Carded Batts to Finished Project

Remember those carded batts from the May Colorway of the Month, "Under the Big Top"? Well, I've been having more fun transforming them into a finished project than I've had in some time.

I began spinning them as a very lofty fine singles with the idea that I would ply them with something else. But then I fell in love with how airy the yarn was as a 2-ply, so created another set of batts following the same progression, from brighter, deeper colors to lighter ones, spun them on a second bobbin and plied the 2 together. Normally, I'd have to split the plied yarns onto two bobbins, but I used my new Schacht Bulky Flyer/bobbin and got the full 8.2 oz onto it, no sweat. 843 yards total of 2-ply. Very cool!! made me sooo happy as I envisioned no extra ends to weave into my project.

I choose to knit a little short sleeve cardi called "Tappan Zee" from the latest Knitty.com patterns. It seemed perfect for this yarn as it's worked all in one piece from the top down. I envisioned the progression working it's way from darker to lighter, which is just what happened. Here is a progress pic:

The color transition worked out really well, I think. The yarn is super soft BFL superwash, light and airy. Knitting was quite the pleasure... so much so that I abandoned nearly all other projects while I worked on this baby.

It was all so worth it in the end. Here she is after being blocked. I added a few extra rows to the sleeves for added length and have made some Sculpey buttons that are curing and will add a little more whimsy to this.

I just love how it turned out and how it looks on, too. I may have to make another of these. I know I will definitely have to do more carding of progression batts! Yet another way to transform the handpainted tops... gotta love it! Oh, and yardage was perfect! I have 2 yards left, so no odd bits to add to my stash. Hooray for that...