Not everything takes 10 years

Handspun alpaca spun to cushy thickness and knitted to a lumberjack hat. Makes me want to sing, "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay. I sleep all night and work all day."

But I don't care. I've never had a hat this warm and that's all that matters. 

Mad Scientist at Work

Last week at knit group, several people were working on thrummed mittens which were so amazing.  If you’ve never encountered this technique, it involves knitting in tufts of roving.  We started talking about the other things you could make using this technique, like a lap blanket or slippers.

Two days later I got an email from a local yarn shop that featured a pattern for thrummed slippers.  The slippers themselves didn’t look hard, in fact they looked a lot like a vintage pattern I’ve been carrying around with me almost since I first learned to knit.  I’d never made them but the pattern was paired with a pair of gloves that are knitted flat, which was why I kept the pattern.  One of my knitting buddies said it looks exactly like the slippers she learned to make back in the day in 4H.

It wouldn’t be any big deal to incorporate the thrums into this pattern.  To try it out, I used the left over handspun from my poncho, Border Leicester fleece locks, and some roving.

The first thing to do was to try out the pattern so I could figure out how it works.  It turned out to be super easy.  Here are the basics:

The one on the left is inside out and the one on the right shows the roving
in the space between the slipper and the second sole.

 

(I used worsted weight yarn and US size 6 needles.)

Cast on 43 stitches.

Row 1 – K4, P1, K33, P1, K4.  (The outside edges end up folding down around your ankles.  If you want them to come up further on your feet, you simply increase the number of stitches between the purls.  But keep track because you’ll need to center the “sole” stitches on the next row.)

Row 2 – K16, P1, K9, P1, K16

Repeat these 2 rows until piece measure 3 ½ inches from the beginning.

Next row: Bind off 6 stitches, K31, P1, K4.

Next row: Bind of 6 stitches, K9, P1, K9, P1, K10

Next row, work in K1, P1 ribbing over 10 stitches, K11, work in P1, K1 ribbing to the end

Next row, work in K1, P1 ribbing over 10 stitches, P1, K9, P1, work remainder of stitches in rib pattern.

Repeat these 2 rows until it measures the length of the foot but don’t bind off.  Cut the yarn leaving a 14-inch tail.  Using a tapestry needle, run the yarn through the live stitches and pull the yarn through all the stitches and pull tight.  Work in the yarn.

So I discovered that the section between the K9 of the original 2^nd row was the bottom of the foot.  That’s where I needed to include the thrums.  I guess you could add them to the entire inside but the wool locks I was going to use for the thrums are quite long stapled and would wrap up around the sides.

On the first slipper I made, I interspersed the thrums 3 across the 9 stitch area and then staggered 2 across 4 rows later.  But I thought it needed a little more fullness so on the second one, I put 3 thrums across on each row.

I also changed the way I closed up the back seam.  The instructions say to sew the edges and then draw the 9 stitches of the bottom together.  On the second pair, I picked up 9 stitches along the back and knit a triangle inset to make the heel a little squarer.  Gathering the stitches made a bump in the back that wasn’t very comfortable.

I finished them and really liked where they were headed but, since today is the perfect day to try out warmy, cozy slippers, I realized they needed a little more on the bottom.

So I pulled out the chunky handspun from my leftovers and knitted an attachable sole.  To add to the cush and the warmth, I decided I would also pack the pocket between the new sole and the bottom of the slipper with wool roving.  Ain’t no cold getting’ near my tootsies with these suckers!

Can't Stop

 I just can’t stop starting new lace projects.  Two of them have been on the list for a long time and one just popped out a couple of nights ago.

A little over a year ago I got hold of a Spanish lace magazine called, La Encajera.  In it was a pattern for a bobbin lace fan.  It was really beautiful but it was also composed of elements that I knew how to do – individually, at least.  The challenge with it was that there were absolutely no instructions.  There was the pricking and a good photo but no clues as to how many pairs of bobbins, not to mention how to hang them, start off or anything else.  For a long time, I knew it was beyond my skills so I prepared the pricking, ordered the thread and waited for the right time.

It seems to be the right time now so I shrunk the pricking to match the thread I wanted to use (a nice linen thread) and got everything started.  If I just work slowly and pay close attention to how each element interacts with its neighbor, I should be okay.  I’ve only had to take out part of it twice so I think this is pretty good progress.

