Handspun Shalom Cardigan

At the last book club meeting at the Storrington Public Library, I brought my knitting. Chris the librarian said she had some yarn at home which she had spun ages ago and which she was never going to use, and did I want it? I said sure, thinking that would be the end of it, but the next time I went in to pick up my books: there it was. A bag of cream handspun think-and-thin yarn which Chris happily handed over to me. I did some research on Ravelry, weighed and measured the stuff, and figured out that my best bet was probably to make myself a Shalom Cardigan. I also decided to dye the stuff with Kool-Aid. The dyeing was an interesting process - it took a few tries and lots of grape powder mix - but eventually I ended up with a colour I liked (even if it was a bit uneven. Luckily the pattern could accommodate the patchy colour). I probably would never have tried this method if it hadn't been free yarn, but I'm very glad I did - it was really fun, and made the whole house smell like grape Kool-Aid! (The sweater still smells a bit like Kool-Aid as well, even though it's been well rinsed and blocked.) The sweater knit up quickly - it was a great pattern to work with - and overall I'm thrilled with the result.
Yarn: Chris the librarian's thick-and-thin handspun, dyed with Grape Kool-Aid by moi
Pattern: Shalom Cardigan by Meghan McFarlane