My First Handspun Sweater (baby sized).

The fiber is from Maine Woods Yarn & Fiber. It's a soft corriedale roving in the colorway, Sonoma.I spun up 3 bobbins to make a 3 ply yarn. Since I am a newbie, 1 bobbin ran out first, so I was left with 2 bobbins. It got turned into 2 ply yarn.I also had some of Tarragon's roving left on a bobbin. It's the one that Julie gifted to me and I had used to make my first yarn with. So, I took the leftover to practice Navajo plying which was really hard at first. I practiced for 1 full evening on some other yarn and made a complete mess. The next morning I used the leftover Tarragon single and it worked like a charm.I wasn't too crazy about the final result of the Sonoma colorway. I think it may have been a little too pink for me. One night I spotted this sweater pattern while browsing on Ravelry and knew the yarn was perfect for this pattern. I may not like the color, but I thought it would look cute as a baby sweater.I used the white for the stripes and it was the perfect amount. The Tarragon yarn was amazing to knit with it. It has such spring in it. I think it's a Cormo/Romney mix. Just so some of you are not confused, Tarragon is the name of the sheep that Julie bought the fleece from.This is the back of the sweater. Look how amazing the colors are. I have to say that I am extremely proud of this sweater. I never thought that I could spin yarn and make something nice looking with it. My friend, Tomo, said that I made the sweater from scratch. That does sound pretty cool.Of course, the recipient of the sweater is Melody. I made the 18 month size and ran out of the 3 ply Sonoma yarn. Since it was at the bottom where the ribbing was, I just used the 2 ply which was a slightly smaller gauge. It's hardly noticeable.She is not crying or screaming in this photo. Lately, she is such a ham and really likes making funny faces.The sweater has a gathered yoke, so it gives it a puckered look. I blocked it, so it's not as pronounced. It's a bit big for her right now, especially the capped sleeves. They sometimes stick out when she is moving around, but I really didn't want to make it smaller because people on Ravelry have said that it runs small.


Pattern: Striped Smock Top (Ravelry link to Free PDF)
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm and US 5 / 3.75 mm
Yarn: My own handspun yarn (fiber from Maine Woods Yarn & Fiber). Sonoma colorway 3 Ply, 113 yards, Sonoma colorway 2 ply, 36 yards. Tarragon's roving Navajo plied, 48 yards.
Size: 18 months
Mods: Instead of M1, I used PFB(Purl Front and Back) for the increases to avoid holes. I found this YouTube Video helpful.