Neck Warmer etc.

Whew! End of July already? Where did the time go?

Mostly into commuting. I am literally spending 3 hours a day on the train and bus.

It has been good for my knitting, because it is nice and portable, but I have been a bit behind on my spinning. It's not easy to carry your lazy Kate around with you! That said, I am pretty close to finishing my fluffy cotton-candy yarn. The three singles are ready to be plied, sitting on my lazy kate; sitting on my bookshelf so they come down from over my shoulder while I spin.

Had to push some books out of the way to put it up there, though.

I was expecting a lace-weight yarn, but it looks like it is going to be sport-weight. I still don't know how the plied yarn really looks. I am getting a sense, but I am looking forward to seeing it on the niddy-noddy.

Three-plies, on the spindle

I am also working on the beach skirt: it is almost done, and I promise there will be a post all about it when I am finished.

I have a quick update on another project though. Back in November, I made a hat using brioche stitch. I mentioned in my project update that I was starting a matching scarf to use up the yarn. So, did any of you wonder what happened with it? (of course not, I am talking to myself)

Well, I put it in my project bag, then someone cleaned the apartment and stuck the project bag in with my yarn stash. Since that room eats things, I didn't even think of it again until last week.

I was filling out the forms to submit a few projects to the Maryland State Fair again this year. I wanted to submit my brioche hat, but I know that hats are going to be a very crowded contest. So, looking over other categories I could submit to, I noticed that there is one for a hat/scarf set. Perfect! Now, where did I put that scarf...

Anyway, I finished the scarf. But I kind of ran out of yarn. So it is not really a scarf. I'm calling it a neck warmer, and hope the judges won't be too picky about it.

Hat and neck warmer set

The one thing that I wish I did differently, is that if I knew it was going to be a neck warmer, I would have done a provisional cast on, so that I could connect the two ends seamlessly, instead of having a somewhat messy seam.

Neck warmer with seam. Can you spot it?

Anyhow, even if the judges aren't fans, I know the hat is super-duper warm, and I bet the second part of the set will be just as nice when winter hits.

One more view of the warmer:

What a twist!

An Update and a Trip Report

Hello internet people!

I know that I have been lax in updating recently. It is not so much that I have been busy, I just have been mostly working on big projects, so updates are sparse.

First of all, I did finish the bulky merino yarn I was working on. Definitely not my best work: There are some parts where I obviously wasn't paying attention, and the singles have far too much twist. I think I just didn't realize how important it is to have low-twist for both bulky singles and merino wool in particular. Plying forgives a lot, but not everything.

Bulky Blue Merino yarn

I have started on some matching black yarn, and I do hope that I learned something from the first try, and it will be better.

Black Merino Bulky singles on the bobbin

Progress continues on my skirt, but I don't have a good picture for you right now. I am hoping to finish it in time to enter it at the Maryland State Fair.

I also went on a trip to Virginia Beach with my husband and in-laws last weekend. We went to Antiques Roadshow! I brought my antique castle wheel, in hopes that the appraisers could tell us how old it was and who made it. Well...

It was made in the 20's or 30's. But it wasn't commercially made, so who knows where it is from. Pretty much what I was told by the person who sold it to me.

We got a bit more useful information about the other three things we brought (a ring, a vase, and a set of silver) but no huge surprises. We had fun talking to people in line though, and everyone was really interested in my wheel - some intern even filmed me talking about it. I also got some funny questions when I got bored and took out my drop spindle. All-in-all, a fun time.

Color Transitions

Well, it's been awhile. I started a new job, and my commute is much longer. So, less time to write blogs. But more time to knit and spin!

I have been getting a lot done on my skirt:

Beach skirt: if I finished it today, it would go just below my knees

I finished up the darker blue part, and started on the purply-gray. As I mentioned before, I had originally planned on just using two colors, but a last minute substitution was necessary.

I am using a pretty simple pattern for the purple part: plain stockinette, punctuated by wavy-lines made out of purl stitches. I will show you all a picture when I finish a repeat (I ripped out my test).

The question was how to transition between the two patterns and the two colors. The first option (a) was simply to stop doing the blue and start the purple with the new pattern. The second option (b) was to start the purple, but continue the herringbone pattern for a bit. The third option (c) was to start the purple, but to do a k3 slip 3 pattern for a few rows, making a wavy line at the edge. Well, I tested all three options:

From left to right, option (a), (c), and (b) 

And I really liked how option (b) looked. It seemed to create the smoothest transition between one color and the other. I ended up doing seven rounds of the herring-bone pattern with the purple before switching to the new pattern.