The second project was one I thought about last summer as I was in the process of buying the house.  I wanted something of my Glasgow heritage to be represented in the house but wasn’t sure how I wanted to do it.  After I did the Victorian Lady piece for Jane, I realized that this was the perfect style to work a piece based on the symbols and emblems that make up the coat of arms of Glasgow. 

 

All based on:

 There’s the tree that never grew,

There’s the bird that never flew,

There’s the fish that never swam,

There’s the bell that never rang.

 All of these are based in legends that you can read about here.  I took my representation from a photo of light post found in the city.

I’ve started but am prepared to go through a bit of trial and error to make sure to get something that will take pride of place over the mantle.

Finally, I had a crazy idea a couple of nights ago.  I had brought up a handspun skein of yarn from the basement that I was trying to decide what it wanted to be.  I had a lot of fun spinning it but I only had 1 skein of chunky yarn that wasn’t super soft and I wasn’t sure what to do with it.  I’d brought it up and dug out some needles, assuming I would be knitting something.

Who knows how these things happen but I looked at it and thought, “I wonder if I could use this to lace a scarf?”  Sure I could but how would I do it.  Although it was pretty chunky, I felt it needed a little more bulk so I decided to crochet a looooooong chain and use that for the lacing.  So I made a base and then crocheted 6 pairs of chains.  At first I thought I would need more but after thinking about it a little, I decided that any more would make it too bulky so I left it at that. 

A couple of unknowns were:

• How long should I make each chain?  I just made them long and tried to make them roughly the same length.  When I finished the chain, I only loosely bound it off – I figured I would need to adjust the length at the end of the day.  Actually, I was pretty sure I would need to add to the length (I didn’t) but this would work either way – to lengthen or shorten.
•  Where would I do the lacing?  I wasn’t going to make an actual pricking so I thought the bed would be plenty long for working it.  It was enough but not plenty.  When I reached the end of the bed, I finished.  Plus I had only 1 of my large pins left.  It was long enough.
• How would I finish it off at the end?  I ended up making a similar placket to what I’d begun with and tied the chains onto it.  The yarn ends were worked in with a needle but it needed more.  I decided to go with a plaited fringe.  I think it needs some large beads added to the fringe area but I didn’t have what I wanted on hand and it’s a freezing sheet of ice on the roads outside.  Beads can always be added later.

 

It was a fun project and gave me tons of ideas for some funky projects I could work in a similar manner. 

Determination

This post is about determination.  Not mine but my yarn's.  This is Blue-faced Leicester wool, dyed by Frabjous Fibers, spun by me several years ago that I've attempted to make various things with. The last effort was going to be a Shetland shawl.  I got the middle done and 3/4 of the border before I realized I wasn't going to have enough yarn.

One thing about getting fiber that's been hand-dyed.  It's never going to come out the same any two times, even if you have a recipe.  But I hoped against hope that it would work and ordered more of the colorway.  But there was no joy.  I got the new rope and, although deeply beautiful (as all their fiber is), it was not close enough even for government work.

But I so wanted to knit with this yarn that I ripped out the border and started again on a wrap shawl with one of my favorite lace patterns, one that, once established, is really easy to work without having to reference the pattern.  I've just finished the yarn that made up the border and have a good 25 inches (unblocked but slightly stretched).  Now I'm going to join on the yarn from the middle section, which was knitted corner to corner.  I decided not to rip it out and ball it up first.  I'm just going to knit right off the previous knitting to cause the least wear and tear to the yarn.  It's a little wider than I intended but it will be fine.  The plan is to finish the main body and then I have some merino roving that exactly matches the turquoise in this variegated yarn that I am spinning to match and I will use that to add a wide border to each end of the shawl to finish it off.  I may even go crazy and add some beads to that!

If you want to do this easy lace pattern, which creates a lovely wavy, leafy sort of pattern, here's what you do.

Cast on in multiples of 8 with at least a couple of extra stitches on either side.
The first half of the pattern goes like this:

• Yarn over, SSK, knit 6, repeat to end and then do your extra stitches (I've got 10 garter stitches on either side)
• Purl wrong side rows
• Yarn over, knit 1, SSK, knit 5, repeat to end
• etc.  Keep knitting 1 more stitch before the SSK and 1 stitch less after it until you get to
• Yarn over, knit 6, SSK, repeat to end.

