Do you think she minds?

Egg is such a good sport. Look what her father did to her:


It might be because she doesn't know she's wearing pants on her head - and of course I'm only posting the picture because you can see her TEETH!

I've been spinning. In more than one way - but mostly making yarn.


Spun from Spunky Eclectic Merino roving, colourway 'Grand Opening 2007'.

And now for something completely different

When Ted asked me last November if I was up for a "Fiber to Scarf" exchange, I wasn't sure. When he told me there would be 6 months time to finish the project, I thought "what the heck, I can do that!". Mind you, I only had learned to spin two months earlier, and since I don't have a wheel I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

As a side note: I suck at organized knitting events. As much as I have been tempted to join "Socktober" and "Project Spectrum" (and did) I never managed to produce anything worthwhile in the set parameters. I figure I have my own rhythm and just don't want to be told what to do when.

Ted was very considerate in how to choose the fiber he would sent to the participants, and even worried it would cause problems for the not so experienced spinner. (If he knew me better, he'd be aware that there's nothing but a challenge like that to keep me on my toes!) Here's what he said in his email: "The fiber I was going to assign you is a Border Leicester / Mohair blend. I've had it out and played with it to see how it drafts (no problems) and the colours (hand-dyed) are really nice. But, Border Leicester is a "strong" wool, which means you won't be able to spin this into a fine yarn. It would make a great 2ply worsted or heavier yarn. You might get it down to a DK, but I'm doubtful."

When I got the fiber at the beginning of January, I unpacked it and just played around with it, trying to draft. Alright, I thought, this IS different from what I have worked with so far, the drafting wasn't as easy and, as Ted said, spinning finely could be a problem.

At the end of January Ted inquired about 'how the spinning was going'. Uhm, in my case not at all. I had so much work (knitting samples) that spinning was just out of the question.

In March he asked again, and again, no spinning from me. (At this point I was worried that he might think I was a bad choice for his little project.)

Early April I received the message that MY scarf was done, and please to contact my spinner/knitter for my address. I felt I better get crackin' on the spinning, eh?

I received a package with 8 oz. of 50/50 Border Leicester/Mohair blend, colorway "Priscilla Alden" from Black Bunny Fibers. There were two halves, both of them with lots of blues and pinks and fuchsia, but one had a bit of a warmer tone to it, with some peachy orange and lighter turquoise. I decided to spin each half separately and ply them together, so the whole batch would be a mix of the warmer and cooler shades.


I can't remember the actual timeline, but once I got used to the mohair in the fiber, spinning wasn't a problem. And, I am not sure, I think it was a heavy DK or light worsted weight (since I got better in the progress, the later spun single might have been a bit thinner...) after I was done plying.


Apparently I suck at documenting my work, since these are the only two pictures I took of the spinning in progress. By the end of May I was done with knitting (having ripped out half a scarf and restarted since I wasn't happy with the results...) and contacted Ted to find out who my recipient was.

In the end I settled on Jo Sharp's design "Misty Garden" from Scarf Style which contains your basic Feather and Fan pattern and brought out the variegation in the yarn as I had anticipated.


Today I got a message that the scarf arrived safe and sound at Barb's, and - as she had told me before when seeing the picture - that she loved the result. Barb is an accomplished knitter and designer herself, so a compliment from her makes my day.

I received my own scarf in May, I like it a lot. It's very soft and cuddly and I am sure that Duffy's (whom I don't know personally, but she serenaded the Yarn Harlot at a reading of hers, so I would bet she's got a great sense of humor!) work will keep me warm come next winter! She did a great job spinning and knitting up the green merino I got also from Black Bunny Fibers. Apparently Carol's work is well known and loved amongst spinners.


BTW, I didn't experience any of the angst not to do well enough as others have - it didn't even occur to me. What does that tell you about me?

Wind up

I got back into spinning lately.

This is the first time I spun 8 oz. of roving into yarn - on my spindle. There was this Sunday afternoon where I thought I'd go down to ariadne and try the wheel they have in the store. I got frustrated really quickly - but that's my own fault. I brought the wrong roving, and drafting was just not working out. So back to the spindle for the project it was. In the end it wasn't bad getting it done, I just spun a little every day.

I'd never spun roving with mohair in it before, the drafting turned out to be a challenge in the beginning (it's 50% border leicester/50% mohair). Once I had figured it out, it got way better. I'm trying to see the little bit of unevenness in the yarn as the special charm it possesses. The 2ply turned out to be a DK weight - I could knit it on 3.75 mm needles (US 5).

