Category: General Page 40 of 49

No, I’m not talking about the political bumps. Well, okay, maybe I am. Just don’t say you haven’t been forewarned.

But spinning that lumpy bumpy romney/silk batts last week gave me a craving for more. This time, some sock weight yarn. I picked up a tube of deep purple, turquoise, and cotton candy pink rovings at CNCH this past spring. It was 8 oz of 75% wool/20% mohair/5% nylon by Faerber Design Studio. (The color in the photo didn’t capture the deep purple well, but it really is University of Washington purple.)

The roving looks like it was blended on combs, because you can peel off the turquoise and pink strips. I have never spun nylon before, but I assume that it was mostly in the pink stuff because that’s where all the short bits are and thus, what was causing the bumps. It’s an interesting texture. A bit harsher than I like for socks, but I’m game.

The skein is 3.75 oz, and approximately 380 yards. (? I lost count. Need a recall count when I’m not so depressed.) I think I will have enough for a pair of socks and a pair of matching gloves.

Getting old stinks. Cold weather stinks. The joints in my right hand started to ache this week. Just a general ache, until I picked up my socks and started knitting. Then, they really started to hurt. To the point where I could only do a couple of rounds a day. That really put a crimp in my knitting.

So I took a break from knitting, and spun a bit.

This is 4 oz of worsted weight 2. I pulled this out of my stash. Crosspatch Creations. The colorway is called By Beloved. This was fun. It’s like staying home in your favorite jammies or sweats, with a trashy book, and a cup of hot chocolate. Pure indulgence. And you just let go. The batts were romney with tussah and bombyx, lightly carded so the silk was just laying on the batts. It’s impossible to spin perfectly evenly, because slubs happen. And you let it happen. Fun, and no calories.

But it was done in no time flat. But I still had a partial sock to be done. So I switched to my dpn instead of the magic loop method, and the ache diminished. Why? I think it was because my fingers were cramped in the too small space created by the magic loop method. Working the sock on 5 dpns gave me a little more space. Why would there be more space with dpns? I think it’s the flop factor. In any case, I was able to finish the first sock, and cast on for the second sock. Hopefully, I’ll have a new pair of socks by next weekend.

Here’s a view of the sock before grafting the toe.