{"id":2505,"date":"2019-01-26T08:07:42","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T07:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=2505"},"modified":"2019-01-30T18:50:34","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T17:50:34","slug":"design-from-fleece-to-garment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/design-from-fleece-to-garment\/","title":{"rendered":"Design from fleece to garment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Through my years as a spinner I have made lots of projects where I spin for a garment. This time I take the process further and make my own garment design, based on the superpowers of the fleece. In this post I look at design from fleece to garment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the third post in a blog series. The first post was about how to find the superpowers of a fleece<\/a> and in the second post I talked about consistency<\/a>. In the remaining post I take you through some calculations. Through the blog series I use the wool from one sheep as a case study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design: Margau beta<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I designed the yarn in this case study I worked with the superpowers of the fleece<\/a>. I wanted to take advantage of the characteristics of the wool in the finished yarn. By listening to the wool and let it tell me how it wanted to be prepared and spun I could allow it to become its best yarn. I wanted the same for the design of a garment \u2013 to let the yarn be the star of the garment. So I designed for the yarn. Meet the Margau beta design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Josefin
Meet the Margau Beta design. Photo by Dan Waltin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Texture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I wanted a simple pattern with both knit and purl elements. An advanced pattern like cables or lace would take the focus from the yarn too much. At first I was playing with the idea of stockinette stitch with panels of garter stitch. This idea didn’t work very well, since garter stitch fills out the thickness of the fabric and takes from the length. Stockinette and garter in the same row would therefore result in a bubbly structure, which I didn’t want. Instead I came up with simple panels of stockinette and reversed stockinette. The smooth stockinette shows off the shine in the yarn and the reverse stockinette reveals the roundedness of the 3-ply and the colored specks from the sari silk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Model<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I love the look of a raglan yoke. It looks very flattering and knitting in the round suits me as a process knitter. Top-down knitting is what first comes to mind for me, but I wanted to try bottom up this time. I knit the sweater seamlessly with a no-ease fit and waist shaping. Neckband and cuffs in garter stitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design details<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The main part of the body of the sweater is knit in stockinette. At the front and on the sleeves there are panels of reverse stockinette stitch. The waist shaping is all made in reverse stockinette side panels. The panels pass the sleeve in the front and back and go between the raglan yoke shapings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Close-up
The side panels pass on both sides of the sleeves and between the raglan shapings. Photo by Dan Waltin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Embroidered flowers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I decided I wanted som assymetrical bling on one of the side panels. I spun a yarn from another finull\/rya mix breed<\/a>, also a winner (silver medal) at the Swedish fleece championships and also from shepherdess Margau Wohlfart-Leijdstr\u00f6m<\/a>. She knows what she is doing! This finull\/rya mixbreed, however is more rya-like in its character. The staples are long, shiny and quite straight, but also soft (lamb). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Long, soft and shiny staples of a finull\/rya mixbreed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The fleece was the perfect candidate for an embroidery yarn, and extra special since it was from the same flock as the main fleeces. I combed the staples and spun with short forward draw into a 2-ply worsted yarn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had plans to dye it in a light turquoise and a medium turquoise, but the colors turned out all wrong for this project (dyeing is not one of my superpowers). Beautiful colours, but just not for this sweater. I ended up using the natural white only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Handspun
2-ply embroidery yarn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The embroidery pattern is simple flowers in chain stitch. I placed them randomly on the left side panel and let them continue on the left front raglan panel and end mid-neckline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Close-up
Flowers climbing up the side panels. Photo by Dan Waltin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have never embroidered on a knitted garment before and I was very careful not to stretch the embroidery yarn. The chain stitch is in itself has some ease. I didn’t stretch the chains since I wanted the rounded shape of a flower petal. that way it works quite well even on a garment with no ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts for a future pattern<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I call the design Margau beta. Margau is the name of the shepherdess. I added Beta because it is not a finished pattern. and I haven’t made a pattern to publish for this sweater. Knitting this sweater was a test to see if I could design one at all. However, I do want to try to make a pattern of the design eventually if people are interested. From the experiences of designing and knitting Margau beta I have some alterations to make:<\/p>\n\n\n\n