Sweater Progress: Can a Sewing Machine Do That??? We'll see.....

Man- can i abuse equipment or what?! I have always done this....i run my cars to the ground, never put oil and hardly put gas...my spinning wheel is held together with twist ties and duck tape, my sewing machine has mouse sized lint balls inside of it, and well- if you have taken my class you've seen the torture that i put the drum carder through. the people at Louet would cringe if they saw the steel wool going through there. the only piece of equipment that i haven't run down like a mean horse is my fly rod. but somehow fishing brings out the monk in me....not the task master. So on to the project....

I have all the yarn and am trying to figure the best way to sew it into a fabric. i thought about just spreading the skeins out and sewing through the whole thing willy nilly...but  that seems a little too uncontrolled, even for me. i could lay the strands out side by side and sew through them crosswise in regular intervals for a very even material. but i kind of want this sweater to be a bit cave-girl.... so i am trying an experiment. i am taking a single strand and looping it back and forth (making sure the loops are irregular lengths). while i do this i am sewing straight through the loops down the middle making a 3-4" wide swath of loopy material. then i'm going to turn the corner and repeat, laying the new swath of loops halfway over the last and sewing them together. i am starting with the bottom width of the front of the sweater and am going to sew this fabric into the shape of the front of the sweater. i am basically going to make this in pattern pieces then sew it together like you would any garment.


Announcements:

 
Intertwined Book Signing with Carolina Homespun
Tomorrow!!
Guys!!! If you are in the area come to Stitches and say hi.
at Stitches West
Santa Clara, CA
Sat. 23rd. 12:00


Camp Vermont
Vermont Camp- Open Sign Ups! Enroll on the camps page.
This intimate workshop will be held in The Spun Monkey studio!
Townshend, VT (South-east corner of VT)
June 14th and 15th
10am-5pm
$200/person


Camp Vancouver Help!!!
Hi everyone! i have many many people interested in a class in Vancouver but no offers to host. So if any of you have an in with a studio or shop or somesuch and would be willing to pop in and make the suggestion it would be appreciated. it is really hard for me to do that from here. there are some small perks for hosts...but they can contact me directly for info. what we need is a space big enough for 12-14 spinners w/wheels and 2 big worktables. i was thinking Sept. but might possibly bump it to Nov.


Camp NY- Brooklyn- Aug??
My friend Aurora has generously offered (good thing i'm making this kick-ass sweater) to coordinate a spinning camp in Brooklyn this summer if there is enough interest. I'm thinking early August. If you are interested please email me!! (pluckyfluff@hotmail.com) i can only plan it if i know we'll get enough students.



Here is the first row:



2 rows deep:



several rows in...i have to roll it up to sew it. i know i could just hang it off the left!! but...um- well i am actually SO right side dominant that i just can't. it's really weird....i can only work things from a certain side. anything left side oriented and i'm a total reject. i would probably sew my own finger into it.....