So I really liked the look of the 2nd handspun yarn and decided I was tired of spinning just plain cream colored wool. So I pulled out the dyes last Sunday and tried my hand at dyeing some roving. I more or less followed the instructions in Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning. I measured out about 4 ounces of the corriedale wool and loosely tied it in a few spots. I soaked it in warm water, then transfered it to a pot with a little water and vinegar and poured 4 colors of dye in quadrants. I used blue, purple, orange and black. Then I cooked the wool on medium low heat for an hour, let it cool, gently rinsed it and hung it to dry. I'm afraid I didn't take time to take pictures. I didn't have much hope it was going to be useable. When wet, the roving looked pretty hopeless. It took forever to dry, 2 days for the whole thing to be thoroughly dry. And even after it was dry, it was pretty compacted. But I gave it a try anyway. I split it into 2 pieces, then sectioned each strip into eighths. It took me all week to spin two bobbins full. I thought I was doing pretty good. There were almost no overspins this time. But I'm still struggling with keeping an even thickness. I'm sure it has to do with the way I'm drafting and will just require more practice. I plied the two bobbins together and here's the result...
I love the colors. I'm calling it Brambleberry. The yarn is a bit darker in person, but the colors are just fabulous. Doesn't look anything like the dyes I poured in the pot. That's one of the joys of kettle dyeing, the colors blend into very unexpected and usually fascinating results. I got 140 yds in 4 ounces. Still a long way from my goal of spinning a sock weight yarn. I'm feeling somewhat frustrated that I can't get my consistency down. I'm not into the whole thick/thin yarn so I'd really like to spin more evenly. Now I'm faced with the dilemma of what to spin next. I've got over a pound of the corriedale left. I could spin that as is, or dye off another hunk. Or I have the Hanks in the Hood roving I would love to spin. I wanted to try to spin that into sock yarn, and I know I'm just not there yet. Maybe I'll just take a few days off from spinning to think about it. The toddler sweater is coming along really well. I finished the body and have started the first sleeve. If I put some serious knitting time in this weekend, I should be able to get started on the yoke and possibly finish it by next weekend.
Day three of spinning was not good. I sat down and started spinning and became so frustrated with how over twisted and uneven my yarn was coming out. This just HAD to get easier. Rather than chopping the lovely Minstrel into kindling, I walked away and turned to my good friend Ravelry for solace. I didn't post anything, just read every spinning forum I could for tales of other's spinning troubles. I came across a thread talking about Scotch tension and it was like a light bulb went on. My wheel could run double drive or Scotch tension. Maybe that would make a difference. So I got my Teach Yourself Visually book and set about switching the tension and getting it adjusted properly. It didn't take long and with trepidation I picked up some roving and tried again. It was such a HUGE difference. Now, maybe I just had the tension set wrong on the double drive (although I did fiddle with the tension quite a bit on days 1 & 2, I did it more by feel than actually following the written instructions) so I will try the double drive again some day. But for now, I'm spinning along like a lark. Its fantastic! I'm still getting some thick and thin spots, but that's really improving. This stuff actually resembles yarn. I even managed to get enough singles on 2 bobbins to try my hand at plying. Here it is folks, my very first handspun yarn
It's about 15 yds of 2 ply corriedale wool. It looks just like the book says, like a string of pearls. Its not enough to really do anything with, but seeing how it's my first yarn, I want to keep it as a souvenir anyway. My next goal is to spin 2 full bobbins and see how much yarn I can get.
The lovely roving came from Hanks in the Hood. Look how pretty!
I am really tempted to spin a little bit of it. But I'm going to try to resist temptation until I get more consistent. I would really like to turn it into yarn I can make something with. Maybe a hat. Oh goodness. I just went over to Etsy to grab her URL and see she has new rovings listed. m u s t n o t s p e n d m o n e y. Quickly closing Etsy.
And, I'm back to knitting. Hubby asked if I'd knit a sweater for his friend's little girl. Quite serendipitously, the new Lion Brand catalog arrived the same day and I found this adorable little Eyelet Yoke cardigan. I didn't have enough Cotton Ease that's called for in the pattern, but decided to make it with some Knit Picks Bare superwash merino worsted yarn. I can't remember what I originally bought it for (yet another reason for the yarn diet!) Someone on Ravelry mentioned she knit the sweater in one piece rather than in pieces. And she was right, it's very easily converted to be knit whole. The yarn is lovely. I decided to put the swatch through some washing tests since it is for a child. So far it's been through 2 cycles with no shrinkage or felting and it appears to only be getting softer. When the yarn diet is over, I may have to get some of this yarn to make myself a sweater!
