Grey tweed cardigan

For day 6 of #blog12daysxmas

the cardigan fronts finished

Some of you might remember this yarn from a previous project which didn’t work out but I am now full steam ahead on my current big project, my first cardigan. With pockets!

The yarn is Peace Fleece Worsted in “Father’s Gray”, a beautiful yarn full of character made from wool and mohair in a charcoal colour with flecks of green and brown. The Peace Fleece web site describes this colour as “dependable, practical and beautiful… it’s named after Marty’s Dad, who died at the age of 99 in 2008.”

The yarn does feel a bit rough when knitting but becomes softer after washing and, fortunately for me, it copes brilliantly with being frogged and reknit several times.

I’ve chosen a vintage pattern “Mariposa” from a Patons Australia pattern book Style knits that I think was published around 1959, the year I was born! All the patterns in the book are named after the ships that sailed to Australia at that time, some of the ships that I visited as a youngster.

I used to look up the ships that were due in port and then write to the P&O offices in Collins Street asking for a boarding pass to visit the ships because “my wife and I were thinking of going on a cruise” and then, boarding passes in hand, I’d wag school and take the train down to Port Melbourne. I got to go aboard the Arcadia, Oronsay and Chitral before P&O probably realised that they were dealing with a 15 year old schoolboy and the game was up.

My cardigan pattern is named for the liner Mariposa that sailed across the Pacific from San Francisco to Sydney via Hawaii, probably not a voyage that would require a grey tweed cardigan.

Peace fleece

for day 29 of blogjune

I’ve had six skeins of Peace Fleece Father’s Gray in the stash for quite a while now. There are 200 yards of 12 ply yarn to a skein so six skeins should have been enough for the cardigan I was planning, but after doing about half the back I was thinking it might end up a bit snug and I might need to go up a size… which would mean I didn’t have quite enough yarn. Drat.

With yarn, as with many things in life, it’s wise to have a little extra on hand, and luckily I tracked down one more skein (in the same dye lot!) and it arrived in the post this week.

Now I just have to decide whether to start over with the cardigan or think about what else I can make with seven skeins. More possibilities!

Like the Manos del Uruguay that I posted about yesterday, Peace Fleece has a great story.

“The Peace Fleece offices are in a barn on a sheep and horse farm in the small, rural town of Porter in the foothills of southwestern Maine. Peter Hagerty and his wife Marty Tracy started buying wool from the Soviet Union back in 1985 in hopes that through trade they could help diffuse the threat of nuclear war. Since then Peter has journeyed through eastern Europe, central Asia and the Middle East in search of farmers and shepherds who are willing to set aside historic enmities in exchange for opportunities leading to mutual understanding and economic interdependence.”

My colour Father’s Gray is described as “dependable, practical and beautiful… it’s named after Marty’s Dad, who died at the age of 99 in 2008.” I also used to knit my own Dad some socks for his last birthday before he died, so I feel like there’s a special yarny connection too.

Peace Fleece

These beautiful swatch cards of Peace Fleece yarn arrived in the post box yesterday…

I’m going to ask Wayne to pick out a colour from the Peace Fleece swatches for a Christmas jumper or cardigan.

I bought 2 skeins of grey Peace Fleece from Brooklyn General Store last year for my dad’s socks, appropriately named “Father’s Grey”. Wonderful and full of character, from a distance the colour looks charcoal but close up you can see the different shadings and tiny flecks of white and brown and green. It comes in 200 yard skeins so I have quite a bit left over and I’m thinking of combining it with my single skein of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in a Jane Ellison scarf pattern. The Shelter is almost the same colour, a charcoal grey called “Soot”.

Speaking of “Soot” that’s also the colour name of the Rowan Felted Tweed Aran which also arrived in the post yesterday. I really just wanted to try it out so bought just 2 skeins which are destined to become fingerless mitts for early morning bike rides to work.

And finally, the four vintage wooden buttons I bought on Etsy to finish off my button collar pullover have arrived with 2 extras I wasn’t expecting. As I now have 6 beautiful weathered wooden buttons, I might save them for a Christmas cardigan.

My dad’s socks

Last week I finished the back of my vest and the front AND back of my button collar pullover project, so I decided to take a little break for a smaller project.

Stitchonomy prize stash!

At first I thought of starting something with the fab Morris Pure I won in the Stitchonomy competition (yay!)

But then I thought I should really get cracking on the warm woolly socks I want to knit for my dad. He hasn’t been too well lately and he needs to keep warm so I’ve decided to knit Hannah Fettig’s super thick and warm Man Socks from her book Closely knit. I bought the yarn from the Brooklyn General Store in New York, 2 skeins of Peace Fleece worsted wool yarn in a subtly flecked grey colourway, appropriately called “Father’s Gray”.

I’ve got some time off work in a couple of weeks so if I keep the needles clicking I can hopefully get them done in time for a visit then — an early birthday present.

"Man Socks" by Hannah Fettig

Stash plans: Peace Fleece

My dad needs to keep warm so I’m planning a pair of super thick and warm socks for him in this Peace Fleece Worsted called, appropriately, “Father’s Gray”. The pattern is Hannah Fettig’s “Man Socks” from her book Closely knit.

I was intrigued by the Peace Fleece label with the name in English and Russian – a lot of their yarn names are also Russian – so went to find out more from their web site…

“Peter Hagerty and his wife Marty Tracy started buying wool from the Soviet Union back in 1985 in hopes that through trade they could help diffuse the threat of nuclear war. Since then Peter has journeyed through eastern Europe, central Asia and the Middle East in search of farmers and shepherds who are willing to set aside historic enmities in exchange for opportunities leading to mutual understanding and economic interdependence. “

Peace Fleece offers knitting yarn made from a blend of Russian, Romanian, American, Israeli and Palestinian wools “helping historic enemies cooperate and prosper through trade”. It’s good to know my Dad’s socks will be doing their little bit.