Yarn in my Pocket

Spinning catch-up

Back in January, I was still spinning the singles for my Shipwreck Shawl. Those got finished, plied and washed - and turned out quite a bit bluer than part 1:

I think that'll be OK because this is a circular shawl, worked centre out, and I'm fine with a blue centre and a greyer border. I've even swatched! The fabric is amazing: the yarn is very lofty and softly spun, and it knits into this wonderful, soft, cushy, almost spongy fabric. Though I think it'll take some time before I can cast on; there's a lot of knitting in the queue so far...

Next up: the merino/silk blend I bought in December at Rampton spinners' Christmas party. Yum!

I decided I wanted to spin this short-draw, as my long draw has been getting a lot of practice over the last year or so. I went for a thicker than average single, and two plied it into a thick DK/lighter Aran weight yarn:

I'm completely delighted with the way this has spun up: the yarn is soft, squishy, shiny and very, very pettable. I'm also amazed and quite delighted that the white silk streaks so very evident in the top have almost completely dissipated in the finished yarn. I've been swatching this extensively - I think it'll make an amazing cowl - but I haven't settled on a stitch pattern yet. Next! Naomi sent me two beautiful, hand-carded batts: merino, silk, corriedale, superwash merino/nylon/bamboo viscose. 40g of beautiful, hand-carded, wonderful, fluff:

This was a *totally* effortless spin. Seriously. I split it into fingers, and spun then from the end, into a smooth 2-ply yarn for the Fair Isle stash. I've ended up with about 165m of yarn from 40g of fibre, which is a pretty awesome match to Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply, which would have 176m to 40g. (Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply is my reference yarn for the Fair Isle stash). Right now, it looks a bit thinner, but we'll see how it blooms after washing.

Looking back over this post, I notice I've been on a decided blue/purple kick in my recent spinning projects. I *was* planning to spin another batt project next, since I enjoyed Naomi's so much - but the next two projects I pulled out are, well, purple:

or blue:

Hmm.

Start of the spinning year

When I started writing this post - last Thursday - I had not yet spun one jot so far this year. I know- I'm a lazy spinner. Roc day was almost a week gone already... That evening, I sat down to reacquaint myself with the project on the wheel (Shipwreck, part 2), and spin for the first time this year. I managed to spin up a fair amount of corriedale roving (colour: Ominous, my own dyework), for the second ply of the second half of the Shipwreck Shawl (make sense? Suffice it to say that the singles spinning is more than 3/4 done, and the plying half done...

That's not the only spinning related news I have for you, though. Anyone who is already a reader of Knit! magazine (the one that used to be Yarn Forward) will know that the last few issues have featured spinning-related articles. And the most recent issue (Issue 45) features spindle spinning - and ME!

There are two articles in there: one is about the history and background of spindle spinning, the other is about me and my spinning. Both are written by Camilla Hair, who interviewed me for the articles back in November, I think.

My hand-woven, spindle spun silk shawl gets a mention - and a rather pretty photograph - too! It's an amazing buzz to see yourself - and your projects! - in print in this way. I'm not sure I've come down from cloud 9 yet...

Saturday Giveaway: Midwinter fiber

We are rapidly closing in on the midwinter solstice in the northern hemisphere: days are getting shorter, weather is getting colder, and all the shipments have gone out for the midwinter installment of the Wheel of the Year club.

And I have another club giveaway: one for the spinners, this time! I'm giving away 50g (so half an installment) of the actual club fibre; not a prototype, so it is just the same as the stuff I've already shipped to the club members. I'm not going to say anything about the colours or composition (spoilers!), but I will say that it is suitable for any kind of spinning, from fine laceweight to chunky, and (I think) for needle felting too.

To enter for this giveaway, leave a comment on this post by noon UK time, Monday (December 19th). This competition is open to everyone, all over the world, so join in and have fun!  

