I'm definitely going through a spinning jag right now. The spindles I got in Seattle aren't helping any. Or this fantastic video for a new drop spindle technique. It's like navajo plying but not. I've been using this technique for the 4 ounces of Falkland I got at the same time as the spindle and am loving it. It takes a little while to get the technique down but is great. I've already spun up 2 of the 4 ounces of roving.
In other spinning news, I broke down and rearranged my yarn and fiber stashes. Now they are very much out in sight and all of it is harder to ignore. Well, not ignore, but forget about how much is really there. Thanks to rearranging, I've made it a goal to start spinning up some of it. When I bought my Kromski wheel, the lady who was selling it was also getting rid of her fiber so I bought that, too. So on top of the fiber I had already had, I put much more in. Some of the new fiber definitely wouldn't have been the colors I would have picked so this is definitely expanding my horizons. I've made it a goal this month to spin up between 16 and 24 ounces of the already prepared top (i.e. not any of my raw fleeces) from the stash.
So far I've spun up 4 ounces of 100% BFL (I think I love that fiber) into a 3-ply fingering yarn in a colorway called Watermelon. Now I don't think I would have bought this color in roving form but I really enjoy the finished yarn. The wool is very sproingy and the colors are just fun together. It is a really red red, a strong green, and brown for those watermelon seeds. The socks aren't going to match perfectly but will be fraternal twins whenever I get around to knitting them.
Right now I'm working on a 4 ounce wool/bamboo blend (the percentages weren't written down on the label) in a color called Flirty. The color mix is really growing on me. It has white, light gray, dark gray/black, pink and blue in it. My wheel's previous owner had bought 4 braids of this colorway (16 ounces total). I have a strong suspicion that 3 of the braids were dyed at one time and 1 after. The colors aren't that different but they just appear in slightly different places. What I mean is, 3 of the braids have the dark sections at the ends of the braid but one of them has those dark spots in the middle. Right now I'm spinning up that odd ball braid. The plan is to also spin this into a 3-ply fingering weight for more socks. I may be knitting down my sock yarn stash but I seem to be spinning more up.
In addition to all of this already prepared roving, I've been working on my fleeces. I've been spinning and plying up a laceweight yarn from the tan shetland fleece.
The first skein of this yarn ended up being almost 700 yards. I've already wound it up and cast on for a shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia.
The plan is to try to get this finished for the state fair. Our local fair doesn't have a category for handspinning but the state does. (No, instead the local fair has a category for FROG FIGURINE COLLECTING. Yeah, that's right. FROG FIGURINES. That just doesn't seem like it should be a part of the arts and craft entries.) I'm also trying to get some other projects finished for both of the fairs.
I am also making a shawl for a friend out of some yarn I got last year in St. Michael's, MD. I don't think I ever entered it into my ravelry stash. It was from a nearby dyer and definitely was out of my normal range of yarns. It is a purple with slight variations in hue and a thread of gold metallic running through it. In addition, the yarn is 100% rayon. It feels soft and has a great drape but the yarn fumes must have gotten to me. I've been imagining a shawl with this yarn since I bought it but couldn't find a good pattern. Last week, I realized Michele is going to be leaving soon (duh, I knew that for a year!) and I needed to get a move on with her project. So I decided to do a Swallowtail shawl and immediately cast on. This will be the second Swallowtail I've made and I've come to the conclusion that I love it for a fast pattern. I've been working on the shawl since Thursday (with a lot of spinning time thrown in there) and I'm already to the nupps section. I think another reason for my love of the pattern is that I get to do more nupps. I think I have an addiction.
Oh, would you like to see a rather bad picture of the cotton spindle I bought in Seattle? Here you go. I haven't worked with it yet so I can't tell you what I think about it yet.
Mom and I went to a fiber festival up in Wooster at the end of May. I liked wandering around and seeing everything and everybody. We had some fantastic lamb sandwiches. The vendor also had lamb hotdog (lamb dogs?) but we didn't try that. We did get one for dad but I don't remember what he said about it. I ended up buying a small 1 yard niddy noddy and a skein of sock yarn. Doesn't it look so different wound up?
I already cast on for a sock with it. The spinning, though, has interrupted the sock progress.
2 comments:
Your productivity is inspiring! The yarn really does look different from the roving... spin up all that gaudy stuff and post side-by-side photos, please! :)
Frog figurines! LOL.... That is just too much.
I too have fleeces from my sheep I'm trying to get through. I need to make room for the new fleeces which will be coming back soon from the mill. Need. More. Room.
Also, your spinning is awesome! I was finally able to get fingering weight. The lace weight eludes me yet. :)
Post a Comment