My Summer Fields Project

Summer Fields Cardigan

Published on August 11, 2024July 23, 2026 by Jen5 Comments

It was a long labor of love, and after a year, it returned to the source. My golden fields sweater project is finished, astonishingly on the anniversary of starting it, brought back to the inspiration, the golden landscape of summer that I love so much.

One year ago almost to the day, I was on a walk with Juno and we stopped at this very same rusty fence post. I took a photo of her in the wild grass, and posted it in High Summer. The place, and the photo somehow deeply inspired me, I craved to capture the connection I felt to the golden fields in August. When I got home I started blending all kinds of colors and spinning samples, striving to grasp the emotion and the colors of the sun toasted grass in high summer, and then committed to knitting a sweater from yarn I began to create yarn to color match it.

I am very pleased that the colors of the sweater seem to touch the spirit of the golden fields, and at one point the breeze blew the sweater off of a little branch I had hung it on to photograph, and it landed on its back in the grasses full of stickers and thistle stuff . . . it received of kiss of approval from the actual field!

I woke early this morning and realized if I worked fast that I could finish it, and take it up to photograph on this anniversary. So early I did the minimal finish work of grafting the underarms, weaving in the ends, sewing on the buttons, and decided rather than wash & block it, which would give it the smooth appearance of a new sweater not yet worn (and what I always recommend), instead I decided it would suffice to just steam it lightly, and keep its rustic appeal. Really though, it was because I let impatience win over! And before the sun got too high, I put on my walking boots, took the sweater, hanger, and camera, and walked up to the open space near my home where I often take photographs of the landscape.

This rustic cardigan was a lot of work and you can see all the process in posts from beginning to end in My Summer Fields Project, scrolling down through the posts about blending of wools on the drum carder, spinning the yarn, and finally the knitting from my own pattern Calidez Cardigan. I’ve even made a gallery of the best photos of the making of this project…

The last days of Autumn.

Published on December 12, 2023October 28, 2024 by Jen6 Comments

Almost mid Decembrrr, the days marching through the last stretch of Autumn, and the last page of the calendar. The trees rapidly losing their foliage now, the maples already bare, with only a few remaining black oak leaves hanging on, the ones always the last to fall. I haven’t been out photographing my favorite season this year, but it is ever as beautiful as I long for it to be, ever as calming, and nurturing, and as these last leaves break free in the breeze, they land as a surprising finale. And then it is time for nature’s sleepy yawn as soon it will bed down for winter, and with knitting to be done!

cast on . . .

Published on December 8, 2023June 12, 2025 by Jen10 Comments

At last, I have cast on! Three hours before an obligatory early December Christmas party, knowing that without my knitting I will languish surrounded by people I don’t know, so a quick knitting project would give me much company, and save me from being a grumpy wall flower. But what to knit? I don’t want to cast on for yet another pair of socks that would very likely be forgotten as one-sock forever in a drawer, and I have been in the mood to knit with the set of birch straight needles I got over a year ago, so it is now decided, I have begun the actual knitting phase of my Summer Fields project that I’ve already put so much work into. I have not knit for over six months now, so my hands are purring.

My Summer Fields Spun

Published on November 25, 2023December 16, 2023 by Jen2 Comments

Spinning finally finished, a few weeks ago, and My Summer Fields project has thus far taken me through the summer well into autumn since the resident drum carder arrived. All that work messing with raw fleece, then giving up on it because I couldn’t get the strong smell of sheep out of it (and imbedded into my new drum carder) then changing course and instead using yards of undyed merino-corriedale Wool Of The Andes roving I had in my stash, I finally worked out the batts, and I drafted almost 600g of rolags ready to spin. On and on I spun a little here and there, then as I ended up spinning it a little too fine (my new default it seems), I decided to try a 3ply yarn. But the more one cards, drafts, spins, and plies the careful color variegations in the wool, the more the colors all diffuse! Unfortunately, a lot of work for that sad reality. However, I am pleased enough with it, but it is slow tweed for sure. I wanted to knit a sweater out of this, but am distracted by the looms in my life, and the holidays are now upon us with the new year coming just around the corner. So perhaps this would best be knit up in the calm mid-winter months. Oh, and I’ve had a chance to gauge the weight: 135y = 100g. I am thinking a bulky weight which will probably be 14-16 sts = 4 inches with US9-10 [5.5-6mm] needles.

My summer fields: predrafting from rolags.

Published on August 30, 2023September 6, 2023 by Jen4 Comments

Just look at these delicious whipped up light woolly confections! I am learning that big fat rolags off of the drum carder or blending board spin so much better and smoother when I do this pre-drafting technique, basically stretching the rolag (in little jerking motions) out into a longer, much more airy variation that has released the bound up energy so fibers can slip through so much better, not having to tug at the rolag.