I'm Counting It

At 12:23 am I finished plying this beautiful blue gem of a skein:

This is the second skein of Bluefaced Leicester wool from the June Pryce Fiber Arts gradient-dyed kit I've been spinning for Tour de Fleece. It worked up to a DK-ish weight 3-ply with 270 yards, which is exactly the same as the first skein! So that worked out nicely.

I love love love  the blues in this skein and the way they swirl together when laid like this. Love. The colors are just beautiful. Even better, they were dyed by a woman who is practically my neighbor and is part of my spinner's guild and knit night! I had lots of fun with this kit and feel like I've finally gotten good with chain-plying on the wheel and fixing problems (like when the single breaks). Two braids (8 oz.) were dyed in complimentary gradients with the idea that they would then be knit into something like the Noro striped scarf.

The blue skein still needs its bath, you can see how much longer it looks than the green/purple skein. It'll spring back a bit after a wash. I'm thinking I might use my skeins for Lee Meredith's Waving Chevron Scarf, I like the shape of it, but I'm not sure how it'll look with using 2 colors instead of 3.

Copyright leethal, from Ravelry pattern page

I'll have to swatch and see. :) But that's getting ahead of myself. For now I'm just happy that I made 8/9ths of my Tour de Fleece goals! Even though I finished a few minutes past midnight, I'm still counting it! I'm sad I didn't achieve my extra-special-gold-star-challenge of spinning an ounce of my still-currently-unwashed fleece, but I just did not have a free weekend with good weather to do the washing. Hopefully one will come around soon. For now, yay for Tour de Fleece!

Plying Is Magic

Every time I spin, I am delighted by the magic of plying. You take this weird, lumpy, wiry little single of spun fiber and transform it into beautiful, fluffy, real and usable yarn.

This is the BFL fiber I've been working on for Tour de Fleece. I spun the gradient-dyed braid worsted style and chain-plied it to preserve the color changes. It's about 270 yards of DK-ish weight (I always forget to measure wpi before I skein it up... woops). I love the way the colors blend into each other and am excited to see it knit up. This skein represents about half of my TdF goals. I've been spinning up the second braid of the gradient kit, as well.

I only have about 2 oz of fiber left to spin. That bobbin on the left is driving me crazy: I can't find the end of my yarn. The single broke during spinning and the end concealed itself most thoroughly on the bobbin. I was so frustrated I just started a new bobbin but I'm going to have to find the end eventually! Any tips? I already resorted to taking packing tape to the single and trying to lift the end up like lint. It didn't work.

Darwin approves of the new yarn. This is his stealthy "I look all innocent but turn your back for a second and that yarn will be mine" attack mode. Little devil.

Finished-Object-Friday #9

I have three FO's to share with you this week: two knitted and one spun!

Flowerhead:

Malabrigo Yarn Worsted, colorway Natural

My childhood next-door-neighbor commissioned me to knit her this flowered headband/earwarmer. She sent me a photo of what she was thinking and I set about recreating it. It was a lot of fun to design something on-the-fly, without worrying too much about making sure it was repeatable or that the steps were explain/understand like I do when I am designing for my patterns. For this headband I held the yarn double so it would be extra thick and warm. I increased until it was wide enough, knit straight for a bit, and decreased back down with a few buttonholes thrown in. I knit it in a rib so it would have good stretch and loft and wouldn't curl in on itself much. I followed this cute flower tutorial with a few changes (mostly just increasing more than it describes for a larger, rufflier flower).

Darwin looks so happy to be included in this photoshoot, doesn't he?

I think it came out super cute! I hope the recipient likes it.

Manly Cowl:

BMFA De-Vine, colorway Mossley Manly

 Here is the finished secret cowl that I made for my dear Fiasco for Valentine's Day. He had become a little bit obsessed (for a non-knitter) with this fantastic yarn when I made myself a cowl (to the point where he made visitors feel the fabric of said cowl) so it was clear he needed one of his own!

  

I borrowed elements from my Dissipative cowl design and manly-ed it up a bit: knitted at a larger gauge, made it wider and taller, removed the lace and added a few cable details. I really love how it came out and the color is just perfect. It's a slightly purple-ish grey with streaks of acid green. A little more adventurous than the plain dark greens I usually use for the Fiasco's knitwear but still plenty manly.