It was an unseasonably warm day here in Pennsylvania. Even more odd being the start of Farm Show week (traditionally we have bad weather at least part of the week, usually snow). This week they are calling for temperatures in the 50s, it may even reach 60!
Despite the warm weather, I did relatively little today. I did practice spinning some more. I wound off the yarn I made yesterday using my new niddy noddy. What a cool tool. It is such a simple thing that makes skeining yarn a breeze. There's about 20 yds of wonky yarn. I soaked it and it's hanging to dry under weight. It does look better than before washing. Today I spun about half a bobbin full. It's coming a bit easier now. I'm having trouble adding a new strip of fiber on and drafting is still a challenge, but it's coming along. I'm able to get longer sections of even thickness yarn and there's fewer overtwisted and undertwisted sections. I find if I pull my roving into fairly thin strips I'm able to control my thickness more easily. And I have to try hard not to let my treadling get to fast. But it really does seem to get a little easier each time I sit down and try. As incentive, I decided to treat myself to some hand-dyed roving. I won't touch it until I'm more consistent, but having it sitting in front of me should keep me motivated to keep trying. Plus it was a fantastic deal, 4 oz for $7 from Hanks in the Hood on Etsy.
The yarn diet is still going strong. Although I was sorely tempted by the Knit Picks catalog that arrived this week. No new yarns, but they have adopted a new look and everything looks so enticing! But I'm committed to finishing these projects and then using some of my stash before I buy more yarn. And there's plenty of good stuff in there. I've still got that luscious Lime & Violet Darvoset from last summer and the Ranco and the RAVEN! Right now, though, knitting seems to be sucking the life out of my sole. I knit exactly 2 rounds on the Jaywalker socks in the last 4 days. I did manage to knit an inch or 2 on the Chevron scarf while watching The Prestige today. But mostly, I haven't been much in the mood to knit. I'm sure this funky will pass soon. For now, I'm enjoying the break and using the free time to get some reading done. My backlog of knitting magazines is immense, but I'm making a dent in it now.
Good first. I was able to find the colored Danish oil at the other local hardware store. I should have known they'd have it. This place is amazing. It's a small, old fashioned, family owned store. They've got just about anything you could need around the home. Anyway, they didn't have the Red Mahogany, so I went with Cherry. I applied 2 coats with a foam brush, let her sit over night and gave a good rub down with a cloth. And tada...
I couldn't be more pleased. The color is not showing up well in the picture. It's a lovely reddish brown color, not orange at all as it appears in the picture. I want to get a coat of wax on her yet too. I've ordered some lavender scented beeswax polish. All you can find in the store is lemon scented furniture wax and I hate lemon scented stuff. 
I tried to do a bit of spinning as you can see from the white blob on the bobbin. All I can say is I'm glad the wheel came with 2 pounds of fiber. It may take me the whole bag to get the hang of this! It is, of course, difficult learning any skill without the benefit of a teacher, so I'm sure it will take time and practice. There is a lady not far from here who gives spinning lessons, so I may indulge in that option at some point if self-study fails.
I had thought of naming her, but at the moment have decided not to. It does seem to be the thing to do, but I feel a little weird giving an inanimate object a name. For now, she's just "the wheel".
