How The West Was Spun

Spinning Friday: 2IBH - BFL - Thunder and Lightning

This was a fun spin.  The base fiber is from Two If By Hand.  It's BFL, and dyed in the "Thunder and Lightning" colorway, but this is a gradient version of it (meaning instead of short bands of dye color application, the colors run in longer sections from one end of the braid to the other, with each color only used once).

The original roving looked like:

I decided I wanted to keep this as a singles yarn, to preserve the long color runs, but I also decided that when I get around to using it, I wanted to knit a small top-down shawl, probably semi-circular, or possible half-hexagonal.  Either way, the rows in that type of shawl construction start out short, and then get progressively longer as you reach the hem.  So..... I decided I would like the bands of striping to stay relatively equal as I knit down the shawl.

With that in mind, I split the roving lengthwise into the equivalent of 6 long pieces, and then spun 1/6, 2/6 and 3/6 (holding the 2 and 3 strips together, and matching up the color bands), so that the yarn would have varying lengths of color blocks from short to long.  I wound up with 508 yards of laceweight singles from the 4-oz braid.

I have no idea if this will actually knit up in the fashion I've envisioned, but either way, it'll be fun to see how the color progression works.

All for now....

WIP Wednesday: May 16, 2012

Spinning Project:

I finished up the singles BFL I was working on (with pics of that to come on Friday) and moved on to more BFL.  (I have a lot of it.  A LOTTA lot.)

This is "Burly" on BFL from Funky Carolina eons ago.

I am spinning this up as a combo spin with another braid of BFL (toldja I had a lot) from 2IBH, which I'll show you when we get there.  For right now, I'm planning on spinning this as a fingering-weight 2-ply, one ply of each colorway.  Possibly for a short-sleeved sweater if I've got enough yardage.  I have started this, but probably won't get much accomplished as D and I are going to Denver for a few days in the next week.

Designing/Knitting Projects:

 I finished up the sock club socks!  Woot!  The pattern is off to be test knit, but the samples in the smaller size are done.  I just need to put the final tweaks on the pattern when it's done being test knit in the second size.

I also finished up my Cider Mill Pullover.  It needs ends darned in and a good blocking, but the sample is done.  After we are back from Denver, hopefully next week, I'll crunch some more numbers for the multiple sizes and then that can go to the tech editor and be put to bed until the collection is published.  I was really happy with how the sample came out - I knit it my size so I'd have the opportunity to wear it this fall and it fits me perfectly.

Would you like a preview of the colorwork pattern?  I love how nicely the Rowan Tweed colors work together.

With those 2 projects done, I'm still waiting on confirmation about yarn for the next Sekret Deadline Knitting project, so I'm going to focus on the handspun socks that I'm working on.  (Which I have had to frog back to mid-foot after the heel turn due to a martini on Saturday evening.  I can apparently knit with wine but not vodka on board.  Who knew?)

And I'm going to put the hat for the fall collection on the needles and get going on the sample for that.  That's an easy project I can pick up and put down pretty easily, if the yarn gets fast-tracked for the other Sekret project.

All for now......

 

Spinning Friday: 2IBH Shetland - Cuddlefish

This braid was the November 2011 2IBH club fiber offering.  The theme was "Visit the Aquarium", and the colorway is based on the cuttlefish cephaloid.

The braid is 100% Shetland wool.

I spun this up into a 2-ply light worsted weight yarn, with 254 yds/4 oz.  I'm thinking of using it for mittens or something like that, where it can be warm and wooly. 

I wasn't sure I would like the colorway - I'm generally not a yellow fan, but I like it spun up and plied.  I think it's more than the sum of the parts once the colors have the chance to get married and get to know each other a little.  Still probably not something I'd wear next to my face/hair, so I think warm mittens probably will be the way to go.

All for now.....

Spinning Friday: 2IBH SW BFL - Arabica

I have some finished yarn to share!  I don't think I've posted anything about this yet, so here goes.

Photo courtesy of the 2IBH gals!

The fiber base is superwash BFL (4 oz).  I spun this up with a fairly tight twist since it's been earmarked for a pair of socks, and plied it fairly firmly as well too. The colorway, Arabica, is a nice neutral with dark chestnut, chocolate brown, steel gray and black.

I wound up with a 2-ply yarn approximately 310 yards/4 oz.  I think if I'm careful there will be enough for the simple pair of socks I want to make and I'll do them toe-up just to be sure. (I might also dye and spin up another ounce or so of a contrast color and do the toes and heels from that to extend the handpainted yarn a little further.

Next up - a braid of Polwarth in the "Dragonfly" colorway from FatCatKnits!

Spinning Friday: 2IBH Shetland

It's been pretty quiet here on the spinning front recently - but here's a pretty little braid I spun up for a just-for-me treat over the last couple of weeks in spare bits and bobs of time.

The base fiber is Shetland from Two If By Hand.  The colorway is from their Harry Potter inspired line: Weasleypants.  It's a bright cheerful blend of pinks, khaki, light blues and a few shades in between.

I spun this up into a 2-ply yarn and wound up with about 350 yards of heavy fingering weight yarn.

A fun, quick spin!  All for now.....

WIP Wednesday: February 8, 2012

SPINNING PROJECTS:

See?  Bogged down already.  I've gotten basically nothing spun up on my charcoal gray CVM since we last talked.  Granted... D and I did a stealth weekend trip away this past weekend, so I had no wheel time, but still.  Nothing.  That's not even 2 oz's worth. 