The Shire:

This yarn was spun from 70% superwash Merino / 30% SeaCell fiber dyed by The Wacky Windmill in the colorway "The Shire". I ABSOLUTELY ADORE IT. I am not really a 'brown' person, but this skein is so much more than brown. It's so earthy and golden and shining and wonderful and the colors couldn't be prettier.

I split the braid in half so the finished skein would have long color repeats, spun the singles worsted-style counterclockwise from the top, then chain-plied (navajo-plied) each single into a 3-ply yarn. Most of the second bobbin was spun by candlelight when the power went out during the blizzard last weekend, so it had a few more thick spots than the first. All told I ended up with about 182 yards of approximately worsted-weight-ish yarn (I always forget to measure wraps per inch before I skein the yarn). I'm having fun wracking my brain for what this skein should become, what do you think?

Be sure to check out the other FO's by clicking the image below! And have a great Friday. :)

Finished-Object-Friday #8

Man, this week flew by. I hope everyone in the northeastern US is all hunkered down in time for the big ol' snowstorm we're supposed to be getting today... Thankfully I finished a cozy new winter hat!

Handspun Hat:

This project went from fiber to 2-ply to 4-strand cabled yarn to hat in just over a month, which blows my mind! I'm really happy with the finished hat, too. It's very warm and dense, matches my purple coat perfectly, and the the bulky-ish yarn knit up nicely on size 10 needles.

I especially love how the colors worked out. Just as I was getting tired of ribbing, the mostly green-and-purple part started to run out so I broke the yarn and skipped a few inches to begin the green-purple-white bit on the main stockinette body of the hat. Then when it was tall enough to begin decreases the mostly green-and-blue part of the yarn began, so it made a fun little bullseye on the crown.

Itty Bitty Booties:

Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga, colorways Blue Ringed Octopus and Ghost Moth

These were made with the Yarn Harlot's very simple and sweet Cutest Booties pattern. For the ties, I tried essentially cabling some of the Skinny Bugga to a better thickness like I did for the coordinating hat, but it didn't work as well this time, perhaps because I used a spindle instead of my wheel and maybe didn't get enough twist in there. I'll probably make some L-cord to finish these off properly. I forget which book I read it in but L-cord is like i-cord except faster: you cast on a butt-ton of stitches, as long as you want your cord to be, then you cast them off = instant lazy cord. Despite that, I'm calling them done. The little lady who will claim these booties still hasn't arrived yet so I still have some time to redo and mail them off.

I hope you have a wonderful Friday and stay warm, wherever you are!

Work-In-Progress Wednesday #18

It's been quite a while since I've participated in a WIP Wednesday! My dear friend Katy has been complaining about the lack of knitting content on this blog lately (so demanding! haha), so let's catch up with what I've got going on...

Festooned Joy:

BMFA Socks that Rock LW, colorway Comfort and Joy

I'm easing back into sock knitting with this simple pair of festive, waffle-knit socks. I modified the pattern to make it more to my liking and am just about ready to work the heel, if I can find a minute to focus on it.

Fierce Fracas Cuffs:

The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga, colorway Fierce Snake

This is a sadly belated x-mas gift for my mom, the only one I failed to finish. It is a set of Fracas cuffs from Hunter Hammersen's fun little Rabble Rousers collection of patterns. I think the Fracas cuffs and matching hat are my favorite from the book but all of the accessories are quite sassy and sweet.

Itty Bitty Baby Booties:

Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga, colorway Blue Ringed Octopus

A good friend of mine is having a baby in a couple of weeks and I cannot wait! These little booties are getting me even more excited. I don't think there's anything more adorable than itty bitty footwear, except perhaps the tiny human it will eventually adorn.

Handspun Chai:

Cephalopod Yarns Bugga Fiber, colorway Yubaba

This is a handspun sample of one of my secret designs for the Afghans for Afghans e-book of patterns so I can't really show it all, but just look at the colors in that handspun! The way they shift and change is delightful, if I do say so myself. :)

Handspun Hat:

The Wacky Windmill, Merino wool handspun

This is just a simple, basic hat I started with some crazy cabled handspun yarn I finished on my wheel. I like the way it's knitting up, I just hope I have enough of the bits with the white mixed in to knit the whole top of the hat!

