Monday, July 28, 2008
I’m gearing up for the Ravelympics. I will be competing in 4 events, but only actually doing 2 things. Ha! I’m going to be knitting Evangeline (fingerless mitts) for the Mitten Medley, Cable Steeplechase and Hand-dyed Hurdles. The yarn I’m using was hand-dyed (well, over-dyed) in a gorgeous semi-solid red. I really can’t wait to start working on them. I’m so excited to see how the yarn knits up and I’ve wanted to make these mitts for a while now.
I’m also competing in the Handspun Heptathalon, and will be spinning and plying 3.5 oz of royal blue Corriedale. with the 0.5oz I’ve already spun. I’ve gotten back into my spinning and having a blast. I’m hoping to get a nice 2-ply laceweight yarn out of it, but if it ends up fingering weight, I don’t mind.
In the meantime, I’ve started working on sleeve #2 for my Minimalist Cardigan. I’m almost 1/2 way done and hoping to get that finished very soon so I can finally seam this up and be able to wear it, even though it’s too hot still.
The Quinn Cabled Bag is finished. I really like it, but do have one slight issue. I think I braided my strap too tightly because now it twists on itself, but it’s pretty sturdy. I want to eventually line it and put a snap or some other type of closure on it, because it hangs open.
Posted in Bags, Knitting, Spinning, Sweaters and Cardigans | 1 Comment
Friday, May 23, 2008
I recently purchased more fiber. Yeah. I know. I have enough already to keep me busy spinning for months. But I couldn’t help it. I bought the same stuff as before (BFL from Sakina Needles in Woodstock), so I could spin it up and have more yarn available for the campfire socks. That way I can make socks that come up higher than just my ankles. I’m plugging away at the socks and although I don’t have photos yet, I’m make decent progress on the foot. So far they look okay although I think they will be a bit loose. I probably should have gone down to a size 3 needle, instead of going up to a size 5. I will post a photo as soon as I can.
I’m having computer issues. My battery is bad and I’m taking my laptop to the Apple store this weekend, in hopes of getting a replacement.
Posted in Knitting, Personal, Spinning | No Comments
Friday, May 16, 2008
I’m not sure if I mentioned it before, but I recently learned to spin. My SIL had been wanting me to spin for a long time, but I never got into it, although I thought it looked fun and interesting. A while back, I won a free CD spindle kit from Interweave, so I decided to try it out. Of course I got instantly hooked. My first yarn looked like crap. I purchased a few spindles from ButterflyGirlDesigns and some roving from Sakina Needles and started practicing. I started out with Superwash Merino and some really pretty colors. Sakina Needles has gorgeous stuff. You should check them out. I did okay, but still felt really clumsy with my drafting. I also felt that my CD spindle was akward. But I kept at it and produced a small amount of bulky weight 2-ply. I still have about 2oz of superwash merino left.
Once my BGD spindles came in, I decided to try some Blue-faced Leicester (BFL) because everyone at ravelry said it was better than merino for beginning spinners. So off I went. I purchased 4oz again from SN because I just love their colorways. It was instant success. Drafting was going extremely well, I was struggling so much less with this fiber and my spindle spun light a dream. I managed to get some pretty fine, fingering weight yarn. I was in spinning heaven. I was making yarn finally, something that really looked like yarn! It was so exciting I took pictures and was showing everyone. I emailed my SIL and told her I was officially spinning. She was over the moon, so excited she was doing a happy dance. LOL!
We immediately planned a fiber weekend, so she could show me how to spin on a wheel. She has an antique wheel dating to pre-civil war era. She set it up and got me spinning on it pretty quickly. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I was using some mystery wool she had brought with her and it was very easy to draft, I filled up the bobbin pretty quickly. The disaster came when I tried to work with the merino. Even she had problems getting started. So I quickly put it away and decided to wait on it and try with something a bit easier. But I absolutely fell in love with spinning on a wheel. It was very addictive and I was sad to see her leave at the end of the weekend with her wheel.
I shouldn’t have been. My husband, wonderful man that he is, saw how much fun I was having and surprised me with my very own wheel a few days later!! I’m now the proud owner of a Kromski Prelude and I absolutely love it. I’ve managed to churn out some gorgeous yarn with it as well. I finished my BFL on the wheel and plied it. I managed to get approx 205 yards of DK to worsted weight yarn. I’m still trying to figure out what to do with it, but I’m thinking I will make some fingerless mitts for when the weather turns colder.
I’ve also been spinning some other fibers. I’ve got some gorgeous deep royal blue corriedale that came with my wheel that I’ve been spinning on my spindle. I really like spinning it, the color is so pretty, but I’m partial to blue. :) and drafting it has been a breeze. My only complaint is that my spindle has a murano glass whorl and the yarn keeps slipping on it, so I’m having to figure out ways to keep that from happening.
I’ve also been spinning some south african fine yarn that I bought on etsy. It was started as part of a spin-along at ravelry and I’m challenging myself to spin it laceweight. I checked my WPI last night on the tail end that is on the bobbin and I got 40wpi!! Definitely laceweight and gorgeous. I love the subtlety of the color changes.
Posted in Spinning | No Comments
