Random thoughts of a fiber enthusiast - mostly fiber related, sometimes coherent

Tag: Scarf Page 3 of 7

Scarf Progress 6 – Fini!

scarf-leftThis is all that was left of the ball of yarn after I casted off the last stitch. I was really sweating it there for a few minutes.  How much was left? Not enough to register on my scale.  But that could be anything less than 2 grams.  I didn’t break out the niddy noddy to measure out the length.

Once I started knitting, it went quickly. Of course, I didn’t do much all weekend except knit.  The only outing was to a boat chistening and a Floato-de-Mayo party at the club (something about not saying “sink” around boats).

I didn’t like the first blocking attempt, so the scarf is back in a nice warm tub while I get ready for another round with pins and wires.

scarf-teaserThere will be no more posts on the scarf until after the submission deadline has come to pass.  I’ll leave you with this little teaser.

It’ll be nice to get back to normal programming around here. I haven’t spun since I left Wisconsin! Can you believe it? And there’s a new baby that appeared on the scene while we were in Wisconsin, 3 weeks early. I haven’t worked on a baby anything. His older brother received this as his welcome, so what will I need to do to top that? Maybe something woven?

(I understand the toddler still sleeps with his blanket every night. It’s always gratifying to hear that.)

Scarf Progress 5

scarf-swatchSwatch done.

Yes, it’s knitted lace. Not much of a surprise there, is it?

The top of the diamond is darker than the bottom. This is because the color of the fleece varied lock by lock.  The swatch shows definite bands of color, creating a variegated yarn. I like it.

The swatch was pro forma. It didn’t really tell me much, since the sample already told me most of the information I needed. The yarn I chose to work the sample in is approximately the same size as the yarn I spun, so the gauge and needle size has already been determined.  The swatch just confirmed that I was still on target.

So why swatch? It’s one of the contest requirements. The swatch ate up another 5 grams of yarn.  This leaves me approximately 35 grams of yarn for the scarf, or about 145 yards.

On the positive side, I was able to test out the cast off method I chose on the swatch. All is good.

Scarf Progress 4

hazelnut-result

scarf-yarn

Above: Skein 1 (lower) & 2 (upper) on silk handkerchief, all dyed with hazelnut leaves. (See Progress 3 for details.)

Left: Before and after dyeing. On the card: left is before washing/dyeing/fulling; right is after. In skeins: before is the bottom skein; after is the top skein.

Yarn Specs (skein #2):
Weight: 40 grams*
Yardage: 170 yards (1925 ypp**)
WPI: 20***

The color shift is very subtle. Overall impression of sage green and deeper in tone. It really highlighted the light/dark moorit variation in the yarn. It’s not as green as the un-mordanted sample. I don’t know if it’s due to the alum or the proportions, since I didn’t weight the original sample: a skein and a handful of leaves.

I have taken to dropping a silk handkerchief into every dye pot so that I can keep a record of all the dye experiments.  I purchase the handkerchiefs from Thai Silks/Exotic Silks in Los Altos. Now, I just need to get around to labeling them.

The yarn spun from the combed preparation (skein #2) is much more consistent and has more bounce. It just generally feel better.  This is the yarn that I will use for the contest.

* Yes, I seem to have lost 5 grams between the time it came off of the spindle and when it came out of the dye bath.  A few reasons for this. (1) My scale only records to the nearest 5 grams. (2) I took several yards off for record keeping: before/after dyeing for card record and skein for submission.  Between the two, I must have teetered from closer to 45 grams to closer to 40 grams.  One of these days, I’ll spring for a scale with better accuracy.  For now, it gets me in the ball park.

** Measurement taken by the McMorran Balance. For some reason, it was really static-y when I was doing my measurements. I had to spray the outside of the balance with water to prevent the yarn from clinging to the balance and throwing off  the measurements.

*** I did a little bit of fulling while washing the fiber, hence the change from 24 to 20 wpi. It bloomed a bit. Yes, it was intentional.

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