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

Category: FO Page 36 of 48

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Remember when I posted about how I wanted to drag out the cashmere silk scarf? Well, no more. I auctioned off 3 of these babies at the club’s auction for youth sailing. What was I thinking????

Cashmere Silk ScarfI gave the scarf away before I had a chance to take a picture of it for my files, but I snapped one last night. It’s Chasing Rainbow‘s Cashmere Tussah in Purple Haze colorway. The pattern is Madeira and Diamond. You can find the pattern in Heirloom Knitting or Lavish Lace (“A Season of Mellow and Fruitfulness”).

I asked the person that I gave the scarf to, to bring it back in as a sample. I put 5 of my Chasing Rainbow Cashmere Tussah packages out for the winning bid to pick from. Someone asked if I would consider making a second one, if there was a bidding war. Stupidly, I said yes, thinking that it would be 2 scarves, at most. I ended up with 3 winning bids. (There were 4 at one point. I think one of the ladies saw the panic in my eyes and retracted her bid.)
Not only do I have a lot of spinning and knitting to do, but I’m only down to 2 packages of Cashmere Tussah in my stash. Sob. But SOAR is coming in 2 weeks. Hopefully, I’ll get to replenish my stock before they run out.

I took the scarf to my guild and to Spinning at Retzlaff Winery back in June. There was a huge run on the Chasing Rainbow sales that day after the scarf was passed around.

Busy As a Bee (aka Too Many WIPs)

I’ve been lax about posting lately. Work’s been busy, but I’ve been busy with my fibers as well. Want proof? Warning, a lot of photos to follow.

Lorna's Laces Purple Iris

This is about 1152 yards of Lorna’s Laces, Purple Iris, approximately fingering weight, 2 plied. I bought it from Lamb’s Ear so long ago that I’ve lost track of when. I pulled it out when I wanted some mindless spinning. It’s a little darker than I expected. I have no idea what I will use it for.

Cormo Fingering Weight

This is about 12 oz of the Cormo that I bought from Sue Reuser at the Retzlaff Winery in June. I bought about 26 oz total of the pin drafted roving. It was prepared by Morro Fleece Works. I love Shari’s fiber prep, so I might have gone a little overboard with the purchase. I forgot the yardage. I have it scribbled down somewhere around here. I’ll count again when I have the rest of it spun up, then I can decide what to do with it.

Cormo Lace Weight

This is the remainder of the first bag of Cormo. It’s approximately 1.25 oz of lace (cobweb?) weight 2 plied yarn. The singles were about 60 wpi, the finished yarn is about 40-45 wpi. The dime is in there for scale. There’s about 550 yards. Enough for a small scarf. I think I will make a small Estonian shawl or scarf with this.

Shetland Seas

This is about 798 yards of Shetland/Tussah (90/10), colorway Shetland Seas. I bought the wool from Nancy Jane Campbell at Dixon Lamb Town. It’s spun to sport weight.

Blue Bunny Fibers, Blue Faced Leicester, Forest Deep

Lastly, here is some 2 plied blue faced leicester from Black Bunny Fibers, colorway Forest Deep, spun about fingering/sport weight. I don’t have the yardage, but it should be enough for a pair of socks.

Do you see a pattern here? I’ve been doing a lot of “just because” spinning. Completely mindless without any thought of what I’m going to do with it, with the exception of the lace weight cormo. And would you believe that this is only about half of the yarn that I’ve spun up in the last couple of months? This is all that I have the energy to post about (read, too lazy to look up the provenance of the rest of it just now).

I was at a neighborhood soiree last night, talking with the hostess. She is a drumming instructor. Her specialty is ethnic drumming. We were talking about how soothing it is to drum to an inner rhythm. That’s what I’ve been doing with my spinning. I’ve been spinning to my inner rhythm. Cheaper than therapy, and it’s immediate. No appointments necessary. Okay, “cheap” is relative. This obsession with fiber is anything but cheap, but, hey. All of this was already in the house!
That was just the spinning. My current passion is Anne Bolelyn from Alice Starmore’s Tudor Roses. Here’s my progress.

Anne Bolelyn

I’ve completed the first repeat of all 4 charts. I started it about Labor Day Weekend, at the beginning of September. Each night, I think, I’ll just knit a few rows. Next thing I know, it’s time for bed.

With this sweater, I’ve abandoned all other knit projects currently in my work basket, including the Anarchist sweater. Although, I better get cranking on the 2 baby sweaters before Martin’s nieces’s twins pop out. What do I call them? Grand nephews? I’m too young to be “grand” anything, except just “grand.”

Wash Day

Wash Day

I’ve been spinning, but never seem to find the time nor the energy to set the twist of the finished skeins. As you can see, they’ve sort of reproduced. I didn’t realize that I had so many skeins spun up. I have no idea what I will be doing with them, except several skeins are designated sock yarn.

There’s a lovely blend of mohair/silk/wool dubbed Silk Barefoot from Paradise Fibers that I spun up as a 2 ply sock weight yarn. It was an absolute joy to spin. I can’t wait to see how it will knit up and wear. I’ve toyed with the idea of handpaint the skeins before I knit it up, but I think I will leave them white. (There’s a skein of lace weight chinchilla/silk/wool blend in there from Kate too. Luscious doesn’t begin to describe it.)

Then there is the beautiful wool/silk handpaint that I navajo plied into a sock weight yarn. I’ve been told that wool/silk blend is the ultimate sock yarn. We’ll see.

I was stuck in a non-spinning mode for a while. Why? I picked up a whole stack of Spin-Off back issues (ranging from late 80s through early 2000s). As I flipped through these back issues, many of them talked about how you shouldn’t spin without a final product in mind. Well, that did it. I nearly never have an idea of the final product before I start the spinning process. I spin because I enjoy it. And nearly 99% of the time, the project I had in mind when I started to spin the yarn is never the finished yarn wants to be.

Oh well. I got over it. I realized that I would never spin because I can’t plan that far in advance. After all, I don’t even clue of the final project when I buy yarn, why should I have an idea before I spin? So I’m back to spinning for the sheer enjoyment of the process. Finished product be damned. One of these days, I’ll figure out what to do with all that yarn.

What about you?

Page 36 of 48

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