Finished my first cardigan for myself!

[untonuggan]

me wearing multi-colored short sleeved cardigan with lace border at the bottom and two buttons

I finished my first cardigan for myself! Also, the first one for an adult. The button band truly wasn't as bad as I expected, although I did have to start it and restart it several times to get it right. Sleeves shorter than the pattern called for because I only had a limited amount of free yarn. (My mom had this in her stash for a year and didn't do anything with it, so...yes. ^____^)

Also, just FYI, my grandmother had never seen anyone use a drop spindle before. She found it "fascinating"and asked me lots of questions, and also understood "finally" how spinning wheels work. It was kind of an awesome way to spend my birthday. I had already spun some of this in singles, but I showed her the general process of spinning a "single ply" and then also how to ply something together in making this:


Brown and purple variegated yarn spun by me! A whole hank of it, about 34 yards

I have lots more of the roving, which I'm hoping will be enough to make a small shawl for my sister for her birthday. Because our relations are really improving, and I show love with fibre right now. (When my fingers can keep up with demand!)

For those interested in spinning themselves or just spinning craft, this is a handy little gadget that you can take apart to store in your bag. It's called a "niddy noddy", and I got it way cheaper on Etsy than it's sold in the yarn stores. It would have been slightly cheaper on Knitpicks, but theirs aren't finished for you and they're also bigger. Basically, you have to make the yarn into a hank thingy so you can set it with water. The non niddy-noddy way involves wrapping it round your arm or a piece of furniture, which works but is cumbersome if, say, someone comes to the door. Also, each wrap around a niddy noddy is pre-measured. This one is 2" long, meaning I can figure out how many yards I've spun. Very handy when figuring out patterns and things.


White yarn wrapped around a niddy-noddy, which is like a shaft with two sticks coming out perpendicular to it but facing opposite ways from each other. Sorry, I really am having trouble trying to describe things this morning.

Comments

[jjhunter]

The cardigan is adorable! Nicely done. :o)

[untonuggan]

^_____^ Thanks!

[spiralsheep]

That cardigan suits you, and I like the sleeve length half-way up/down the body because it complements the bottom edge instead of detracting from that shape.

Still loving the yarn too, obv. :-)

[untonuggan]

Thank you! All purely an accident of yarn, but somehow all coming together to create artcraft too. Funny how that happens, no?

<3 Yarning.

[northern]

The cardigan and yarn all look great! So awesome wearing something you made yourself!

[untonuggan]

IKR! Handmade things for the win! <3 Hope your sweater-making is going well too!

[31stcentury]

woohoo for cardigans and finishing things!
and purpleness

[untonuggan]

Best way to find out what your favorite colors are: start knitting/crafting and see what color your stash is dominated by (or alternately, what yarn gets left in your stash and why all your finished objects that you keep for yourself seem variants on similar themes...)

[alee_grrl]

The cardigan turned out beautifully! Go you!

The purple and white yarn is lovely. I really love the colors. The niddy-noddy is neat (and what a fun name)!

Glad you Grandmother made it in safely and that you are enjoying your time together.

[untonuggan]

Thank you! <3 Especially appreciate the point-by-point commentary, it is very helpful. <3

So MUCH FUN with my gran.

[raze]

Wow, that came out *great!* Excellent work!

[untonuggan]

Thanks! *high five*

[dark_kana]

OH! That cardigan looks awesome!
Love the yarn and it suits you really well and it's just pretty! ^^

[untonuggan]

Thank you! <3 <3

[lynnoconnacht]

That cardigan is adorable! And wow on your own spun yarn! <3

Congrats! May you enjoy it immensely! <3

[untonuggan]

Thank you! <3

[phlox]

Niddy-noddys are wonderful. I used to like to play with them! (Heck, I still like to play with them, I just don't do it as often.) Looks like that one has a nice finish. KnitPicks is great for some things, but I have not heard wonderful things about a lot of their tools. Do you use a nostepinne? They're so simple, and generally wonderful, but I think one of the most wonderful things about them is their name!

Hi whorl or low whorl spindle? Just curious!

And the cardigan looks very nice! Only a year in your mom's stash? It hardly gathered any dust at all. *g*

[untonuggan]

Today I discovered that niddy-noddys are also wonderful for dyeing store-bought yarn that is wound in a ball. \o/

It's a hi-whorl spindle, although I've been meaning to try a low-whorl one at some point. I, um, actually have three high whorl spindles at this point. Ahem. *blush*

Thank you!

[phlox]

Oh, neat! I haven't done any dyeing at all--my mom did a lot when I was littler (and before I was born--indigo is not a great thing to work with around small people), but I haven't experimented at all!

Three high whorl spindles sounds like a fine start! We have three--in the living room ,along with one low whorl. I have no idea how many others are around, but it's got to be at least 2 or three times that many.

Have you seen these: Trindles? My Mom (and several of her friends) are very fond of them, and they're really neat-looking! (I haven't tried one yet; Mom's not wanting to share. :) ) Also very light-weight, break down well, and somewhat modular--you can increase or decrease the spin by changing out the beads.

[untonuggan]

I am dyeing with food dyes/Kool Aid to avoid poisoning anyone. *g*

I have a feeling I will end up with quite a spindle collection.

I have heard of trindles but not tried them - yet. Very tempting though. I keep hearing good things about them!