For the second half of the pattern you reverse this, so you have:

• Knit 6, K2tog, yarn over
• Knit 5, K2tog, knit 1, yarn over
• Knit 4, K2tog, knit 2, yarn over
• etc. until you get to K2tog, knit 6, yarn over

This way your traveling stitch (whether it's moving to the left with the slip, slip, knit 2 stitches together (SSK) or moving to the right with the knit 2 together (K2tog)) weaves back and forth.  Really nice and really easy.  If you lose count, just keep an eye on where the traveling stitch is and you can find your place again.

Gettin' my happy dance on

Everyone, please join me in the happy dance.

Bits and Bobs

There's nothing organized about this post, just some things that got started, some things that got finished and some things that are in progress.

First of all, one of the challenges of spinning is figuring out what you're going to do with the yarn and if you have enough for what you'd like to do.  A couple of weeks ago, I spun some yarn from batt.  I wasn't that thrilled with the yarn but decided I would do a scarf/snood/whatever it came out to be.  I cast on in the round and started working up.  I decided on the way up that I'd cast on too many stitches so I did some decreases and then started a nice little lace pattern.  My mistake in casting on turned out to be a really nice little collar that lays flat across the shoulders.  Nice.  Once I got to the lace pattern, I decided I would just knit until the yarn finished and then I would stop.  Here's what I got:

I'm still not that crazy about the yarn but I've very happy with the final result.  The only problem is that it's not quite long enough to cover the whole head.  Never mind.  It makes a nice scarf anyway.

The second project came out of a conversation I had on Saturday at a birthday party.  We were waiting for the birthday girl when I got talking to a lady.  In the course of the conversation, we talked about alpacas and how if someone is allergic to wool, they can often wear alpaca.  Later in the conversation, we were talking about the cold weather and she made the comment that she looked for a knitted hat last winter and the only one she could find made her itch because it had wool in it.  She added that she was always looking for a knit hat with a pom-pom on the top like she had growing up.

Now, as a spinner and knitter, how could I not take up that challenge?  It's our goal in life that those lacking in fiber shall have it in the form and manner that would give them most joy.  When I got home, I had a look through my handspun stash to see if I had any alpaca that would serve.  What I found was a skein of medium grey alpaca singles that I'd spun probably 5 or 6 years ago - 460 yards of it!  I decided to go ahead and ply it and then use it for a knit hat - with a pom-pom.  I just used a basic recipe for a knit hat and whipped it up.  It doesn't yet have the pom-pom because I'm waiting for it to dry but I'm happy with how it came out and I think she'll like it.

This photo is not very good color but it shows the style anyway.  You can see the true color in the photo of the snood since it's fitted underneath it on the model.  If you're interested in the hat pattern, here's what I did.

With US size 4 needles and a yarn that was probably equivalent to DK or a light worsted, I cast on 80 stitches.  I worked knit 2/purl 2 ribbing for about 3 inches.  I then changed to US size 5 needles and knit in stockinette for about 6.5 inches more (9.5 inches in all).  Once I got it long enough so that it could be turned up at the cuff, I did the decrease this way:

Round 1: Knit 2 together.  Repeat around.
Round 2: Knit around
Repeat these 2 rows 2 more times (10 stitches remain)

Cut the thread, leaving a tail of about 10 inches.  Using a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through all the stitches twice.  I left the tail because I'll use that to help tack down the pom-pom.  That's all there is to it.  I used double pointed needles but, of course, you could use any technique you prefer.

I have been back working on my bobbin lace projects, too.  One of them is an attempt to make an entire yard of a bobbin lace pattern - a challenge instituted by the LACE group I'm in in Chicago.

I've got about 20 inches so far and I feel like a big girl lacer!  I'm working on a travel pillow that I made myself using some travel bobbins.  Although the pattern is a simple one (as befits my exceedingly amature status), I've had to do things like take out sections where I'd made mistakes, move the pattern on the pillow (which isn't as simple as it sounds) and add new threads as the bobbins have run out of thread.

Big as a Log

One of the advantages of knitting things with those really tiny needles is that when you get to do a project with US size 6 needles, they feel like logs and the knitting goes really, really fast.  Like this:

The variegated yarn is the Frabjous Fibers silk/merino/cashmere that I spun to (almost) worsted weight and the white is the KnitPicks Gloss (merino/silk) fiber spun to worsted weight.  Both were spun on my Kromski Symphony as 3-ply (Navajo plied) yarn with a high degree of grist.  I spun them fairly tight with the singles so that the final yarn would have that nice tight twist look.  I was disappointed because I lost of some of the softness of the fiber spinning it like this.  However, once it was knit up, dang if that softness didn't perk right back up.

