gladys Thompson (Guernsey and Jersey Patterns) all have extended discussions on gansey construction and patterning.  BB-R also has percentage charts for adapting the gansey idea to one's own gauge and measurements.  Elizabeth Zimmermann's percentage system and the templates with percentages in Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' Knitting in the Old Way also helped me figure things out.

There are some great online resources, too.  I don't remember all of them, but I'll call out Gansey Nation (http://www.ganseys.com/) and the info and links from the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon (https://barnstaplemuseum.org.uk/ourstories/dressed-for-chill-the-appledore-gansey/) and also photos and write-ups of Josephine Sim's pattern from the booklet by John Whitlock and her, even though I don't own it (yet), Prangs, Tacks and Frocks, which can be found scattered throughout the internet.  Places like Propagansey and other specialty websites, various other museum sites, and the Ravelry gansey forum (Guernseys, Ganseys, Knit-Frocks - Fishermans' Sweaters) were also helpful and inspiring.

Armed with schematics, percentages, and technique tips, and a probably-lying gauge swatch, I cast on.  Then measured my real gauge, unraveled, re-calculated the numbers, and cast on again.

It went well.  Knit knit knit.  Then I had to make some decisions and put the knitting down.  It sat for several months.  Well, who needs a warm sweater when it's summer?

A few weeks ago, we got our first taste of autumn.  I was inspired to pick up the knitting again.  My subconscious had made all the decisions I had dithered about earlier.  And I knit knit knit until it was done.  YAY!!!!!

It fits the intended recipient.

It's a little big in the upper arm area.  It might be better for someone with burlier shoulders.  But also, when I came back to it this month, I ended up making the above-underarm area a bit deeper than I had initially planned.  I had started the underarm gussets a bit early so the sweater was a bit too short for the intended recipient's preferences, and thus I added more above the underarms to get to the total desired length.  I didn't feel like ripping it all the way back to the start of the gussets.

But other than that, I'm very pleased with it.

The neck opening before the final ribbing was also kind of enormous, since I added more length to the upper body after I'd started the front neck shaping.  But amazingly and wonderfully, the ribbing took care of that.  I reduced a lot of stitches after picking up for the collar/edge and it didn't pucker or gap or anything, yay.

Dunno if I could have or should have done something similar for the upper sleeves.  I'll consider that for next time, though.

Something interesting I noticed:  Usually, there's a small gap between the body and sleeves when everything is joined up or picked up and knit down or whatever.  I use the yarn tails to close up holes.  With the underarm gussets, there was no gap at all, no loose spots or holes or anything.

I used almost exactly 900 yards and still have 350-ish yards of the yarn left.  That'll return to my stash for some future project.

Hmm, what sweater do I want to make next?  And who shall it be for?

For ganseys, I like the very common seeds-and-bars design, so that's a possibility.  But maybe I'll do something with cables.  Or an Elizabeth Zimmermann design.  Or something else entirely, of course.  I haven't done a Lopi sweater in a while, for example, and someone is willing to buy the yarn if they get the sweater.

I'm close to done with my traveling shawl project, too.  Soon I'll have to come up with a new travel project.

Other than that, I'm doing charity hats and will probably knit some house socks for a friend.  I need to go through my stash to see what I have that would be suitable for thick-and-quick socks.  The friend wants the socks to felt a bit with wear, so that will also be taken into consideration.

I should do some spinning.  And do a write-up on another of my rescued spinning wheels.

The friend who took some of my handspun to try weaving with has made a truly amazing and gorgeous wrap.  That too will be in a future post.

Spinning -- "Dave" (Columbia x Rambouillet)

I have finished the latest 4 oz. blob of roving.  This is a from a Columbia x Rambouillet sheep named Dave, from Promised Land Fibers.  I ended up with about 450 yards of 2-ply, yikes!  I'm definitely spinning thin this year, dunno why.  Photos never quite show the colors correctly; this is a fairly dark gray yarn.  The fiber has a few white and brown bits mixed in with the overall dark gray.  The roving is immaculately clean, no VM, though the staple length can be slightly variable at times.  It drafted easily, too.  It's not the best spinning job in the world, but it'll be perfectly functional for pretty much anything I want to do with it.  Maybe I'll knit it up 2-stranded into a hat or mittens or something.  Or pass it along to my weaving friend.

I'm not sure what I'll spin next.

My travel knitting projects are still being worked on.  So no new project completions (or starts) to report.

I might be selling a spinning wheel soon.  I'm trying to decide which ones to offer the potential buyer.  I'm glad -- these wheels should be used, and they are all going to be wheels I was delighted to save and restore, but which I don't personally use all that often myself these days.  If that made sense.  I really do need and want to sell several of the wheels I've rescued and accumulated.

August Project Report

It's been a busy month and not much has gotten done.  But I want to have at least one post for August, so here it is!

