Osborn Fiber Studio

I’m really behind on blog posts right now. Our fam is actually in Yellowknife, the capital of Northwest Territories if you didn’t know. It’s a combo work trip/family getaway, and I’m super thankful we’re here. Maybe I’ll get a little writing done during our down time.

I finished Weel Riggit over a month ago! This sweater was so long in the making. It started as a page in my journal, where I dreamed about taking all of the raw fleece and undyed wool that had been kicking around in my stash forever, and making it into something. That’s right: this sweater was hatched as a stash buster.

I carded up batts on Alide’s drum carder at the same time I carded batts for the Chrysler sweater. I had four colours in the end: the main colour of black cormo blended with black raw alpaca; CC1 of grey cormo with black alpaca, CC2 of grey cormo and fawn shetland with fawn alpaca, and CC3 of grey cormo with white alpaca. It successfully used up all my fleece at the time, much of which had been hanging around my stash for YEARS. Such a good feeling!

I spun the yarn not too long after I spun the Chrysler yarn. It was basically the same singles, but a 3-ply. I’m so glad I was smart and diligent enough to batch those two big spins. Good job, past me!

I swatched the sweater with the top part of the Weel Riggit hat. I didn’t want to knit up that deep ribbed rim right away, because it wasn’t useful for swatching, and because I was concerned about having enough contrast colours. I needn’t have worried.

I cast on the sweater in February of 2022. From there things slowed down a fair bit. Somehow, I never managed to prioritize this project. I think it was because juggling the three contrast colours made it a project I couldn’t just sit down and do for a few minutes. Once I was settled, it didn’t take much attention, but getting settled took some doing.

Then I got really stalled on the sleeves. I tried different sizes on the pattern and different sizes of needle, and knitting the sleeve inside out, but the sleeve just kept being too tight. On the fourth try, I just made my own sleeve pattern, with lots of increases at the cuff and a few up the sleeve.

Of course, once I got the sleeves and body together, knitting up the yoke took less than a week! Sweater yokes are SO motivating, even when they are no different from the sweater body.

I’m thrilled with the final fit. It’s long enough not to feel drafty, but wide enough to be a bit bell-shaped. It’s light from being a woolen yarn, but has enough weight and drape from all that alpaca (maybe 1/3rd). We’re in a great shoulder season right now where I can often wear it inside and outside on the same day. I thought this would just be a cabin sweater, but it turns out it’s a rustic, wearable everyday sweater. I love it.

For some reason, I am possessed at the moment with a desire to use up my yarns. I had a lot of leftover yarn when my sweater was done, and I did not want to put it back in my stash to sit forever. I wanted to use it! So I started accessorizing.

I picked up along my cast on edge and knit the brim of the Weel Riggit hat down from the edge.

I cast on the Dissonance mitts and learned intarsia in the round for the first time.

And I took the sillouette from the “The Shift” cowl and applied it to a brioche cowl, changing colours as I ran out and/or as I felt like it.

“Weel Riggit” is Scots for being well-dressed, or rigged out as some places in Canada might say. It’s also the name of the sweater pattern by Kate Davies, and auxiliary hat pattern. With my handspun sweater and accessories in all the textures, I do feel exceedingly weel riggit.