I wanted to do a fair isle pattern for the hat but when I did, the colored yarn had enough really light sections that you realy lost the pattern.  I discovered that after I'd completely knit the sides of the hat - which was the second knitting of the hat because the first time was using US size 5 needles which proved to be way too small for the project.  So I basically knit 3 hats and a pair of mittens in the time it took to watch To Have and Have Not (first pairing of Bogey and Bacall - love that movie) and a couple of episodes of Psych (including the Duel Spires episode which I think is may favorite episode of the whole series - that's for another day, however).  Fast.

If you want to make the hat, I used size 6 needles, cast on 90 stitches.  I knit 3 rounds and then turned the hat inside out (to get the little brim).  I then knit 3 rounds white, 1 round color, 1 round of 2 stitches color, 2 stitches white, 1 round color. 

Then I did 3 rounds white, 2 rounds color, 2 rounds of 2 stitches color/2 stitches white, 2 rounds of color.

Next is 3 rounds of white, 1  round color, 1 round of 2 stitches color, 2 stitches white, 1 round color.  5 rounds white, 2 rounds color.

Now do 3 rounds purl (or just turn inside out and knit 3 rounds before turning it back like it was.

To decrease for the top, knit 8, k2 together then repeat all the way around.  Because of the way my yarn was variegated, I knit 1 round of color and 1 round of white.  You can use whatever color pattern you want.  Then the next decrease round is knit 7, k2 together and repeat.  I used 2 plain rounds between each decrease round and then continued to decrease as above, i.e. knit 6, k2 together; knit 5, k2 together, etc. for each decrease round.  You'll have to see how you go.  I continued until I had 8 stitches before I cut the edge and used a darning needle to draw the end of the yarn through all the stitches on the needles and work the end in.

I did a similar pattern for the mittens but cast on 40 stitches, knit 2 rounds white (k2/p2 ribbing) and about an inch of color yarn.  I used a basic mitten recipe for the thumb and hand shaping.  I did the same patterning as the hat until I got to the hands.  I decided to do the color for the top of the hands to echo the color for the top of the hat.

I wasn't sure how it would go but I'm definitely pleased with the final product.

I did run into one intsy littel tinsy problem, however, on the second mitten.  I'd spun the white from what I had left over from a batch of the Gloss fiber.  I'd been using it for demonstrations and had done some other little things with it.  And I almost made it, I really did.  I almost had enough for the whole set.  But I ended up being short 5 rounds on the second mitten and had to use a commercial wool yarn to finish it off.  How it got finished off is a story all in itself but suffice to say, white is not white is not white.  I spun some white BFL I had since it would have a similar light reflectiveness.  It was white but just not white enough.  I thought I wouldn't care, I just wanted the project done.  But it was just too different and I couldn't live with it.  Fortunately I had some commercially spun wool that was close enough to the color that really the only way you can tell the differenc eis to have a bright light to reflect off it.  The silk in the fiber has that silky shimmer to it and the commercial yarn didn't have that.  We'll have to see if anyone can pick out which is which!

Next day:  I went in to card some blended color rolags and you'll never guess what I found.  Yep, another section of the KnitPicks Gloss fiber. Don't it always happen that way.  Well, as Andy Griffin said to Otis when Otis kicked the goat who'd ate himself full of dynamite out of the jail cell and made him mad: Otis, 'bout one loaded goat at a time is all we can handle. (Doesn't really apply to anything, it just makes me laugh.)

An Ode to Split Peas (and other stuff like a 3 needle cast on)

I had a bunch of ham left over and was trying to think what to do with it.  So I whipped out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook app and came across a Split Pea and Ham soup recipe that was unbelievably easy - once I found the yellow split peas it called for.  I followed the recipe and dumped all the listed ingredients into the crock pot last night and got up this morning to the most amazing soup I've had in years.  It was all of about 5 ingredients and BAM!  It made me curious, though, to find out the difference between the green and yellow peas (nothing) and I found out some really interesting facts.  Here's what it says on Wikipedia:

They are a great source of protein and are also a very lean and healthy type of cereal, with only 1 gram of fat per 350 calorie serving. Most of the calories come from protein and complex carbohydrates. The split pea is known to be a natural food source that contains some of the highest amounts of fiber, containing 26 grams of fiber (104% DV based on a 2,000 calorie diet). Fiber is known to help the digestive system and to make people feel full and satiated.

