new puppy

Introducing Bolt, our new roly poly, border collie puppy.

Tatum loves him so much already.

2016's big project

This year I've been planning a big, big spinning/knitting project that I've kept under wraps, as there were too many unknowns to guarantee it would happen. But I'm happy to report that progress is far enough along.

So here it is: this big project is a hand-spun, hand-knit sweater. But that's not all! It will feature colorwork of a border collie, modeled off of Tatum, using his fur. Eeks!

The base color is white/cream. My fiber guild was doing a rare breed study, so I accumulated a ton of 2 ounce samples of a bunch of different wools. I decided to spin them all separately and randomly ply them to get something that might look well together. I know it'll be slightly different shades, but this sweater has a lot of value in the process over the outcome; it's been quite the education about different fibers, staple lengths, consistency...

The pattern is a basic sweater from Purl Soho with a high neck, because I wear everything high-necked these days... The Tatum fur yarn was mixed with some gray merino/alpaca blend to beef it up and provide some softness. Tatum fur yarn is not soft!

While I still have only 2/3 of the yarn needed or so, I needed a break from spinning, so we are moving on to starting the body. I love it already.

Stay tuned for updates.