A Thousand Miles to Get to the Beginning
It all started with a fleece. It always does, I suppose, whether we know it or not. My pal Carson made me buy this one. He is the second worst enabler I know. And I know quite a few string-loving yarn-enablers, as you may imagine.
I bought the fleece at the Black Sheep Gathering. And it's a Black Sheep. I named her Caora Dubh (pronounced "Kway-ruh Dew"), which is Scots Gaelic for - you guessed it - Black Sheep.
I had to learn how to scour fleece. And comb fleece. And spin about a kabillion miles of it.
And as I neared the end of the project, which was not unlike eating an elephant with a shrimp fork, My Darling Husband accidentally threw away the remainder of Caora Dubh. You will remember that I DID let him live. For some reason.
I made 5-ply sportweight yarn. Quite a bit of it, as it turned out. Which was exactly enough to make this sweater, with bobbles and cables and collar, oh my.
And that's when the Yarn Gods really blessed me, because as much as I loved Caora Dubh, it turned out my knitting friends did, too. And one of those knitting friends, the delightful Marilyn King of Black Water Abbey, said she'd really like to see it done up in her dreamy Irish yarn. And so my fabulous pal Lisa made this gorgeous reproduction, following the pattern that I wrote. I think Lisa's knitting and Marilyn's yarn are just about the Living End.
And now you can have the pattern for your very own Caora, either Dubh, or some other color. Click "back to main page" up above, and then choose the patterns tab to download it. And then you will be - at long last - at the beginning.
Thanks for sticking with me, my friends. This was a long journey, even for me. I'm so happy I took the trip, and I'm even happier you were along for the ride.
The Beginning
Caora Dubh, in Blackwater Abbey 2-ply sportweight, colorway "Jacob", 1750-2100 yds. Pattern available on maryscotthuff.com, Ravelry, and Black Water Abbey.
The sweater is lovely! This is so interesting, I've been going back and reading through your archives (because I think you are so very talented and hilarious - you make me laugh out loud sometimes!) and just this morning I reached the fateful day on which the tragedy of the fleece occurred. I'm glad to see all was not lost.
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That is beautiful and so is the pattern perfect. The good Lord has blessed you with a good many talents.
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Beautiful sweater...and beautiful spinning.
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Amazing sweater! (and a smashing haircut to go with it)
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