I used to make a lentil soup but hadn't even thought about it for years.  I will be making more in the future, I guararntee.  Excuse me a minute, will you?

OK, I'm back and I'll try not to drip on the keyboard.

I decided I had enough of the handspun used for the hat and scarf for mittens.  Now, knitters will know that these decisions are as often made by wanting something to be true as by being able to prove the thing is true.  I was sure.  OK, I was pretty sure.  Who said trust but verify?  I decided to ball the skein into two equal size balls, then I'd be able to handle any surprises.

My second decision was to work the mittens from the tips down, something I've never done before but I decided if I had to substitute another yarn to make up for any shortages, it would be better to do that on the cuff rather than the tips.  But, hey, there's not much to a mitten, right?  But how to start?

I've heard of 3 needle bind-offs but couldn't that work the other way around?  Couldn't you do a 3 needle cast on?  I know there are a number of ways to cast on socks and whatever.  This is just how I figured out how to do it and here's what it looks like:

1. First I used a US size 7 double pointed needle (the size the mittens would be made with) and a US size 3 double pointed needle held together and did a long tail cast on to get 10 stitches.
2. Next, I pulled out the 7.  Using the 3 gave me lots more room to work the magic.
3. Using 2 size 7 needles, I knit 2 stitches from the first stitch on the needle.  I knit 1 stitch into the front of the stitch using 1 needle and I knit 1 stitch into the back of the stitch using the second needle.
4. Then I repeated the process across, giving me 20 stitches.  This isn't a great photo of the needles but it will give you an idea of what it looked like in the process:

6. Finally, I added 2 more needles and put 5 stitches of each of 4 double pointed needles and got ready to go.

 Then I just worked backwards, increasing on each side instead of decreasing.  When I got to the thumb, I bound off the number of stitches I would have normally cast on going the other way, knit around and then cast on the number of stitches I would normally have put aside on a stitch holder going the other way.  This does give you a little ridge at the bottom of the thumb when you have to go back and pick up stiches for the thumb but it doesn't show at all on the outside.

If I get a chance this weekend, I'll write out the pattern as I worked it but it was a very interesting new thing to learn.

Oh, yeah.  Did I end up with enough yarn?  Of course I did - with about 4 yards to spare!!

Busy Bee

I've been kind of quiet lately because I've been up to my elbows in projects and/or work (mostly work) but that just means there are reports to be made and even a couple of photos to show.

As I mentioned before, I will be teaching a class on Amigurumi crochet during the Lincoln Land Needle in a Haystack event on January 15th (you can register online here).  I have to say, I'm really getting into this.  I showed you some project I did earlier here.  I thought I might use the little turtle as the class project but in the back of my mind I kept thinking I wanted to do a bee.  I couldn't really find a pattern I liked so today I did this:

He turned out to be a happy little bee and cute to boot!  I'm pretty sure this is going to be our project.

I also got a couple of project finished up.  On the link above, along with the animals, is a scarf I made from some wool I'd spun up.  I started a hat but ran out of yarn.  Fortunately, I had another braid of roving left to spin.  From all that I could see, both braids were the same but when I got into the second braid, I realized that the colors were much mudier than the first and it did not turn out nearly as well as the first batch.  I'm so glad I did them in the order I did.  But I did get the braid finished, and with it, the hat:

I love it more than I could have imagined.  This yarn softened up tremendously when it was washed and I'm ready for tomorrow morning going back to work.  I love the vintage, almost flapper look of the hat, too.  It was totally unintentional, though, I have to say!

And talking about finishing, remember the felted clogs? I finally got around to actually felting them and something happened that I've never had happen before.  First, the felt:

These are shown next to the same shoe as the other.  I never get tired of it!  But the unexpected thing was that one of the clogs felted much more than the other. You can see the one on the left is larger than the one on the right. I've put it though another felting which helped but it's still too large so another felting will be on the horizon.  I just have to be careful to not overdo it and get one that won't fit my feet!!