To give the plied yarn a quick wash to set it, you wind it into a skein. For a while I made do with my umbrella swift, but it's a bit of a hassle. Now I use my skein winder - it's vintage, or maybe even antique, and I got it from an old lady who was in the sheep raising and spinning business for decades, but had to give it up because of health reasons.


I can tell you, these were 50 bucks well spent. I love it.

I have also finished (it only took a day, really) Egg's cap. I'm still not sure if I should attach ties. I don't think it's really necessary. It used only 23 grams of my hand spun.


Where's the baby when you need one?

I'm knitting for Baby

And with my hand spun, no less.


The pattern asks for a fingering yarn, I have 48 grams of a nice yellow-orange mix spun of a Black Bunny Fiber Corriedale roving - so here's my first knit for "Egg". - In the tradition of giving the bun in the oven a nickname, I chose one from one of my favourite books: "The Hotel New Hampshire" by John Irving.

Egg is half baked, and here's a picture. Not that one can see much, but it was a relief to see that Egg is healthy and growing. Moving, too. Though I can't feel it yet.


Due to severe shyness the doctor couldn't determine Egg's gender. I fear I'm going to have a Kinder Surprise.

Much thanks to the commenters who left anniversary wishes and others.

Isn't she lovely?

Though spindles do not tend to have a gender, to me it's always a 'she', just like boats are always female. Looking at the size of this particular she, I just cannot imagine her to be a 'he'.



I got this one at Golding Fiber Tools for which I've had a weakness for quite some time now.





This particular model I chose since I wanted to make sure I'd be able to spin as finely as I wanted to - and boy, it works like a charm! I wouldn't call the outcome 'thread' but it's close. "Tsunami" (that's how the spindle is called) weighs only 0.5 oz, and spinning the merino/bamboo mix is as easy as pie.




This is my first trial with the new spindle. I don't know what the fibre is, I was given a sample with the merino/bamboo mix but I suspect it's a superwash 100% merino. It is sooo soft - and I managed to get a 2-ply laceweight.

You spin me right round, Baby, right round...

It's addictive. But it has gotten to the point where my left pinky finger hurts all the time now, and my brain tells me to stop spinning, whereas my gut tells me to spin more so I can knit something with my handspun. I am not even sure if that would be remedied by a wheel, since it would be faster - less time drafting?, that's where the pain comes from - but I would make up for it by spinning longer, so same time drafting. More yarn in the end, though.

I have not much (in quantity, that is) to show off, but here's some of the stuff I have produced:



The Merino Silk all done - 36 grams.





Some Corriedale top, very nice and shiny. One thing I cannot get over is the way the roving looks, and then how it comes out when all spun up. Can't get enough of it. It's only 26 grams so far, but I have 15 oz. left.




A sample of BBF Merino roving, 21 grams.



And this is what I am spinning now:



BBF Corriedale roving. It's quite soft and nice, but there's a Blue faced Leicester roving waiting that's even softer...

I made yarn!

136 grams of it. (60% Alpaca, 40% silk)


You can't really see the subtle variegation in the yarn - there's green, turquoise, periwinkle...the roving changed colour gradually, it looks great when plied.



This is a 4 mm needle - just so you get an idea of the weight.

"Ready..."

The "November Mystery Sock Tour" will begin Nov 1st. I designed a secret sock for the "Socknitters Anonymous" group on Ravelry, but since not everyone is signed up yet, I'll post the clues here, too, and hope you feel compelled to try it out.

Two more days to go.



Spinning

There's a lot to be learned about spinning. I had never heard of "unbalanced" yarn before. After reading up in "Spinning in the old way" about it, it makes total sense. My yarn is not only unbalanced (which almost all freshly spun yarn is), no, I think mine is slightly overspun. Though I am not 100% sure. More experiments will have to follow.

I plied the brown/white wool, and soaked it, and now it's dry I must say it really resembles something I would like to knit. I'd say it's an aran weight, manageable with 5 mm needles. (That's my guess, I could be wrong, I haven't tried knitting it yet.) My perfectionism won't let up, I need to learn to spin more evenly than the 27 grams I have produced so far.





I also plied the green stuff - Man, I got 26 grams of yarn after all this work. I have to say though, it looks nice. Needs a rinse, so it settles down a bit.



See the difference to the brown yarn? It's still way twisty, or, unbalanced.
I have that one little skein because at one point the single broke during plying because it was spun very thinly. It's a bit thinner than the brown, maybe worsted weight.


But wait, there's more! I also plied the merino/silk stuff (though I should have waited till I have more.) The single broke twice during plying, but otherwise I am quite happy with it. It's not yet rinsed.





That's 16 grams of yarn. Has anyone a good pattern I could try???