No specific goal on this.  Still under a mighty tight deadline for a stealth knitting design which will be all-consuming for the next 10 days.  If I get to spin anything, it'll likely be one hook's worth on the bobbin, but I'd count that good.

KNITTING PROJECTS

I forged along on my Vitamin D cardi a bit this week.  It's now been divided for the sleeves/body and I've worked through the first set of short rows that shape the drapey fronts.

Again, no specific goals on this.  I'll likely have this on hold for the next couple of weeks.

DESIGN PROJECTS

My February 21st deadline is rapidly inching forward for Sekret Knitting Project.  This one is going to be a mad, breathless sprint to the end.  I had hoped to have the yarn arrive since D and I drove to Arizona's Grand Canyon last weekend, and that would have been great to have for car knitting time, but alas, no.  I did get an email while we were driving to let me know the yarn was finally shipped.  Wasn't exactly the same, however.  This one will be the priority for the next week to 10 days.

While we were in the car, I did get the first gansey-patterned mitt knit up that I'm doing for Terry's Snowshoe Farm Alpacas sock yarn.

I started the second one.  These are simple and easy mitts.  The cuff winds up being slightly snugger-fitting due to the arrow-shaped pattern, but otherwise, they are a simple tube with an afterthought-type thumb.  I think, based on some comments/emails I got last week, the second piece of the set will be a hat, and I think I'm going with a basic slouch style with the gansey patterning incorporated there as well.  If I have time, I'll work on mitt #2, but likely these will be on hold until I get my other design done.

All for now....

 

Spinning Friday: Funky Carolina BFL Batts

I have had these finished up now for over a week, but better late than never.

The original batts were primarily BFL wool from Funky Carolina, with a tiny bit of sparkle blended in.  The base colors were dark roses, pinks, a little bit of gray-ish green and the dark pink sparkle.

I spun the batts up after lightly predrafting/attenuating out the fibers, but Carrie's batts are usually very nicely prepped, so there's not a lot of preparation needed to just get down to spinning them.

I plied this up into a 2-ply DK-weight yarn with 275 yards/4 oz.  No specific plans for it, but this finished up my batts extravaganza for January!

All for now....

Spinning Friday: Oceanwind Knits Batts

As promised, here are the spun-up batts.

These were a mix of various wools - some natural and some dyed.  I find that blends that have a bunch of different types of wool and staple lengths do best spun as woolen-y as you can, i.e. leaving a lot of air in them and not worrying too much about slubs or trying for a smooth, worsted style yarn.  (If you guessed this goes against my natural inclination for things, you'd be right!).

I had 3.5 oz of the batts, which I spun all onto one large bobbin, then wound off into a center pull ball and plyed back from that to make a 2-ply yarn.

I wound up with 145 yards of a heavy worsted/Aran weight yarn, which I think would be perfect for mittens.  It's not super soft, but not super scratchy - sort of somewhere in the middle and I think would be a nicely wearing yarn with a lot of warmth.

All for now...

WIP Wednesday: January 18, 2012

SPINNING PROJECTS

I finished up the batts I posted a picture of last Wednesday - those will be unveiled on Friday.  I dove back into the batts bin and selected 4 oz of BFL wool with sparkles blended in from Funky Carolina, in the "Pinko" colorway.

These two batts, while sold as a set, aren't actually matchy-matchy.  One has a lot more dark pink in it (the batt on the left) and one has more gray in it (the batt on the right).  Since each of the batts is 2 oz, I'm going to spin them individually and then ply them together, which I think will work nicely to blend the slightly differing colors.

KNITTING PROJECTS

• Still plugging along with the Vitamin D Cardi.  I did finish the fourth of the 5 increase sections to be done.  I will pick away at this more this week but I have another knitting project that I need to concentrate on, assuming the yarn arrives for it this week.
• Froggie:  Another set of foot/leg done and attached.  Might switch it up a bit and tackle the eyeballs this week.  :)

DESIGN PROJECTS

• I focused a lot this week on my Shakespeare socks and actually got these knitted up to the heel turn.  I'm going to forge along on these this week.
• A new Sekret Knitting Project that's on a bit of a deadline (actually due before the Shakespeare project, which is for April 1st).  Whenever my yarn arrives for that, I need to get cracking on it, but I'm going to try to alternate between these two projects so I can get both samples knit up.

All for now...

Spinning Friday: A Two-Fer!

I have two new finished spins to share with y'all this week.

First up is a set of batts.  These were from Desert Garden Farm, and were part of a LOTR offering.  The colorway is "elf".  It's a blend of dark gray longwool (Lincoln??) plus a softer wool like merino, although probably more likely Polwarth (??) dyed light gray, with gold glitz.

I spun these up trying to keep them fairly woolen-y since I didn't want the longwool to get overspun and harsh.  I had 4 oz of batts, and wound up with a nice 2-ply worsted weight yarn with 202 yards in the skein.

Next up was the 50/50 merino/soy roving I showed you in last week's WIP post.  The original roving was from my shop fiber club in 2011, and the colorway was "Fathom".  I did some judicious pre-drafting of this, as the soy wasn't evenly distributed through the roving and I wanted it less clumped.  I then spun it from one end to the other, and came out the far end with 4 oz of singles (for the first of the 12 in 12 challenges) with 428 yards of fingering weight yarn.

My plan is to use this for the pretty ruffled scarf from the Jane Austen Knits 2011 magazine, which was also knit from a handspun singles.

All for now.....