Alright, I think that's everything I've been busy with lately... Be sure to check out the other WIP Wednesday posts by clicking the image below.

Secret FO Friday

This is all a bit of a tease, but I have four finished objects this month so far and I can't really show you any of them! They are all for designs but at least one of them will be released shortly. Secret FOs 1 & 2 are for the Afghans for Afghans e-book that Cephalopod Yarns is putting together. I'm not sure about the publication date yet but once I know it, you'll hear about it, because it's going to be a fantastic collection!

1

2

Secret FO #3 is my newest design, to be released on the 22nd as a Malabrigo Quickie pattern!

3

And secret FO #4 is another version of my new pattern, in a different size. I don't have a photo of the FO yet but I can show you what I used to knit it with:

Malabrigo Yarns Twist, colorway Teal Feather and handspun

I used a bit of my first wheel-spun handspun for the contrast color, which I don't think I've shown here yet either:

Handspun 2-ply Merino wool

This was spun from fiber that came with my wheel, I think it is Merino but I can't be sure. I spun two singles semi-woolen (unknowingly on different sized bobbins, with screwed with my tension) and then plied them together. The resulting skein is perfectly fuzzy and lightweight with great bounce. The yarn is quite thick-and-think but it it's roughly the same thickness as the Twist in most places so it worked well in the design, though it only used a little bit so I'll have to figure out what to do with the rest!

Also--fun fact--the photoshoot for the new pattern took place here:

Rhode Island kinda rocks.

Spending a gloriously foggy and freakishly warm winter day on the beach taking photos of knitwear was probably more fun than it should have been! We have the Fiasco to thank for being a good sport and playing along. I can't wait to show you guys the pictures!

3kcbwwc-- Perfect Day

The final topic for the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is about balance between knitting and crochet, but since I don't crochet and don't really plan to learn (too much to do already!) that would make for a pretty boring post. So instead, I will discuss the 'wildcard' topic, which is to craft your perfect knitting-or-crocheting day.

I require nothing more for a perfect knitting day than just to have some f#%$ing time to knit! haha You want more fantastical details? Fine, my perfect knitting day would go something like this:

• Awaken to a sunny day and sit in my coziest knitting chair with Calypso by my side
• Watch some guilty-pleasure TV while I knit and drink tea
• Go to a wool festival where Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Cephalopod Yarns, The Verdant Gryphon, and The Loopy Ewe all had booths (and no lines)
• I forgot to mention that before this festival I would also win the lottery which would allow me to buy all the yarnz and not have to work so I can knit them all up later, too
• Go for a hike and knit on a simple sock in the woods somewhere
• End the day with a book reading by The Yarn Harlot 
• Spin a bit at some point, as well

Sound good? Universe, what can we do to make this happen?

While I wait, I'll show you the scarflet/neckwarmer thing I finished:

This was a free pattern, Mustard Scarf, available on Ravelry. It was simple to knit and worked really well with my handspun yarn. I'm really happy with it! It blocked nicely and it still blows my mind that the yarn didn't just unravel in my hands while working with it! Kind of amazing that it came from fluff, right? What's really funny is that Calypso adores this thing. While it was blocking she was constantly laying on it. And when I draped it over the chair for photos, I found her like this:

Cuteness!

Handspun snuggles! Have a happy Sunday, everyone, and thanks for reading along during this blog week event. If you do a google search using the 'code' in each of the titles of my posts (e.g., 3kcbwwc for wild card entry, 3kcbwday1 for Day 1 topic), you'll be able to find all of the other blog posts of bloggers who participated in this event, as well. Cool!

Getting Sorted Out

Things are getting sorted out over here. I tend to flip out a little bit before there are Big Jobs to do, but once I get going I feel a lot better. It's the anticipation that gets to me. My grad school advisor once compared me to a slow-moving boulder. It takes a lot to get me going but once I gain some momentum, I'm unstoppable with a singular focus.

Sneaky Fiasco, I didn't even realize I was being observed!