A touch of the blues

Spinning, weaving, knitting: all seem tinged with blue right now:

The weaving is the warp I started for the Houghton Hall Alpacas event - finally off the loom! I have some finishing work to do on this, but I think I will have a pair of place mats and a table runner when I am done. I was finally motivated to finish weaving this warp as I have a great urge to put something else on this loom. More on that anon, however. The spinning is a second batch of fibre for the shipwreck shawl. If you remember, I was spinning a marled yarn (one blue single, one dark grey) for this shawl, but realised I wasn't going to have enough yardage. I dyed an extra braid of each (the grey was my fibre anyway; the blue wasn't), and I'm now working my way through the second batch of blue. I'm not sure I'm getting the same thickness as the original - one reason I generally stick to a spinning project all the way through before starting something else - but I'm sure it'll all work out in the end... And the knitting... Well, I'm quite excited about this. You almost can't see it in the photograph, but waay over there on the left is the start of a grand experiment. It's a cuff- for a glove. I've wanted to knit myself some gloves that actually *fit* for ages now, and it suddenly occurred to me that the handspun Twilight yarn from earlier in the year would be perfect for this. I'm loving the fabric I'm getting - cushy, woolly, smooth stockinette - and can't seem to put this project down at all. In fact, it may have progressed as far as the thumb by now... Want a better picture? (No thumb, though) - OK!

What I’m doing with my Samhain yarn (and fibre!)

Of course I kept some for myself! Did you think that I wouldn't? This is the first installation of my first ever yarn club, you know! Admittedly, the sock and lace yarn I kept are from the prototyping phases - and I havent' done anything with the lace yarn yet - but I had to keep *some* souvenirs. The colour prototype, by the way, had a much more abrupt change from orange to black, generally less saturation through the oranges, and was - ahem - technically less together than the finished club yarnz. 

I had hoped to have the pattern for these socks (or at least, the finished socks) ready to display on Hallowe'en itself - but no luck. I finished the whole first sock, then decided that, really, it was too tight. Yes, I could wear it - but it wasn't how I wanted it to be. So I started the second sock (without ripping back the first, I hasten to add; just in case I changed my mind!), and started work on the second. When I finished the second, I realised I'd done a really stupid thing when setting up the stitch pattern for the foot: the whole thing spiralled gently, biasing it's way around the sock. Wearable, again - but still not what I wanted. So I pulled it out, back to the end of the heel turn, and set at it again. I think I had the first sock finished for November 1 - and I've been plodding my way through the second ever since. I'm on the foot now - and without any silly mistakes, thank you - so it shouldn't be too much longer till I'm done! 

The fibre was easier. I wanted to maintain the colour progression, so I spun it all into one long, graded single, and then chain plied it for a fat, round, 3-ply yarn. (Chain plying, by the way, is also called Navajo plying, but certain people think 'chain' is more correct, so that's what I'm trying to train myself to say.) But wow! It's a long time since I've chain plied anything, and I'm a much better spinner now, with much higher standards. I had never realised before how hard it is to keep all the strands under even tension whilst you add the plying twist - and if you don't do that, you don't end up with such a regular yarn. More on that another day, perhaps, but suffice it to say that what I was expecting to be a quick-and-easy ply has taken me a lot longer than I expected, and has needed a lot of concentration, too!

I overplied the yarn relative to its intial spinning twist, so it was quick active (read: twisty - you can see it coiling up on itself!) when it went in for its bath this morning. But a couple of changes of hot and cold water, a good squeeze and a snap between the hands have it hanging meek and straight in the shower, drying. I think a hat is in its future.

WIP Wednesday

Away from my blog for almost a week?! Unbelievable. You'd be forgiven, indeed, for thinking that I haven't been doing much... But you'd be wrong! I have now completed ten repeats on my big weaving project: 

(Weaving tends to look pretty same-y at this point in the game. You can only ever see the bit that's between the front beam and the current working edge, you see, so you'll have to take my word for it that there's been progress - and be satisfied with a close-up for now! And I have 12 of these plump little puppies sitting around, waiting for wet finishing:

(That's about 500g of yarn, 1855m in total.) I have 6 and a bit batts left to spin, which could theoretically be done in a week - but which probably won't be. I'm waiting for the yarn to be all spun up before I wet finish it, so that they all get basically the same treatment. Myrtle is coming along, too! She now has (or is, I should say) a pair of sleeves!

