The barn sweater is named for the lovely red color of the yarn, which came to my stash in a round about way. The original color of the wool cone yarn was tan and part of a stash, which ended up at Anoka Fiber Works after a yarn swap event years ago. Mary, the shop owner, gave it to Linda, who dyed the yarn red and proceeded to knit a swatch for a sweater project. The yarn was (and still is) not next-to-the-skin soft, the project was abandoned, and the remaining yarn was left at the shop with Mary. Mary and I were having a chat about yarn, particularly sheep's wool and that not all knitting yarn needs to be soft to be useful in garments. The bag of yarn ended up with me and the well-worn copy of Knitting Pure & Simple V-Neck Neckdown Cardigan For Women #994, was the logical choice for the project.
I added length to the bottom back with short rows and then knitted two by two ribbing at the cuffs, bottom, and the neck. Seven light-color wood buttons from the button jar looked very nice with the red. The fit is oversized, comfortable, and given the freeze and thaw of winter weather up here, the sweater works as a warm layer under a jacket or as an outer layer on the warmer days. Either way, I wear a long sleeve shirt or turtleneck underneath and have no issues with scratchiness. It is meant to be a working sweater, just like the well-worn garments I used to see hanging by a door on family farms many moons ago.
15 days pass...I love the sweater and have worn it often. Yesterday, it was a great jacket!
Now, an update on another project! I've been hand-carding and mixing colors for a small tapestry project using Lincoln Longwool from Snake River Acres and dyed wool from Ireland. Carding the the Longwool with the dyed wool makes drafting and spinning a smooth process. The colors look so pretty lined up in the natural light near my easel. I have a general idea of what to weave, but when a new idea pops into my head, I thank goodness for the notes feature and the iPencil with the iPad.
The weather is warming and the days are getting longer. Spring is fast approaching and I have upcoming classes on the schedule at Anoka Fiber Works and BeWoolen. The newsletter for AFW is released on the first of every month. I'm excited about teaching a yoked sweater class at BeWoolen because the shop just got the first delivery of Lett Lopi yarn this week! My classes at AFW include Stranded Colorwork, Yorkshire Buttons, and First Socks, a new class.
