Category: FO Page 47 of 48

Here’s the finished result — 3.25 oz of navajo plied merino. I haven’t counted the yardage. It’s approximately fingering weight.

After looking at it in day light, it didn’t look as bad as I thought it was. I think I might be able to make a pair of socks with this (I’ll use something else for the heels and toe that is a little more durable). I love it!

Thank you wendy e for your encouraging words. I took things a little slower with the second skein and really paid attention to what was happening. You are right, there is plenty of time to stop and untwist, if necessary. I didn’t have an opportunity to test out your suggestions for restarting the loops after a break, since the second skein didn’t break (and I wasn’t brave enough to purposely break the yarn just to test it out!).

Here are a few things that I’ve noticed while plying the second skein:

I need to be more consistent while spinning the single. With navajo plying, any thick spot is 3x as thick just because they become juxtaposed when plied. When plying from 2 or 3 singles, these thick and thin spots even each other out, since it is highly unlikely that you will get 2 thick areas on the singles at the same time.

Also, when moving from a thick area to a thin area, the transition is very noticeable at the end of the crochet loop.

But there is something really mesmerizing watching the flow of colors. Once you get into the rhythm of making the loops, you don’t have to think about that and you can start focusing on other things. Like the amount of twist that I’m putting in.

I wasn’t the only one that really liked the feel of the merino yarn. EliSpot helped herself to the finished skein and started to play with it (on the dog blanket). Of course, when Martin grabbed the camera to take this shot, she gave us the feline version of the finger.

I’ve been re-reading (aka “looking at all the pretty pictures”) Twisted Sisters. Yesterday, I took some white rovings that I had a did a little Kool-Aide dyeing. I tried the spot method (page 24) and nuked them in the microwave (3 minutes on high, sit for 1-2 minutes, 3 more minutes on high). They didn’t turn out as dark as I would’ve like it. And it was more stripes than drops. Oh well. They should make nice socks nonetheless.

I’ve just finished plying the last of the pink rovings. The pink was much harder to spin than the grey was because someone had cut the roving with (gasp!) scissors. I finally learned that it’s better to just pull the cut ends off and throw it away instead of trying to spin it. It makes an awful, lumpy mess. It wasn’t too horrible once is was plied because it balanced out a little, but still not something that I would want to repeat.

End result? About 500 yards each of pink and grey 2-ply that is between sport and worsted weight. Just enough to make a cropped sweater for me! Of course, I can’t start on it until after all the Christmas knitting is done.

On the vest … I’m almost finished with the back. EliSpot decided that it was a nice spot to take her afternoon nap on. At least it’s nice and warm now. I’m a little tired from spinning and plying so I think I’ll leave it for tomorrow.

I went to Lamb’s Ear Yarn and Fiber and picked up some Lorna’s Laces rovings. I couldn’t decide between 2 colorways, so I bought both. Purple Iris and Tahoe. About 10 ounces each.

Of course, I couldn’t resist picking up 2 skeins of Lorna’s Laces Sport Weight yarn. Two more last minute Christmas knitting projects. Mum on the project because it’s a surprise. I have 10 more days. Plenty of time, right?

I’m spinning again! I had forgotten how much I enjoy spinning silk. I spun the little bit of purple dyed tussah silk that I had left from a previous project (about 2/3 oz) into 186 yards of 2 ply yarn. I spun the single yesterday, and plied it this evening. Absolute joy. This is exactly what the doctor ordered. A bit of enjoyable, relaxing spinning.

I mixed 2 or 3 different Jacquard Acid Dye to get the purple I wanted. The dye didn’t completely blend and took up differently on different parts of the roving. But I love it. It added quite a bit of depth to the color. And it also kept the rovings from getting boring because of the slight variations. (I did say that I have a low boredom threshold, didn’t I?)

Now, it’s whetted my appetite for more spinning. I’ve got to restrain myself until I get more Christmas presents done!

On the down side, I just got an email about the guild meeting next week — it’s not a plain old gift exchange, but a handmade Christmas ornament exchange. Sigh. Now what do I do? What can I knit the silk into for an ornament? a pair of mini-mittens? I’ve never tried that. Could be fun. There’s always mini-socks too. But mittens would be different. The thumbs would not be fun though. Need more thought.

Maybe I should spin to help get the creative juices flowing … or spin some wool to make the ornament out of. Hmm …

It’s been a productive weekend. I finished Ian’s scarf too. I was told that it is the wishbone pattern from Barbara Walker’s book. But when I looked it up, the wishbone is a cable and looks nothing like this. This is a faux cable, made via a series of make 1s and decreases. No extra needles and pretty fast to make. Only 8 rows in the repeat.

The scarf is about 8″ wide by 45″ long. As long as the 3 balls of alpaca I had in my stash would take me. (Heirloom Alpaca, 8 ply, shade 972)

The dyed in the wool fleece turned out beautifully! Doesn’t it look like fall foliage? I’m actually pretty excited about carding it out, spinning it and see what happens. See, selective amnesia is already setting in and I haven’t even started to card yet!