I started a new spinning project -- some pretty gray Columbia x Rambouillet roving from a sheep named Dave.  I'm about half done with the singles, and then got busy with all kinds of things.  It's still waiting for me to finish it and then get it plied.  Then I'll decide what to spin next.

I've been turning my soap and it's about ready to use whenever I want!  I'm excited.  The friend who taught me how to make the soap is very encouraging, so hopefully I will get to make more soap soon.

Knitting -- I'm doing charity hats again and my pink travel shawl is also making good progress.  I really want to finish my green handspun Appledore-ish gansey but I need the time to sit down, make a few decisions, and then keep going.  I have roughly 8-10 more hours of work on it, I think, maybe a bit less.

I'm thinking about doing more weaving, though I haven't decided what I would want to weave.

Ooh, something pretty amazing -- I gave a friend of mine some of my handspun wool, including some that had been natural-dyed.  (I mentioned it in a earlier post.)  My friend took that yarn and wove me a truly gorgeous wrap.  Wow.  I am incredibly touched by my friend's generosity as well as skill and artistic vision.  Obviously I need to hand out more of my handspun!  Seeing what other people do with it is pretty fabulous.

I taught that same friend to spin.  Dunno if I mentioned that already.  Another friend loaned this friend a wheel.  My friend is a natural -- drafting came easy and the yarn is already looking fantastic.  It is very gratifying to see another person take up the craft and to know that I have made some small contribution to my friend's success.

I don't have any current knitting project plans yet.  No doilies are itching to be cast on.  No sweaters nor planning the next travel knitting project.  I still ought to cast on for some socks, and there are some quick little hat patterns/ideas that appeal, and I haven't made mittens for a while and maybe should do a few of those, too.  But for now, Real Life is keeping me busy.  Also, I want to do more spinning if/when I do have more time.

Unlocking a new skill -- soap!

A friend recently ran a get-together that involved making soap.  Yes, from lye and oils and fats and stuff like that.  This friend has been a professional maker and seller of soap, so it felt like quite a privilege as well as a wonderful introduction into this ancient technology.

After pouring our saponified goo into molds, we let it sit for a few weeks, then cut it into smaller bars.  It's still quite soft!  Now it gets to sit for another month or two to finish curing.

When we first cut the bars, there was quite a cross-sectional color variation, from brown on the outside to greenish-cream in the middle.  Now, a few days later, the color variations are evening out to various shades of cream and brown.

The above bars (the square ones) have clay added.  I like the swirls, though we'll see how it looks after curing.

The round bars have various scents added.  The molded hexagonal bars and all of the bars with clay added are unscented.

I'm looking forward to future adventures in soap making!

More spinning -- Debouillet!

I have finished spinning a 4-ounce batch of Debouillet roving.  It seemed to be taking a long time.  I understand why now.  The 4 ounces of Debouillet (give or take a bit) yielded about 665-670 yards of 2-ply yarn.

The roving had some VM and a few neps and noils.  But it drafted beautifully.  It was relatively short-stapled though not excessively short, very fine and soft, and kind of sproingy/bouncy, a bit like merino though lacking its cottony texture and more like Rambouillet.  Well, duh -- the Debouillet breed of sheep was started with a Rambouillet-Merino cross.  (The Delaine Merino, to be precise, thus the name Debouillet.)

I've spun Debouillet before -- a bit of brown roving that gave me 365-ish yards of a somewhat shiny 2-ply from about 3 ounces of roving.

The white yarn I just spun is more matte than shiny, even though both rovings were from sheep of the same breed.

Dunno what I'll do with the yarn.

I'm not sure what I'll spin next, but hopefully the default yarn from that future batch won't be so fine!  (Default yarn meaning the yarn I naturally spin without having to think about it, which is a function of the roving and the wheel and my mood, but mostly the roving and its drafting friction and how that interacts with the wheel I'm using to spin it.)  I don't mind having fine yarn, but it takes longer to spin than thicker yarn.  And sometimes I want that quicker gratification.  I don't really want to engineer my yarn, either, since I spin for the sheer enjoyment of it rather than to create a specific yarn.  I like zoning out as I spin rather than counting treadles and continuously referring to a reference sample for thickness and all those other things needed to create a consciously designed yarn.

A bit of spinning -- Lopez Island Romney X

I finally spun the Romney-X roving I bought last autumn at Oregon Flock and Fiber.  I ended up with about 375 yards of 2-ply, so rather a bit thinner than the 250 yards of 2-ply I spun from the previous year's Romney-X roving.

It's pretty.  It drafted well.  It was fairly clean, very minimal VM that was easy to pick out.  It was an enjoyable spinning experience, which is pretty much all I ask for most of the time when I sit down at a wheel.  It's a nice medium heathery gray, in case the color in the photo isn't clear.