I am planning to do a provisional cast-on for the body pieces, which always takes me a while (and we've had company, too). In addition, I plan to add in some ribbing for waist shaping, and to move the start of the moss stitch yoke down the body a bit, so I need to figure out what's happening where before I really get going. Probably the real reason I have stalled on the knitting, though, is that I have been working hard on these:

I'm now up to the start of the thumb gusset on the second mitt! That means I've figured out how to make it, and am now checking the pattern by working the second one. With any luck, I'll be able to make this available to all you crochet enthusiasts before too much longer - just in time for autumn chilliness.

If we ever get any, that is.  

WIP Wednesday

I'm glad it's WIP Wednesday around here, because frankly, there's a lot going on at the moment. I haven't finished anything for a while, so the WIPs from my previous posts are still hanging around. And going slowly, I'm afraid: this is the second sleeve of Myrtle, and as you can see, we're not far into it yet:

Spinning has progressed: I've plyed up a couple more skeins of the alpaca blend, and spun a bobbin full of more singles. The problem I've had with this project is that I can't currently get comfortable with long-draw. Comfortable as in physically, ergonomically comfortable: I'm a tall lass, and hold my fibre in the left hand. I'm currently having some fatigue/pain issues with my arms and shoulders, so the chair needs to be the right height, right position for me to spin for any length of time. No photos of these; at this point, one skein of freshly-plied yarn looks pretty much the same as the next.

So! Sundays' swatch is now a full-blown WIP - more on that another time:

And there's another WIP, too:

This is a quick little project; I hope to have it wrapped up by the end of the week...

KnitNation beckons

Knit Nation!! Who else is going?! I'm so excited about this event this year. It was brilliant last year, but several logistical problems (waiting too long to book my accommodation and ending up nowhere near the others; having to drag my spinning wheel down to London (and across it) by train; not allowing enough time to decompress and enjoy the moment) meant that it was also a frantic and fretful weekend. I'm also really excited about the Knit Tea Salon that they're introducing this year: a place to socialise, knit, chill out, eat cake and drink tea?! Yes please! I think that convenient and friendly cafe facilities were about the only big hole in last year's arrangements, so this should be awesome. I've been packing today, because I hate doing it. I'm trying to get rid of my habit of waiting until almost-too-late before starting on certain kinds of tasks. (Packing. Rewinding. Labelling.) The hope is that I will also manage to lose some of the associated stress and panic along the way. Anyway! I have packed clothes! And running kit! And toiletries! I have been wise and not signed up for any classes that require homework, but I still need to pack the materials required for the two classes I will be attending: Cookie A's class on 'Knitting off the Grid' all day Friday, and Judith McCuin's 'Spinning for Shetland Lace' all day Sunday. Judith's class assumes a spinning wheel, but after last year's adventures with the wheel on the tube, I'm taking a selection of spindles. Much more portable. Cookie's class just asks for some worsted weight yarn and 4.5mm knitting needles; I think I'll take some of my recent experimental yarns bases to play with. I'm leaving all day Saturday free of classes. I want to be able to socialise and shop and *not* be completely exhausted by my mini-holiday. With any luck, I'll even fit some exercise in to my busy weekend! Of course, the Tour de Fleece is still active, and if I'm not taking my wheel with me, I won't be able to make any progress on the wool/alpaca blend. So I think it's an ideal opportunity to take my lovely Russian spindle - my other Tour goal, of course! - and see if I can put in some quality time with that. And I'll need some way to keep in touch with the online world, too, of course. I just can't wait!