Close-up of the transition

I'm also liking how the purple and gray are blending in while I knit it up. I was somewhat afraid of pooling.

Well, maybe the next time I talk about this project, it will be finished or close to it. Maybe.

Roving and Top: Gray and Blue

Maybe it is the return of warmer weather, but I have been on a spinning kick recently. Very little knitting getting done, but plenty of spinning. Along with the  project on my spindle that I showed you last week, I have also started an easy project on my Ashford wheel.

My newest project: thick merino. (The colors are totally off though)

Last year I bought some dyed merino top at Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. It was an incredibly good price, and it's one of those fibers that you have to use at least sometimes: super-duper soft and fluffy, great for garments. However, because it is so fine, it doesn't wear very well, or so I have heard.

The history of merino sheep is actually pretty neat. In the 18th and early 19th Centuries, all merinos were owned by the Spanish crown. To sell a sheep to anyone else was considered treason and the punishment was death. In the 19th Century, they gradually loosened the restrictions, and they are pretty ubiquitous today.

I haven't decided what I am going to do with this yarn yet, but it is going to be a thick two ply yarn, with one skein of blue and one of black.

Merino top from Delly's Delights Farm in Louisa, VA. This is closer to what the color actually looks like

Same as above, in black.

In other fiber news, I learned a useful skill.

Because I might be teaching more spinning in the future, I decided to get some ugly, cheap "learning" wool that I can give to students. I got two pounds of this:

4 oz. of "domestic gray wool" roving from The Woolery.

I didn't want white wool, because it is hard to see the twist, so I think this gray stuff is just about perfect. Has some neps (little bits of broken fiber) and is a bit dirty (with a very "sheepy" smell). But t is quite soft, and the color is nice, if boring.

The main question was how to store all of that wool. It came in bags, but just stuffed in there - recipe for tangles.

Some of it I wound into balls, just like I would do with yarn.

4 oz. roving ball (and Sandy, looking for attention)

But I had also seen roving braided, and wanted to try. It looks better than the ball, gets more air, and I think is a bit more compact.

The first thing to know about the braiding is that it isn't a brain, it is a crochet chain. That means that if you want to get the wool, you just have to tug, and it will come undone. The second thing to know is that I am pretty sure the other braids I have seen were only two ounces, because my braid was something like 6 feet long. It think I got the hang of it though.

What do you think?

"braid" of roving: closeup.

Playing with Color

I'm home sick today with a bit of a cold, so I figured I would update you on what I am working on. I haven't been in much of a knitting mood, but I have been spinning with my spindle like crazy.

I finished a second skein of that brown Navajo-Churro yarn. It is a tiny bit lighter than the first skein - oops!  Guess I should have sorted the blond wool into the rest more evenly. I will have to treat them like different dye lots, which will mean alternating rows when I knit them.

Besides that, though, I finally managed to finish spinning up the whole pound! That was the first wool I bought that I took all the way from washing to yarn, and I got through it. It only took me...(checks records)... two years. And I still haven't knit the undercoat into anything. Well, no one ever said that hand spinning was a speedy endeavor.

Well, as that was drying on the hanger, I also started a new project with some wool that I bought at the same time. Both are pre-cleaned locks. I am not sure of the breed for the colored wool, but the white was labeled as a lincoln crossbreed from Barnswallow Farms in Dewittville, NY (sorry, no link, she doesn't seem to have a website).

Oooooh. Pretty colors of wool.

Lincoln Crossbred locks

They are both extremely lustrous (that means shiny) and fine, and the locks are a good six inches long.

Individual locks

So, I am making a very fine, fluffy yarn from them. I am not doing much fiber processing, just picking the locks apart and spinning away. This is resulting in a lot of ends sticking out, kind of like a mohair yarn. Hopefully, though, since the wool is a bit less slippery, the "halo" won't grow too much as the fabric is worn. 

Fluffy singles on the spindle

I am also playing around with color. I have quite a bit less of the colored locks than the white, and the colors are a real mix. I could blend them together to get a pale pastel heathered yarn, probably lavender. But why hide that beautiful variety?

Instead, I am alternating locks. I spin 3 to 5 white locks, followed by a colored lock. The plan is for a three-ply yarn. I have no idea what it will look like when I ply, but I'm hoping for an interesting result!

