Back to basics: Spinning singles, mostly

Gallery of recently finished yarns that I've spun and/or handdyed and spun. Destined to become hats, scarves, gloves. As always, click the photo for big.

I dyed, then spun this BFL roving into a bulky single: 130 yards total, about 4 ounces.

 

I purchased this 70% wool/ 30% seacell  blend from Fleece Artist in the form of pencil roving (2 hanks at 100 grams and $12.75 USD each). All I did was spin and ply it. 400 yards total, two ply, about 6.5 ounces. I had a small hank of navajo ply  from the same lot at 97 yards, making the total spin at just under 500 yards for the full 200 grams. I was not fond of spinning the pencil roving -- nothing really to hold in your hand. I named the colorway "Forest Floor" for all the browns and greens with occasional blue.

Wool/Seacell is very expensive - so I'm playing with wool/tencel to see if I can get a similar feel. It too is expensive, but not so bad. This I hand dyed and spun into medium-bulky singles: 175 yards for about 4 ounces. The superwash version seems to take the dye much more readily than the non-superwash version of the same fiber blend. I can't wait to knit with it to see how it works up. This is a sunny colorway with intense orange, yellow and shades inbetween.
 

 

 

Allspunup Fiber Challenge: First to post!

Probably due to me reading the instructions wrong rather than being johnny-on-the-spot, I was the first to post my spun fiber in the Allspunup Fiber Challenge. (link to Ravelry entry). See the many ways spinners spun up this wonderful fiber.

 

[click photo for big]

So fanstastic was the roving that it almost spun itself. Amazing colorway (a hallmark of Kristin's of Allspunup on Etsy.) I started spinning this fiber at noon yesterday, and it was set and hanging to dry by 5pm. Sweet!

Stat:
80% Merino, 20% Silk
230 yards, single ply
12 wraps per inch

I tagged it with the name "Ocean Seaweed" as it looks like something from the sea - most certainly a reflection of the fact that I live near water.

Scarf Heads for the Hills

Photo taken on 22 July 2008, an hour after my daughter told me that she was heading out to do a bicycle tour of the Western United States in less than 48 hours. Surprised by the news, I found myself gathering whatever I could to send her off. I pulled a scarf from my recently finished works-in-progress, and a camera out of my purse, gave her a hug and a kiss and off she went.

Oh, to be 24 again!

Fiber: 80% Merino, 20% Silk; kettle dyed and spun into singles by me (this fiber is a DREAM to spin.)
Scarf pattern: Lynne Barr "Tilted Blocks" from the book: "Knitting New Scarves"

As of 3 August 2008, Aden has made it to Boise Idaho (origin: Seattle, WA - a total of over 500 miles), and has uploaded some photos of her trip. Here is one of her shots along the road:

Think good thoughts for Aden as she makes her way South to Colorado on her bike!
 

 

24 August update: Aden decided that one mountain pass in a month was enough. In Idaho she caught a bus and went to Reno. Then she cycled out to Gerlach, NV to take a job working at Burning Man for a month or so. She put on about 1,000 miles on her bicycle in a month. Go Aden!

Knit 'em, Two at a time, Toe Up. No Problem.

I figured out how to solve the problem of knitting two toe-up socks at a time, using two circulars. (Phew, that's a lot of the letter "t".)

1. Wind off your skein of yarn so you have it divided equally into two balls.
2. Stick them in a zip lock bag. 
3. Zip it shut except for the corners on each side. Leave those un-zipped.
4. Knit to your heart's content.
5. Flip the bag as you go from front to back to keep strands always uncrossed. 
Easy, peasy. Click this link to get the Lifestyle Toe Up socks guide. Then, get knitting.

  

Follow up: 9 August 2008
Finished these socks at the end of July.  This method knits up really well - and I loved having a pair of socks at the end of the project. No second-sock-syndrome here. 

When I got to the heel, I took one sock off the needles and put it one of the circular needles to hold it. I then knit the heel for each sock, and when I was ready to start knitting in the round again, I put them both back on the needles as illustrated above and finished up. This is the only way to do socks!

 

Sock Stats
Yarn: Fortissima Colori Socka Color, 1 skein, 100 grams, abour $20 USD
Color: 11/Lot 420025
Needle: Size 1

Judith Mackenzie McCuin's Novelty Wolf Yarn

Poor Miss Finch, aka Laura, demos how to spin "wolf" yarn - and tells the startling genesis of the name.