Tour de fleece, week one

Ahh: the Tour de France, where real men wear lycra and attempt incredible feats of endurance and stamina. And the Tour de Fleece, where spinners do much the same, except with less lycra, more wool, and a distinctly lower requirement for high calorie intake. This year, as well as I've challenged myself to do two things:

• Spin up enough of a wool/alpaca blend to knit a sweater later in the year, and
• Get to grips with my new Russian spindle (bought at Woolfest).

I have to admit that I haven't gone near the Russian spindle since tidying up after my recent travelling sprees. And, as it happened, I had no chance at all to do any of my own spinning on the first day of the tour - Saturday the 2nd - because I was demonstrating and teaching drop spinning at a friend's come-and-craft birthday party. Still, I consider spending several hours teaching spinning to new acolytes to be a good way to kick off the tour. A bigger technical hitch was that I hadn't actually finished carding the blended fibre for my sweater spinning. I wanted to blend the seconds from the cocoa-coloured alpaca fleece with a grey wool that I, errrm, 'washed' mostly by putting it in cold water to soak 'for a week' sometime last year. By this spring, it smelled pretty much like the bottom of a pond, and had green slime growing on the top. However, the lanolin seemed to have mostly disappeared, so I finished washing it, and called it good. It doesn't smell bad any more; it reminds my of my dive kit, for some reason. The quantities I had of each meant that I could produce a blend that's roughly one-third alpaca. This is what my sample batt looked like:

And here's the two-ply yarn. Very woollen, very lofty, very stretchy:

The blending has been an adventure. Last weekend, I spent a day and a half on it, and got enough fully finished to keep me busy on the wheel this week. This weekend, I've managed to finish the rest of the carding - thank goodness! So, by the end of the first week of the tour, I have three very full bobbins of singles, plus a partial bobbin:

And a big box of batts - enough to keep me out of trouble for a wee while yet:

 Kita is amazed

Playing with kettle-dyed locks

My spinning time has been quite varied recently: following the success of the Twilight Humbug roving (Gayle! Humbug roving is roving containing stripes of the natural sheep's colours, like a mint humbug. You can see some great examples here; the BFL and Shetland are both a lot of fun to play with...), I moved on to kettle-dyed locks. Kettle-dyeing fleece is very different to hand painting top, or roving, or yarn for that matter. You are working with a much less processed stage of the wool, so it is much less homogeneous. Different areas of the fleece have different qualities, including length, fineness, greasiness, crimp... the list goes on! In addition, the tips of the fleece may take dye differently to the butt ends of the locks, so you can get some very interesting effects:

What you can't get, so much, is predictability - or repeatability. For a scientifically creative soul like myself, this is both thrilling and intensely frustrating. Spinning dyed locks is also very different to working with prepared top or roving. Of course, you could card or comb the locks, just like anything else, but with such thrillingly multicoloured fibre, why would you want to? In addition, I'm a fundamentally lazy soul. I'd much rather spend my time behind the spinning wheel than weilding a pair of hand cards. So I've been flicking, and spinning directly from the lock. Pictures follow - though not of the wonderful rainbow above: my test locks are Kerry Hill, dyed to a more uniform purple - though you can still see the different colour at the tips and butts:

And here's my secret weapon - a flick carder from Ashford:

The head of a flick carder is about half the size of a regular hand-card, and the handle is much longer. Also, they don't come in pairs! Flick carders are used singly, to open up the ends of locks in preparation for further processing (which can, of course, mean going straight to spinning). So, how well does it work, would you say? Frankly, I'm amazed. Here's a lock of the fleece before flicking:

The tip of the lock is resting on my index finger; that bit tends to be dryer, crispier and slightly brittle. The butt end of the lock, hanging over my index finger, tends to be slightly greasier. And here's how flicking opens up the end:

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Sproing! Both ends flicked:

And really, can you imagine a more perfect prep? Look how open and even it is! And again: one lock unflicked; one lock flicked:

And then? Fold it over your finger...

...and spin from the fold!

(Or you can spin from the end, for a more worsted style yarn, but this particular fleece is just *begging* for longdraw).