That's me in full-on packing-and-sorting mode, see that intense concentration? Of course I started with the yarn. Most important thing, amIright? Apparently there's going to be a big yard sale (or 'tag sale' or 'garage sale', depending on which part of New England you are from) the weekend we're moving, so we're hoping to get some of our unnecessary items taken off our hands that way. I went through and sorted out some things I felt I could part with for super cheap, some perfectly good remnants and single skeins of things I bought when I first started getting into knitting that I've been carting around for the last 3 years. If I haven't used it yet, I probably won't, so it's going.

Calypso helped!

Also, since most of that is commercial yarn, I could always go get more. For example, if I absolutely had to knit myself a dishcloth out of Sugar-N-Cream cotton immediately, big box craft stores are never that far away. No Bugga or Socks that Rock will be sold, because those skeins are precious, but some stash baggage cleansing doesn't hurt. It feels good! You know what else feels good?

Yarn: MY HANDSPUN!

Knitting with my own handspun yarn! This is going to be a Mustard Scarf by Jane Richmond, a free pattern on Ravelry. I like this one, it's a simple stitch pattern that works well with bulky yarns. I made one for my younger cousin for Christmas out of Malabrigo Chunky that looked great. I like how the colors in the yarn are striping. When spinning it I tore the batt into chunks and made a point to spin the brown/green parts first, then the pink/purple parts. Not half bad! And I have the perfect button to go with it, too, but you'll have to wait until I'm done to see. :)

What are you excited about, lately?

Spring!

Here's just a quickie before bedtime (so early, so sad) to say two things:
1) Spring is here! Truly! So warm, so many birds chirping, so many peepers peeping!
2) My newly-finished yarn looks like spring-in-a-skein and I ADORE IT!

 

Those glorious hanks are 150 yards of an aran-ish weight 2-ply yarn made from a beautifully dyed batt of mixed fibers from Inglenook Fibers:

and an undyed merino/silk blend from Schafenfreude Fibers, 

Glowing with glory!

I love the way the colors play together, all the pinks and lavenders and greens and blues and browns. And the best part is, it's wonderfully soft, not scratchy at all. Yay! I can't wait to knit something with it. What would you make?

I've already started spinning my next batch of fiber:

Bugga Fiber from Cephalopod Yarns, colorway Yubaba

and check out how thin I'm spinning it:

So so excited. I feel like I'm getting pretty good now. In my Fiasco's words: "Wow, you could floss with that!" Apparently that's the new standard for judging the thinness of yarn. :)

Handspun Headband

Here's a finished object from my second skein of handspun yarn! This:

transformed itself into this:

which transformed itself into this:

with a little help from Malabrigo Worsted for the inside liner. The fiber was the 100% Coopsworth wool from Hidden Valley Farm Woolen Mill that came with my Golding spindle kit. It was really lovely to spin, simple and straightforward with a nice shine to it. The resulting yarn is a 2-ply bulky weight that while nice and dense and drapey, is a little bit rough to the touch. Not horribly uncomfortable, but nothing I would put around my neck or forehead. Since I only had about 30-odd yards, I wracked my brain for something to make with it and came up with this simple earwarmer/headband. I basically un-vented a technique for knitting a liner, I had never done it before and kind of winged it and it turned out pretty well. I picked up stitches on one end, knit to about the middle, then picked up stitches from the other end so both sides would look the same, and bound off both sets of live stitches in the middle. There's a seam inside, but I like how it looks:

and you don't feel it at all with the super-soft Mal. Sometimes experiments work out quite nicely! I'm happy to have found a use for this handspun. If there is interest in the pattern I can write it up, it would make for some good quick gifts around the holidays.

Anybody have a favorite use for small amounts of handspun yarn?

BAM!

Here you have it, folks:

YARN! That I made! My first handspun, how exciting. It is messy as all hell but I love it. It's Corriedale wool, bulky weight (mostly), 6-7 wraps per inch, and has about 36 yards in the 2 ounces there. It actually turned out a little nicer than I thought it would, the underspun parts are quite soft and fluffy. I'm excited to see how it works up.

But first, I've got some socks to finish. Three more repeats and then the toe! Off to knit a bit more now...