Twenty-nine and still single(s)

I finished spinning the singles for my SPAKAL sweater last week!  Here is storage bobbin #29, finally wound and labeled. I wanted to make a pretty pyramid of bobbins but they won’t stand for that.This weekend, my goal was to ply some samples and swatch them.  I’m still not sure if I’m going to make 3-ply yarn or 4-ply yarn, and this is how I’m going to decide.  I had my trusty assistant (Boy 1) draw 3 random bobbins from the box.  It was just like Bingo and he loved it.  He picked 20, 13, and 26.  I plied a bit of 3-ply yarn.  Then we added bobbin #6 to make some 4-ply yarn.  Here is what the samples looked like after setting the twist:

I was so pleased with myself for thinking of using the dice to show which was which.  Now that I’m looking at the photos, though, I realize that I put the dice next to the wrong yarns!  I tied up the 3-ply with a different color tie (according to my notes) and that is the yarn on the left, by the red die.  It looks skinnier, too, which confirms it.  DOH!  So this here, by the green 3, is actually the 4-ply:

And this here, by the red 4, is the 3-ply:

These are also mislabeled.  I feel so stupid about this! Earlier today, I swatched with both balls and measured gauge.  Then I blocked the swatches, and they are still drying.  I’ll measure gauge again on the blocked swatches and then try to decide what kind of yarn I want.  Right now I’m leaning toward the 3-ply, just because the 100% wool sweater will be a little lighter and more wearable.  But my 3-ply yarn might not be worsted, so I might not end up making the official SPAKAL sweater, which is Eadon. 

This yarn isn’t next-to-skin soft, so I want to make a cardigan that I wear over another shirt.  So many cardigans right now are super drape-y and this yarn isn’t that.  It’s more of a traditional, rustic, slightly crunchy yarn.  So I’ll be working the Ravelry pattern browser to find a good pattern.  If you have suggestions, please send them!

I really doubt that I’m going to crank out this project in record time, but there’s a tiny little part of me that wants to, so that I can wear this to Rhinebeck in October.  THAT’S RIGHT, I’M GOING TO RHINEBECK!  Kris, Judy, and I took the plunge and booked a hotel.  None of us have ever been and we’re super jazzed about it.  I’m eager to compare it to MDSW.

That’s it for now!