Now the bad. So I got the rest of the yarn I needed to finish the Ali bag. The rest of the knitting went super fast and I finished it on New Year's Day. I felted the bag in the washer with a pair of jeans. It just wouldn't felt properly. I used Wool of the Andes for the whole project and the same size 15 needle for the whole project. Yet after 5 agitation cycles, the bottom still wasn't felted, the straps felted to 2 different lengths (one is about 4 inches longer than the other), the top pipes overfelted making the bag stiff as a board at the top. I can't even get the disaster to sit upright so I could get a picture! I'm completely disappointed in the project. At least it didn't take much time, but the cost of materials was considerable. And there's not really any way to reclaim that yarn. Since it is felt now, I might try cutting it up and making hot pads or something with the body portion. I might try felting the bottom again and doing the same if I can get it to felt. I want to emphasize, I don't think any of this is the patterns fault. Sharon wrote a good pattern, and the bag looked very promising before it was felted. But I would not suggest trying to make such a radical yarn substitution as I did. I also want to say, I loved working with the Wool of the Andes yarn. It was WAY softer than I expected for such a cheap wool. I would seriously think about using this yarn for sweaters. At the moment, the disappointment of this project and the enchantment of the wheel has me pretty much not knitting. I've got the 2 pair of socks and the scarf still on the needles, but I'm not really inspired to work on any of them. For now, concentrating on reading all I can about spinning and practicing on the wheel.
Hooray!! Santa whispered in hubby's ear found a way for me to get my spinning wheel NOW! Well yesterday actually. I ordered the Kromski Minstrel from Winderwood Farm. I'm so excited. Bob said I could have it in as few as 3 days (which I think is HIGHLY unlikely since we are in the middle of the holidays) but certainly in a week. Squee! I'm so excited. Wait, did I say that already. Oh, who cares. I'm SO EXCITED!
Ok, if I'm going to do this yarn diet, I figured I better set some rules ("they're really more like guidelines") for myself.
Rule 1: The diet starts now. Although technically the last time I bought yarn was 3 days ago, I'm officially starting to count from today.
Rule 2: I will not purchase yarn for any new projects until
a. April 15 (might as well use another significant date to keep things simple) OR
b. I have enough money for a wheel and what ever I need to get started spinning (roving, books, videos, etc)
Rule 3: If I run out of yarn for a project currently underway or one started from stash, I can buy enough yarn to finish that project.
Rule 4: I will save the money not spent on yarn towards the purchase of a new spinning wheel.
Four rules sounds like enough. Should I change my mind about the wheel at any time in the next 4 months, I'm going to stick to the diet. The purpose for the diet is two fold: save money for a wheel AND reduce stash. For motivation, I'm going to put one of those nifty counter things on my sidebar to help track how long I can stick to the diet. I imagine this will be infinitely easier than any food related diet I've ever stuck to. There's plenty of stash to dive into and hopefully enough variety to keep me interested. Wish me luck.
Hooray! I finished Mr. Greenjeans and it turned out fabulous!
I had just enough yarn with the 5 skeins of Patons Classic Wool. There was maybe a quarter of a ball left in the end. I followed the pattern except for 2 things: I messed up when I started the cabled part of the body, starting with a cable column rather than a plain column, but unless you were familiar with the pattern, I didn't think anyone would notice; and I didn't switch to smaller needles for the cables on the sleeves. The body was pulling in so much, I was afraid the sleeves would be too tight. In the end I think it would have been fine to use the smaller needles. After washing, the cables loosened up quite a bit and the sweater fits perfectly. Can't wait to wear it Christmas day!
Now I'm working to finish the socks I've been slogging away at all summer. The Drops Tube Socks are officially not tube socks since I turned a short row heel, but I haven't come up with a new name of for them.
I came thisclose to ripping the Jaywalkers because I just couldn't get motivated with them. I love the yarn and hated that it wasn't getting knitted up. However, I just couldn't rip them and now I'm glad I didn't.
I've gotten past the heel turn and am getting into the rhythm of the pattern now. The socks are moving along much quicker now. The problem with both patterns is that they require me to pay at least a bit of attention and count some amount of stitches on every row. I just haven't had enough quiet time to ingrain the patterns into my brain and fingers. Hopefully now, though, they'll start going faster.
I started on the Ali Bag. Since I couldn't find the yarn called for in colors I liked and for a price I wanted to pay, I opted to use 4 strands of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes.
This appears to be working fine, except I grossly miscalculated the amounts of yarn I'll need and already run out of the 2 main colors!
Luckily KP has them in stock and I was able to get my order in before they closed for the holidays. They shipped a few days ago so I should have them late next week.
