Hello Spinning, It's Been Awhile

It's been a very long time since I've blogged about any spinning I've been doing. I'm guessing it'll probably go back to last years tour de fleece. I put my wheel away for a long time. When we moved into our new house I brought all three wheels with me and set them up in my beautiful new craft room and there they sat for a very long time - over six months I'm sure. 

  

And then I got inspired to spin this lovely batt.

 Its from etsy seller Dawning Dreams. Its super wash merino and bamboo. And the colourway is called Lisa Frank. I had no plans for it. I didn't care if it was a single or plied yarn. I had no care as to the weight of the finished yarn either. I just spin. And I let the fiber become what it wanted to become - which ended up being a two ply dk weight yarn.

It was a little tricky to spin. Since it's a batt there were different fiber types in the mix. And different fiber types require different spinning techniques (at least if you want a somewhat uniform yarn). The hot pink that you see was most definitely bamboo and had to be drafted so differently than the other colours which were wools. 

Overall it was a delight to spin. And I'm itching to do something with it. I'm just not sure what to do - knit or perhaps even weave. Time will tell.

Some Good Mail

I got both of these things in the mail recently and I couldn't help but share them. First up, some fiber. I love this so much. This fiber is prepared for spinning socks. I think the seller is brilliant. Its from etsy seller Cupcake Fiber Company. Notice that there are six batts of fiber. 3 plies for each sock for a total of 6 batts. All the weighing work is done for you. See! Brilliant!! And not only that....its superwash BFL so no felting of the socks aaaannnd....there is 12% nylon in the batts for added strength so the socks won't wear out. Genius! I love them so much. I've already started spinning this stuff up and it is great. Batts by nature is a woolen prep, but sock wear better if spun worsted, so I'm spinning worsted. The resulting yarn will not be a true worsted spun yarn because of the fiber prep, but I'm spinning it hard and tight. I'm hoping for some decent yardage since I don't want anklets. I'm aiming for a fingering weight yarn. We'll see. I've never spun yarn for socks before, and I realize a lot of special consideration has to be given to it, due to the hard wearing nature of socks - I think Cupcake Fibers takes care of a lot of it. Plus....its so darned cute!! Go check out her store. She usually has lots of great stuff....sometimes gradients even!

And speaking of gradients....look at this! Its from etsy seller Colorshift Yarns. She does such beautiful work. The change in colour from one skein to the next is very slight and the result is so gradual. I'm crazy about gradations lately. I immediately bought a pattern called Aranami Shawl to showcase this beautiful yarn. But now, I'm worried about yardage. Most FOs on Ravelry have used 500-600 yards and my colorshift set is 480 yards only. So, I'll have to either alter the pattern or come up with more yarn. Not sure what I'll do yet. I'm not casting on until I get something off the needles.

I can't stop spinning

Not that I want to or anything, but it is seriously interfering with the knitting time. The only thing thats gotten finished around here is a bulky hat. The pattern is Icing Swirl by Ysolda. And it knit up in a jiffy. I knit it out of 100% bulky alpaca. I'm not sure of the brand, but it is very drapey and warm and I really like it.

Can I just say how much I am enjoying my new sidekick? Its all I want to do! Spin, spin and spin some more. I'm finding it much more easy to adjust the settings on the wheel and come up with a different weight of yarn. This time I was going for a heavier weighted single and it totally worked. I'm loving this yarn so much that its all I can do to wait to cast on for that Bandana Cowl. The singles are fairly consistant and they aren't overly spun - which is such a huge deal for me. No way could I have gotten results like that on my Louet. Which means my spinning should only get better, right? This is just the second skein from my new Sidekick. Don't you just love the sparkles? Again, its a Loop batt. I should just bite the bullet and subscribe to her club, but I'm trying to reign in the spending. And I have my own drum carder. I should be able to make batts like this myself. Well, in theory I should, but somehow my batts turn out all lumpy, bumpy and stuff. Oh well, I guess I should practice it more. If I get seriously into doing my own carded batts then that means less knitting time too. Arrrgh...so many great fibery things to be doing, and so little time.

And I really need to finish a shawl that I started for Mehrnaz for Christmas. As of tomorrow Christmas is officially over. But Mehrnaz won't mind. As long as its red, she'll be okay whenever she gets it.

Happy New Year!

Yeah, I'm about a week late.  Oh well.  Things have been busy - work, life, etc.  Aimee and Max have move out, which makes me so sad, in ways I can't even explain.  It has been an absolute joy to have them here, especially on the heels of Mr. C's passing.  They filled a void for us.

Now, I've taken over Aimee's empty room.  Everything is now in there.  My two wheels, drumcarder, loom, skein winder, niddy noddys, sewing machine, yarn stash, fabric stash.  I could go on and on.  Some day, I'll post photos of my lovely craft room.  I'm very happy with it.  It is so nice to have everything in one place. 

I usually set some goals for myself in the new year.  Fiber goals that is.  Personal goals, I won't go into here.  Though maybe I should.  It might make me more accountable.  Well, in 2011, I would like to

• knit, crochet more from my every growing library.  I have been so fortunate to have a family that gets my fiber addiction.  Every occasion usually means I get some new books and magazines.  I love that.  They are a great source of inspiration.  But, I seldom knit from them.  I want to knit more from my knitting library.
• knit using my handspun.  I think I mention this quite a bit.  I love spinning, but find it incredibly difficult to find projects 'worthy' of the handspun.  I have to break this mentality somehow.  2011 will be the year to do it.
• knit a sweater for my mother.  I have had a fleece artist kit in my stash for some time now.  I love the pattern and the yarn.  I just have to do it.  Christmas 2011 - I hope to have a sweater for mom.
• knit more for Kev.  Poor Kev.  I never make him anything.  This has to change.  He is such a great supportive partner in everything I do.  And he spends a lot of time outside.  He needs to be warm too.
• start making and spinning batts.  I love to spin batts.  I have a drum carder.  There is no reason why I should be buying batts.  I could make them easily.  I need to do this more.

Speaking of batts, I was lucky enough to get some of hobbledehoy's batts just before the holidays.   I just love the way it spins up into a thick and thin single.  You can't see the sparklies in this, but there is just enough shimmer in here.  I think I'd like to weave this.  I've been so, so happy with weaving lately.  Its unbelievable how fast weaving goes.  Here is a simple scarf that I wove for Heather B.  Simple yarn, but with the slow colour changes, its very effective.

 One last photo to show you.  Here is a trio of handpun hats that I made for my trio of daughters/stepdaughters.  I love the hats,  I love the girls.  I hope they will wear the hats.   Picking a favorite would be like picking a favorite daughter right?

I'm still knitting

You wouldn't know it by the abundance of spinning posts but I have been knitting a little. I've made some progress on my drawstring raglan and I'm just about finished the BSJ. Not in time for the shower that was last night, but since its turning out big enough to fit a 5 year old, I'm sure it can wait.



And not to totally disappoint on the spinning front, but I carded up these yummy batts to spin. I'm totally loving the drum carder. I wish I had started using it sooner, but c'mon - you saw it. It was disgusting.