The vendor I got it from is Island Fibers, from Lopez Island in Washington.  The first time I bought from them, I think they said that this was milled by Skagit Wool.  They said it was from the local sheep, who had mostly Romney genetics with random other breeds in the gene pool.  Whatever it is, I like spinning it.  I have no idea if what I bought last fall is from the exact same bump as I had bought from the previous year, or if it's a new batch from a later clip.

Part of why I spun this is because I got inspired -- I went to Black Sheep Gathering with some friends last weekend.  It was fun.  It didn't seem to have as many people and animals and vendors as I had remembered, but it's always possible I'm getting it confused with Oregon Flock and Fiber since both are in the same location and are similar in a lot of ways.  Or it's just completely random and the day/time I went are not as busy as other days/times.

As always, it was great to see the critters and explore the vendors' offerings, and as always, it's great to run into friends and acquaintances while I'm there.

This time I bought some horned dorset roving, about 4 oz.  I asked the vendor, and they said it's somewhat resistant to felting, which is what I'd heard is a breed characteristic.  So maybe I'll make socks from this.  Or something else that I don't necessarily want to felt easily.  I've spun roving from crossbred merino-dorset, but not purebred dorset.  It should be interesting.

I brought some handspun over to a friend who weaves.  It'll be their first time weaving with handspun.  I look forward to the results.  If it works out, I'll bring over more.  I love using my handspun, but I don't mind if some of it gets used by other people.  Also, maybe it'll inspire me to weave some of my handspun in addition to knitting with it.

There's not much to report on the knitting side of things.  My slowly growing projects are slowly growing and I haven't started (or finished) anything new.  I've been doing a lot of tablet weaving and braiding and what-not, but I don't really write about those things in this blog.

Hmm, what shall I spin next?  Or knit, for that matter?  Though I really do want to finish the sweater I started last year, so the recipient can wear it later this year.  For spinning, I have a bunch of 4 oz batches of roving bought at various fiber festivals as well as some larger batches.  Hmmm.

Musings about Spinning Wheels -- a reproduction wheel from the former USSR

This wheel showed up on craigslist, within a reasonable driving distance and in my price range.  So I got it.

The seller had bought the wheel used many years previously.  She was upgrading to a more modern wheel from a currently active manufacturer and no longer wanted or need this one.  She knew nothing more about the wheel beyond "it works".  I don't remember if there was a driveband on it or not, but since most of the time I end up needing to replace the driveband anyway, that didn't bother me.

I had no idea what the wheel was, so I asked around.

Someone on Ravelry found its twin:  "See SPIN-OFF Magazine Winter 1991 Edition, Page 79, “Spinning Wheel Treasures From Europe Part 1- Horizontal Wheels” by Sharon Hudgins. The wheel is identified as a Russian (Soviet Union at that time) made wheel she purchased in 1984 in Prague, Czechoslovakia."

A few other people soon posted on Ravelry, showing photos of wheels that were very similar.  The author who wrote the Spin-Off article had purchased her wheel in a state-run crafts store that was meant to show off traditional craftsmanship from Russia, I believe.  And given that some other people have similar wheels, there were apparently a lot of them for sale throughout the former USSR and Eastern Bloc countries.

Fun!  So apparently the US isn't the only country that was having a fad for reproduction spinning wheels in the 1970s and 1980s.

This is a very silly wheel but I adore it.  What's silly about it?

It came with four bobbins.  But only one of them works with the wheel.  The other three are too big.  My guess is that a previous owner had some extra bobbins made but the dimensions weren't quite right.  Metric vs US?  Differences in shrink/swell of American vs Czech/USSR wood?  A bit of mis-measurement and/or lack of precision when they were commissioned?  No idea!

The bobbin comes off by unscrewing the metal shaft from the flyer.  I don't think I've ever seen that kind of thing in any other spinning wheel, not that I've seen a lot of spinning wheels.  However, now that I know the other bobbins won't fit, I don't bother changing it out.  I just unwind the spun yarn onto a storage bobbin and go from there, like I do with other wheels that have just one bobbin and/or that have bobbins which are a pain to change out.

The orifice hook is a handmade thing that was undoubtedly added after.  Since most older wheels don't have orifice hooks at all, this isn't a problem.  There's a pretty handmade clay bead that serves as the handle.

The treadle is a narrow board, narrower than many people's feet.  It works perfectly well, though.

The distaff is a different wood from the rest of the wheel.  And as with my other reproduction wheel, it's not that stable and thus not that useful.  I don't use it.

The wheel isn't particularly fast -- I think it's around 1:10 or so -- but there's something about it that keeps me coming back to spin on it for just a little bit longer.

I have no idea if this was made to be a spinning wheel or just a decorative piece.  There are a lot of wheels from that era that were made to be decorative.  Some aren't able to spin.  But some, especially those that were copied from extant pieces, actually do spin, often quite reasonably well.  This one falls into the functional category, whether accidentally or on purpose.

I don't use it often, but it's always a lot of fun whenever I do use it.