Ready for Cold

I got a bright idea last night.  I had come across some single ply black alpaca I'd spun several years ago just waiting for the right project.  A couple of weeks ago at the Three Sisters Folk Art Guild, one of the ladies had a hat she'd knit of black, using a slightly variegated green in a fair isle pattern.  It was so beautiful.

So, I was spinning away on some variegated fiber and had a brainwave that it would look great knit with the black alpaca.  Here's what happened:

It hasn't been blocked but it was a little tight so on the brim, I decided to do an i-cord bind off.  But as I was doing it, I decided it wasn't going to make it quite loose enough so I went with just doing a knitted off edging (instead of slipping the 4 stitches back to the left hand needle and knitting it from the beginning, I knit the edging back and forth).  I really like the little rim it made and it's going to be snuggly and warm.  Who's afraid of the big, bad snow.  Ha!

Better than expected

Sometimes when you get a bump of roving, you have a very clear picture of what it will look like spun up and sometimes, not so much.  I bought some roving at the Bishophill Spin-in a couple of months ago and really loved the colors.  I spun a little sample and andean plied it to get an idea of what it would look like.  To be honest, it looked like vomit.  The mixture of colors was horrendous up against each other and I was so disappointed because I'd bought 2 bunches of it.  Nevertheless, I spun the first bunch and decided to Navajo ply it to keep the colors together.  Much more better.

I love this pattern for a scarf and I thought it would show up the colors well.  I'm so pleased with how it came out, especially after the first experiment.  Just goes to show, first impressions are necessarily the truth.

By the way, this scarf is easy, peasy and makes a great long scarf.  This yarn is worsted weight, 3 ply, and I'm using size 8 needles.  Cast on 15 stitches and knit a couple of rows in garter stitch to get started.  On the next row, knit 1 and wrap the yarn over the needle 2 times (3 times if you want the inbetween section to be longer - with worsted weight I think 2 is plenty but you can wrap more if you use a smaller yarn).  Repeat these 2 stitches to the last stitch, then knit 1.  On the next row, knit the knit stitch and drop the wraps.  Repeat to the end.  Knit 2 more rows.

Just keep going like this until the scarf is long enough.  I like to add a fringe to finish off the scarf.

Something else I worked on during the long weekend was more of this Blue-faced Leicester.  A while back, I spun 4 oz of this roving on the wheel but I also wanted to spun part of it with the spindle to see how it would compare.  I've been spinning it with an Ashford top-whorl drop spindle and am getting it superfine.  I've done enough for one skein but I've got a ton more on the bobbin ready to ply and I've got a fair bit to spin yet.

I also added 2 more skeins to my white on white project.  Lesson in silliness, really.  I'd spun a bobbin of cashmere (or angora - I'm not sure which but it's one or the other) and had a second bobbin to spin before plying.  It was only 1/2 an ounce (although in this fiber, it's really quite a lot).  Feeling quite pleased with myself, I started plying.  You can't imagine how soft unless you've felt it before.  Anyway, there I was all proud of myself and plying.  Until I realized something was wrong.  Very wrong.  It took me a little while to figure it out but there I was proudly plying a z ply and an s ply.  Wrong. 

That's definitely a lesson in how the proud have fallen.  There was no rectifying that mistake and there was no getting more of the fiber.  Drats.  Drats.  Drats. 

I walked around the apartment kicking myself and while I was walking, I spied with my little eye a bobbin of merino/silk that I'd spun up.  It was some of the KnitPicks fiber that I'd gotten to test out and there it was just waiting.  I wasn't sure which direction it had been spun but I was sure to be able to use it with one of the bobbins!  Ha!!  Sure enough, it worked and I navajo plied the other bobbin, giving me 2 more skeins!

It's adding up but I still have to figure out how I'm going to put them together.  Hmmm....

Up to Date

I only have a few minutes but I wanted to show some updates of the projects I started with my handspun this weekend.

This update is about as exciting as broccoli.  I like broccoli and all but you're not going to write home about it, are you?  I feel like that with lace projects in progress.  They lay there and be.  That's all.  There's nothing about looking at them that's going to tell you how beautiful they're going to be when finished and blocked.  But I'm pretty much on track so I'm going to show it.  I have one more repeat of this section (16 rows) before I move on to the border section (that will be 42 rows) and then I have a short edging section (16 rows, I think).  The other thing you never quite count on is how much longer a row takes when there are 250 stitches in the row than when there were 50.  Gets me every time.

