My first real yarn!

Well, well. After my last post I "just" had to ply something together to share my first real skein of handspun with you. Ha! Little did I know that plying would take me a good 4-5 hours of time! Anyway, I recently shared some work in progress pictures of this hand spun project and now I have the FO for you.

I can't wait to cast on and actually knit with this yarn, but for now I just carry the skein with me everywhere I go... yes, it's in my purse... because I just love admiring the pretty colors! When I finally do cast on, I think I'll make a shawl with the yarn... perhaps the textured shawl.

I was impressed with my ability spin thin yarn. The 4 ounces of fiber yielded 480 yards of 2 ply fingering-weight yarn.

I also have another spinning project in progress. I have one pound of BFL that I am spinning up for a sweater. So far I have 2 skeins. One skein is a dk weight and the other is a fingering weight. These two skeins used to be one skein, but I spilt it into two when I realized that I started spinning thicker yarn and got thinner as I progressed. Beginners error! I'm hoping the rest can be spun up at the fingering weight.

Feeling blue and brown

Two of the projects I am working on right now are in the blue and brown color family.

First up, a quick knit from leftover sock yarn from my Spirit Trail Fiberworks Charade socks. This is the tiny shoe pattern by Ysolda Teague. As with most of her designs, this one is very clever, with minimal seaming/finishing involved.







I'm also getting in my spinning practice. A friend bought me a surprise gift of Sheep Shop Yarn Company merino roving in "Royalty." So far, I've spun up 1 of the four ounces. I am still a pretty slow spinner, but my product is getting more consistent as I go. Here's a picture of the roving, pre-drafted roving, and spun single ply. I have no clue how this is going to knit up. I'm thinking this will make a lovely winter shawl or scarf.

spinning progress

Spinning takes a lot of concentration for me right now. But I'm having fun playing with my Ashford Traveller. And I'm hopeful that I'll be making knitable yarn soon.

Here's an action shot of me spinning, courtesy of a friend and her new camera.



I'm not 100% there yet with regard to making consistent yarn. But, I'm giving myself points for progress. Here's what I have to share: from left to right my first, second, and third handspuns. The first two are "practice wool" that I bought at MD S&W and the third is practice merino courtesy of another friend.

I took a few detailed shots of the merino before plying and then after plying (in the skein). The skein had not been wash yet in this picture, so I think it will even out a little more.

A surprise Sheep and Wool purchase

What did I buy at Sheep and Wool? Yarn, yes -- lots of goodies: Tilli Thomas (10 skeins of superwash merino for $20!) and Tess (a sweater's quantity of superwash merino, black superwash lace weight for a sweater, and green superwash laceweight for a shawl) got most of my business... that was before lunch.

But before I about the purchases, check out the pre-gaming Sheep and Wool celebrations. The first annual Enabler's Tailgate!

A little bubbly to kick things off!



Some of the ladies enjoying a cold beverage.



Elijah was a big fan of the coffee cake and his mimosa...



By far the best (only?) S&W tailgate!

A few stars from the festival.

Check out the teeth on this guy! He was very social and let me pet him while he was munching.

So, what was the big purchase? After lunch, I decided to take the plunge and buy a spinning wheel! Here's the picture of the Ashford Traveller that I tried. I have her twin in my living room now! More on how spinning is going (hint: not well yet! ;) ) soon...

why the hiatus?

Oh, yes, and I should explain my posting hiatus. I've been busy... knitting! I know, no excuse not to post. Why didn't I share? Well, in an effort to knit down my stash over the past few months, and with the encouragement of a little friendly competition, I have kept my "nose to the needles," if you will.

The result? 10,914 yards knit into FOs from December 1 - April 30. As Sarah pointed out at Wednesday's meet-up, 6.2 miles of yarn. Wow. Needless to say, I have lots of FOs to share and will try to catch up in some upcoming posts.

With Sheep and Wool coming up tomorrow and my stash pretty much decimated, the timing could not be better. I'm looking forward to some lovely sheep goodies to replenish my knitting basket!

Oh, and before I forget, I dabbled in dyeing and spinning in the month of April, thanks to the generosity of some of my favorite "enablers." To be clear, I understand the general principles of these activities now, but am far from being proficient at either of them. Nonetheless, I have a some souvenirs from my non-knitting fiber adventures.

Here is my first attempt at dyeing. The base is a wool/nylon blend. There was a bit of a mix up with the colors and I used "teal" where I wanted to use "moss." No matter. A little over-dyeing resulted in a brilliant, rich green. The grayish-green color in the skein is called herb green. Although it looks more plain-ole-gray than green next to the rich moss over teal. And the white spots? That's just my error and inexperience, i.e., not knowing how to fully saturate a skein of yarn. The combination reminds me of something industrial... don't know why. Anyway, I dubbed my first colorway "green machine."



Despite my blunders, it's knitting up nicely into a pair of Jaywalkers.



My second dyeing attempt was on a fancier base (Fingering / 4 ply Nylon, Metallic, Silk, Merino). The first round of dyeing this skein was using various concentrations of the color "wedge wood." It was pretty, but in the end looked like a blue version of "green machine." I was going for more of a semi-solid look. So, under Shelby's great advice, I over-dyed the skein with a medium concentration of the color "gunmetal." I named this colorway "gunmetal over wedge wood." Clever, huh? I'm hoping to knit this into a pretty, sparkly shawl.



Finally, my first attempt at spinning. The result is a ridiculous mess, really. Thick and thin and totally un-knitable. But how fun to watch yarn appear before your eyes! I couldn't quite get the hang of a drop spindle, but the spinning wheel was lots of fun. And thank goodness for Elizabeth's patience in teaching me. Boy, were my hands uncoordinated!! At least I got a good laugh out of my clumsiness. I'll have to get some more practice and do some serious research before I invest in a wheel... one day though!