Montego Bay has been frogged and the yarn re purposed into a Chevron Scarf. Mom had picked out some Sockotta yarn for me to make her a scarf we saw on display the Ball & Skein. I tried knitting the pattern from the shop. Hated it. Tried 2 more patterns, hated them. The yarn just wasn't cutting it on it's own. The cotton was too stiff, the colors were to jacquard. In steps some Sea Silk (formerly Montego Bay) and Joelle Hoverson's Chevron Scarf pattern (from this book) and voila
lovely, pretty, soft scarf. I'm not crazy about knitting scarves, they seem to take forever. But I think this will be really nice when it's done and mom will love it.
One other finished object to report.
An Irish Hiking Hat knit in Patons Shetland Chunky. Turned out a little too small to line it as the pattern calls for. But it's nice and cozy even without the lining (and it looks super cute if I do say so myself). I added a seed stitch border so it covers my ears nicely. This was a super fast knit, I think it might have taken a weekend. I will definitely be knitting this one again. Next time with a few more rows on the crown to allow for lining.
Only one item of stash enhancement to report
A skein of Araucania Ranco Multy. The colors are gorgeous. The Ravens yarn is still waiting in the wings. I'm committed to getting these socks off the needles before starting another project.
I've decided to go on a yarn diet for awhile. I've got a good amount of sock stash and yarn for several other small projects to keep me busy for at least a few months. The reason for the diet? Apart from motivation to use up some of my stash, I've decided I want to get a spinning wheel. The seed was planted decades ago. In my Grandma Miller's spare bedroom was a spinning wheel. I loved looking at it. It fascinated my child's mind, although I never got around to asking Grandma about it. This past spring, a locally made spinning wheel was auctioned off at our library's spring auction. And the seed started to sprout. The wheel was gorgeous. A Saxony style (think of Rumpelstiltskin's wheel or look here for examples). But I knew nothing about wheels and was hesitant. My sister and I were bidding together against another lady. We had no idea what it was worth, but knew our budget. R (the gutsier sister) kept bidding well past our budget, leaving me somewhat quaking in my boots knowing I'd be the one expected to learn to use it if we got it. (Un)fortunately we ended up not winning it in the end. In hindsight, now that I've started researching wheels, I see that she got it for a steal (if I recall it went just under $300). I was somewhat relieved, but still...the idea of a wheel was intriguing. I see bloggers like the Yarn Harlot & Wendy and hear podcasters like Kim & Lime and Violet all talking about their spinning and the sprout grows the tiniest bit at each mention. I see fabulous rovings on Etsy and think of the beautiful potential it has. Then along comes Ravelry (the Mecca of knitters) and see all the gorgeous fabulous handspun yarns my fellow knitters are creating. Now the sprout has got roots and at least a pair of leaves. So I decide to just do a little bit of poking around on the internet and see what wheels are out there and get an idea of what I might like. It's overwhelming! There's so many choices! But each day, I'm feeling more and more like this is the next step I want to take in my fiber journey and so I look and research some more. At the moment, I'm leaning heavily towards a Kromski Minstrel castle wheel. It's small size will fit my space much better than a Saxony but it's old world look suits my aesthetic better than a modern portable wheel. It's going to be awhile before I save enough for the wheel of my dreams (and why settle for less, right?) For now, I'm reading everything I can about wheels and spinning. Then, in a few months when I've saved enough money, we'll see if this mighty sprout is still niggling away at me or if the phase has passed. More on this subject to follow, I'm sure.
And now, wishing everyone out there a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and joyous New Year!
I love the colors. I'm calling it Brambleberry. The yarn is a bit darker in person, but the colors are just fabulous. Doesn't look anything like the dyes I poured in the pot. That's one of the joys of kettle dyeing, the colors blend into very unexpected and usually fascinating results. I got 140 yds in 4 ounces. Still a long way from my goal of spinning a sock weight yarn. I'm feeling somewhat frustrated that I can't get my consistency down. I'm not into the whole thick/thin yarn so I'd really like to spin more evenly. Now I'm faced with the dilemma of what to spin next. I've got over a pound of the corriedale left. I could spin that as is, or dye off another hunk. Or I have the Hanks in the Hood roving I would love to spin. I wanted to try to spin that into sock yarn, and I know I'm just not there yet. Maybe I'll just take a few days off from spinning to think about it. The toddler sweater is coming along really well. I finished the body and have started the first sleeve. If I put some serious knitting time in this weekend, I should be able to get started on the yoke and possibly finish it by next weekend.