The thing that really caught my fancy this weekend was a project with recycled handspun.  I spun this a few months ago with 1 singles of mohair and 1 singles of merino.  The mohair was variegated and the merino a single color and they blended beautifully.  I started something out of it, not because it was the right project for it but I was just keen to get something started with it.  Needless to say, it wasn't the right project and I ripped it out.  Then I came across this "seafoam" pattern and it clicked.  I started it with 56 stitches across (10 + 6 for the pattern repeat) and headed off.  I wasn't sure how much yarn I had or where it was going but I was so entralled, it really didn't matter.  The stitch pattern is super simple:

Knit 2 rows (it's a garter stitch pattern).

Knit 6, yarn over twice, knit 1, yarn over 3 times, knit 1 yarn over 4 times, knit 1, yarn over 3 times, knit 1, yarn over 2 times, (repeat from the beginning to last 6 stitches), knit 6.

Knit across, dropping all the yarn overs.

Knit 2 more rows

Knit 1, yarn over twice, knit 1, yarn over 3 times, knit 1 yarn over 4 times, knit 1, yarn over 3 times, knit 1, yarn over 2 times, (repeat from the beginning to the last stitch),  knit 1

Knit across, dropping all the yarn overs

Knit 2 more rows.

Easy, right?  And I love the effect.  You can't see it here but I added a button and buttonhole to the corner there and it makes a right lovely capelet.

Knit Your Own

I've been spinning away and I've got a plan just as soon as I get the fiber I ordered from Pacific Wool and Fiber but it's a secret for now. 

I got on a start new projects jag yesterday and started 2 new projects with my handspun.  One is a scarf made from the mohair/merino handspun I spun from fiber I got at Bishop Hill last year.  The mohair top was dyed in a mediteranean sea sort of colorway.  I plied it with a solid color merino and I love the effect it has on this scarf being knit with an "ocean wave" pattern.  Can't wait to get it finished and blocked out.

The second project is very close to my heart because I fell in love with the roving (Frabjous Fiber blue faced leicester), then I went batty over the finished yarn and now I'm head over heels with the way it looks with this Wisteria Shawl pattern from the Homespun Handknit book.  It's a wonderful easy pattern and is moving right alongI'll bet I have a goodly bit of it finished by the end of the weekend.

Handspun Heaven

I can't wait to post that I've finally, finally finished the spinning, knitting and blocking of my Cosima sweater using my handspun version of Berroco Cuzco (it just needs buttons).  It's also the first time I've tried to spin a yarn to match a commercial yarn.  Although I think my first batch of yarn was better and really quite close to the commercial yarn (I didn't do as great a job on the second batch), I'm pleased with how it came out.  I love this sweater pattern.  I'm thinking I want to do it a 3rd time, adjusted to use Mandarin cotton yarn.

About finishing (or trying to finish)

It's been quite a wild week since I got back from vacation.  I mentioned before about the Sebu mittens.  Here's the finished pair.  Can you tell which one was the goof?

I haven't blocked them yet but I'm happy to have them finished.  They were ready just in time for 80 degree temps!

The other thing I was eager to finish was another version of the Berroco Cosima.  I do love my Berroco yarns.  But this time I wanted to spin a yarn comparable to the Berroco Cuzco the pattern calls for.  I have to admit my early efforts weren't completely sucessful.  Spinners always say it's harder to spin a chunkier yarn.  For some reason, the inclination is to spin an ever-thinner yarn.

Cuzco is 50/50 wool/alpaca so I had this big plan to get 8 oz of silver gray wool and 8 oz of silver gray alpaca, pull them into strips and spin them together.  Probably not the "right" way to do it but I did it that way on purpose.  I wanted to see what would happen.  I spun about 2/3 of the yarn and put it away because it wasn't being much fun to spin.  There it sat until I went on this vacation.  Since I didn't have anything else to be knitting on (mittens, notwithstanding), I decided to take this along and see how far my 2 skeins would take me.  The yarn wasn't perfect but it worked up fine and I was able to get the back, 1 front and part of the second front done.  And I still had at least 1 skein left to spin.

I came home and got spinning.  There's something to the thing about practice, because when I came back to this project I found that I was much better able to control the diameter and make the yarn look like what I wanted.  Here's what I mean:

The dark gray is the Berroco and the silver gray is mine.  Pretty darn close, don't you think?