Another view, after doing a lock of purple.

I'll keep you posted.

Teaching Spindling

Whelp, I have officially taught my very first class on spindling. I think it went well, though it was cut a bit short. I misread how long the class was going to be, and should have gotten to the spinning part faster.

The first part, though, was getting spindles for all of the kids. I had heard that you could make a good, cheap spindle from a dowel, hook, and wooden toy wheel. Unfortunately, the dowel and the hook were easy to find, the wheel I had a bit more trouble.

First, I bought wheels and dowels from Michaels, but I ordered off the internet without reading the sizes super-carefully. BIG mistake - the wheel was much too small, the dowel too big. Next, I attempted to remedy the mistake by going to a Michaels store near me and finding either a dowel that would fit the wheels I got, or a wheel that would fit my dowel. I found the first, and I found something that could kind of be a wheel-like thing for the second.

But the small wheel made a spindle that was too light to spin very well, and the wheel-like thing turned out to have a tapered hole, so it was useless. I finally gave up on Michaels and went to a specialty website, where I was able to get exactly what I wanted.

The three bears of spindle whirls

I decided on the 2 and 3/4 inch wheel, with the 3/8 inch hole. I got a 12 inch dowel to go with it. Although it is a bit heavy (1.6 oz) It spins fantastic - it just goes and goes without stopping. I got hooks from the local hardware store. It doesn't have a notch, which I know might be a problem later, but for now, it is working great. The wood of the shaft is even soft enough that I didn't need a drill, just some hard pushing and screwing.

Whirl, shaft, hook.

The finished spindle, next to the less  successful one made from the small wheel. The smaller dowel was too narrow to take a hook, so I carved one with a pen knife.

I also put some directions on the whirls, to help out. I put the weight of the spindle, as is traditional (so that you know how much the wool weighs, when you weigh it) but I also wrote which direction to spin for z-twist and which for s-twist.

My helpful tutorial.

Now that I had my supplies, I put together a whole kit of wool and string and glue to let the kids make their spindles and learn to spin. I picked some of my cheap, dyed wool top of unknown breed for the lesson, since it is easier to see the twist in dyed wool.

They also decorated their spindles with markers. I hope that this inspires them to keep using them, and they also came out beautifully.

Decorated spindles from the kids

Some of them decorated the shafts too.

I gave mine a bit of decoration too.

We didn't actually get to much spinning today, but I hope that they got some of the basics of how to spin the spindle and what makes yarn. We will pick it up again in two weeks, and I hope that they can do something neat with it.

Shopping

Well, it looks like I won't be able to make it to Maryland Sheep and Wool this year, since I will be busy graduating. But that's probably for the best; I have more yarn and fiber than I know what to do with. But I have been doing some shopping lately, so I figured I would share the goodies.

First up, I bought a couple ounces of undyed karakul wool locks from La Tea Da Designs.

Undyed Karakul Locks

I am actually not planning on spinning with them. I agreed to teach a spindling class at a local synagogue next month, and I wanted to bring in some to show the kids. We will be spinning with some of my extra roving, so I wanted to bring in something that wasn't prepped yet, as well as something more representative of biblical-era wool than my ramboullet (a soft wool developed from merino in the late 18th Century). Karakul is one of the oldest breeds of sheep and they are from the Middle East - so, if not the same, pretty darn close to what the bible means when it talks about sheep or wool.

I'm also making cheap spindles for the class; more on that when the supplies arrive.

I also finally spent my birthday gift certificate this week. My boss, who knows how much I like to knit (but doesn't understand that I have pounds and pounds of yarn to knit with before I run out) gave me a gift certificate for a local yarn store.

But I was good: I didn't buy any more yarn. I bought two tools: more t-pins for blocking lace, and a repair tool. I have heard good things about the repair tool - namely, that if you notice a stitch three rows back that you did wrong, it makes it much easier to undo and fix.

T-Pins

Repair Tool

I als bought a pair of books by Judith Durant: 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders, and One-Skein Wonders: 101 Yarn-Shop Favorites. 

I do have plenty of books, but I also have a lot of random skeins of yarn that it would be nice to use up. I was especially thinking of the individual handspun skeins that I make just to play with the fiber.

Three skeins of handspun

Well, that is it for now. I continue to work on my projects, but I should really start something smaller so that I have something new to post!