Patience, my dear

I once read a book starting with that sentence. While reading, I thought it must mean "being patient" but few words later it turned out that the heroine's name was Patience. Patience, along with Prudence, Harmony, Faith, April, May, June and Wednesday are not on my shortlist of names if I ever have a baby girl. Just sayin'.

What I really want to say is that one or other similar sentiment has been offered to me by Ted and Lorraine while learning to spin with the spindle. It might not be a big secret to some of you, but I am not a patient person when it comes to my skills. I get easily frustrated and I have been known to throw things across the room when they wouldn't work out in the allotted time. I have gotten better with age, but ever once in a while it might still happen today.



Early efforts. Blah.

After coming home from FFN I spun some more of the brown/white roving but it still hadn't really clicked. Getting bored with the colour I started spinning some of the green stuff. Hey, so much better! And when the spindle got heavy with the green, I taunted myself into trying the alpaca/silk mix. Surprise! Boy, does that stuff spin up well. Almost effortlessly, I am saying, trying not to think about the couple of not so thin parts in my single. I spun half of the roving, thinking I'll split it before spinning so I have the right amount to ply together in the end. I yet have to get to the other half.



Brown/white roving spun at home.



Ready to ply.



Green yarn. Much better.



Alpaca/silk. Was much to my delight easier to spin than expected.

When visiting the Roxham Wool Festival this year, I got some Merino/silk roving because I lurved the colours (try not to laugh, please) - and it is one of my favourite fibre mixes ever. I tried to spin some while still at FFN. Didn't work out that well. Turns out last night was a good night. I found that my hands finally knew what to do with the slick, slippery fibres and I got nice results.



Merino Silk roving. Like the colours?



First efforts at Fibre Fest. Not so good.



Yesterday: Oh, look! You can actually spin this stuff. Spinner's ecstasy!


Well, Ted and Lorraine, my mentors, what say you?

It's about a month since I took up the spindle first to make an earnest effort to produce usable results, but I only had picked up the spindle three times or so until three days ago. If my left hand (ring finger and small finger....ouch!) didn't hurt somewhat fierce (Nadine, I didn't listen.) I'd get lots more done. Now, what was that about a wheel?

Nice weather, eh?

So much for an interesting title. It's true, however, since it is warm, sunny and just a bit windy outside. The sky is very blue on this lovely fall day here in Montreal.

I still haven't told you all about Fibre Fest North. Here's the rest of what I brought home with me:


In the upper left corner you'll find two balls of Jojoland Harmony lace weight. I have been drooling for two years over this yarn and finally got some. In the upper right corner you see something that drew me in colourwise, I had never seen it before and when I touched it I wouldn't let it go again. Morehouse Merino lace weight. (Notice a theme here? Lots of lacy things to come...)
Then there are two skeins of Oceanwind Knits Merino sock yarn. My brandnew friend Lori is just a wizard with colours, I like everything she does. Since I couldn't decide between the green and yellow, I bought one of each.



I told you. They drew me in, these spinners. When visiting the Lindenhof Wool Mill and learning how they make yarn, I had the opportunity to buy roving. Nice roving. The one in the back is a 100% wool in green, in the front there's an alpaca/silk mix in blue-green.



In the meantime I am still using some other wool roving of which I got to bring some home, too. That would be the one on the left. In the other bag there's some brown wool, and the white is some mix of wool and cotton. If I remember correctly. My other brand new friend Lorraine (who is a kick-ass spinner and spinning teacher and has together with her team, the Toronto Spiders, broken the Canadian record in the International Back to Back Wool Challenge, going from unwashed fleece to finished sweater in six hours and 18 seconds!!) told me to write it down and make a note of the ingredients. I think I have that sliver of paper somewhere. I just couldn't find it today. So much for my organizational skills.



And, last but not least, here is my new spindle made by Tracy Eichheim. After Ted (who I like to call "friend" now, too) called my Louet spindle a "boat anker" I kinda got the idea why my efforts alone at home didn't work out that well. Apart from the fact that it's so much easier when you have loads of super-spinners at hand to show you how it works. And that's why I should mention sweet Emma, too. She showed me how to catch the spindle between my knees and...oh, get your minds out of the gutter! She showed me to use the stored rotational energy to spin some more and not have the spindle twist backwards.


Oh, yeah. This is what happens when you try to get a picture of another brandnew friend, Katherine. She tries to avoid being on camera by all means as Rolf found out.


Which, in return, made it all the more interesting to try and catch her unawares. In the end she even let me take a picture of her and me together and allowed me to post it here on my blog. Now, that's what I call courage under fire! And no, I won't post the other picture. Our still delicate new friendship needs to be nourished and cultivated yet. (The whistling gnome agrees.)