I got this washed up and ready to go and started knitting.  The next challenge is a very small issue - having enough fiber to spin to make the yarn to knit the sweater.  Sigh... 

Almost but just not quite. 

Now I just have to wait for more Colonial wool to come in.  Guess I learned one lesson out of this:  it takes more than 1 lb of fiber to make a sweater!  Everyone's always asking me how much fiber it takes to make a sweater.  Now I know what to say - more than 1 lb!

Selbu Mitts

When I was in Michigan a few weeks ago, I came across a wonderful book called Selbuvotter, Biography of a Knitting Tradition by Terri Shea.  One of the things I like most about the book is that, in addition to amazing patterns from authentic Selbu mittens and in addition to notes on construction, etc., there is a great overview of the history of Selbu knitting and the knitters who originated it and popularized and spread it.

I decided I wanted to spin some yarn to make one of the patterns to really get into the feel of it.  The yarn was 2-ply, more or less fingering weight or a little less and "rustic."  I'll leave it at that!

So, here is the first mitten done:

Traditionally it would have been knit with black and white but I had blue so mine are knit in blue and white.  So there! 

A Victorian Garden

I finished 4 ounces of the Blue-faced Leicester fiber in the colorway, Victorian Garden. Although I originally thought I would do a 4-ply, in the end I decided to do a 3-ply using the Navajo plying technique because I wanted to keep the colorway. I'm so glad I decided to do it this way. The stips of color were still long enough to not be too stripey but it just sort of intensified the colors that were there. Here's the skein - 270 yards or thereabouts.

After I got this spun up, I was so anxious to see how it knitted up that I couldn't wait to start. Plus I had to take my car to have it serviced Saturday morning so what better time?! This is knit on size 2 needles using my basic sock pattern because I didn't want anything to get in the way of the colors.

My first socks with my very own handspun sock yarn! So proud.

Progress

The handspun hoodie jacket is finished. I don't think I would ever be able to reproduce it but it's finished and...



...it fits perfectly.

It was such a beautiful day out that I thought it would be a great time to start carding my Navajo-Churro fiber. After I washed it the other week, I thought carding would help get more of the vegetable matter out of it but, unfortunately it didn't do much good. I carded and combed and hand processed and it's still as dirty as it was.

So surely it would fall out in the spinning, right? It's not like it it's stickers or stuff like that. It's just hay sort of stuff. So I got my beautiful Navajo spindle and started spinning. I learned 2 things in that short bit of time. (1) the vm didn't fall out, it got spun into the singles; and (2) I'm not very good at the long draw with the Navajo spindle.

As soon as I finish with the grey wool/alpaca I've got going on the spinning wheel, I'm going to have a go with the Navajo-Churro on the wheel and see if that works any better.

Handspun Weekend

Not for spinning, actually, but for finally knitting up some of the stuff I've already spun. One of the first projects I took on was to spin some light brown and some chocolate brown roving. These were spun on my Louet so they were both quite chunky. I was never able to do much better than chunky on the Louet. So last year I found a green/black mixture at a fiber event up in Wisconsin - the colorway was called Black Watch and I fell in in love. It was also spun mostly on the Louet but, while the other 2 were 2 plies and were fairly lofty, this was 3 ply and was much denser than I really meant it be. So it is not only chunky but it's pretty hefty, too. I decided that it was really too heavy to make a whole garment out of it so I started looking through my other stuff to see what I could mix it with. I wasn't sure what I would be able to make with it but I finally got a vision for on Friday night.

As sometimes happens, when you listen to the yarn, you can't go wrong. Knitting chunky yarn on 10 1/2 US needles is a recipe for a quick knit. The back is just 63 stiches and 52 rows to the underarm. Like I said, quick. As I knitted, I realized I wanted some blocks of colors and then as I got into the front sections, I realized it needed to be a hoodie. These pictures are totally unblocked. It's form fitting - I know this looks like it's not going to fit but it really does. It's just rolled under. I have 1 sleeve completely finished and the second sleeve is almost finished but I ran out of yarn while I was out and about today. Once I get those attached, I'll just need to pick up for the front placket, which I think I'm going to do in the chocolate brown. I also think I'm going to put in a zipper so that will make a difference in how I do the front placket.

I'm so thrilled how it's worked out and that it's gone so fast. I don't think I've ever made anything with needles this large so this is a new adventure!