Knitting Olympics

I finished my "Knitting Olympics" sweater just in time for the closing ceremonies tonight! I started knitting it when the Olympic torch was lit and finished putting the crochet trim on this morning. I knit the Sonnet sweater pattern from Knitty.com, although I offset the front design a bit.

I started spinning the yarn on February 4 from prepared California Red roving. Thanks to Amelia from Bellwether, who rushed the package of fiber! It is a nice oatmeal color with red guard hairs throughout. I used copper colored wool/silk handspun for the trim. All in all, I spent almost 30 hours spinning and about 40 hours knitting.

Below is a picture of the roving, spun yarn and partially finished sweater.

Unfortunately, I don't like the sweater on - it is too bulky for me and it is too large for my daughter. Oh well, it might make a nice wall decoration!

On to my next project - finishing/restarting a shawl from spindle spun yarn for the Spindlicity.com shawl contest. I started with 8 ounces of pale green merino roving and have the shawl half done (see below), but I realize that I don't have enough fiber. So, I will have to start again with a striped pattern to combine the merino with another fiber. Lesson learned - don't start knitting until I have the fiber spun!