Time Warp Fiber

A bit later than I thought, but I am blogging again. And presenting a finished object, no less. This is the second clapotis I've made. I'm not usually much for the same patterns that the whole knitting world rushes after, but I'll admit a deep admiration for anything Kate Gilbert. This pattern, for example, is so simple and adaptable but still fresh and interesting. In this case, I've used a larger needle size, a 6.5 mm (10.5 US) and done just two sets of increase rows. The finished dimensions are about seven feet by ten inches. I haven't worn it yet, but today was the first cloudy, cool day, and tomorrow, it's actually supposed to rain. Horrifying, I know. I'm concerned no one will remember how to drive. The scarf is lightweight and fluffy and warm, and I think it'll be a good one. Mostly, it's special for the process. Here it is in pictures.

Ashford hand cards, shown here with my beautiful hand crafted spindle and some of the fruits of my first carding experiment.

I mentioned I'd been spinning right? I took quite a hiatus, with the holidays and the move. You can see in the photo (click to enlarge) that it took me a while to get back into the groove of consistent yarn. The lovely green roving is corriedale, and it was a gift 'for the soul' from a swap I did last fall. As I said at the time, it's very apt, as spinning is something I turn to to soothe me, particularly in rough moments. I haven't spun corriedale before, but it's turning out nicely. Not as soft as merino, but glossy and long-stapled. I'm spinning this long draw (my preferred method) at about the thickness of a fingering weight yarn. It will be plyed with this variegated green roving to make a roughly sport weight yarn. (I rarely spin with a particular project in mind) I think it will be interesting to see how the solid and the variegated plys will interact. You might recognize these colors from this yarn , which I spun from the same roving for the Knit Picky holiday party. The roving is a fine Australian wool (not sure of breed) which I got ages ago in Ohio, and which I dyed on a visit to Laura's studio last september. It's fun to spin the stuff I did that day and remember that warm afternoon and how much fun it was. Laura is planning a wedding these days, so I'll hope some of the peace and fond memories my spinning evokes for me will find its way to her. I know it's a help to me. 

Working at a yarn shop, I am surrounded by mill spun yarn and knitting all day. I spend a lot of time thinking about my knitting, or helping customers was their knitting. As a result, some of my other fiber craftiness gets lost. Weaving is always slow going, I'm content to acknowledge that a few scarves and shawls a year is all I'll get from that. But I realized I haven't been doing much spinning either. Part of it is doldrums and lack of motivation that's all too common around here, another hefty part is not having a lot of time between working, job hunting, and trying to keep up with the housework. And my wheel is not at all portable. I'd love to have a folding lendrum someday, but that kind of purchase is way out of my league for now. My Louet S17 is serviceable, but I'm starting to outgrow it. The slow drive ratios have something to do with that. This wheel refuses to spin fine. Complaints aside though, I am very fond of it, with lots of memories of finishing it myself. And the past few weeks, I've turned some actual yarn out.

The first skein is a woolen-spun two-ply merino, dyed as roving on a field trip to Laura's studio. This is about 100 grams, and I think around the 300 yard mark. (yes, I bravely mix metric and english measurements, conversion holds no fear for me) I wet finished this, as I do with most of my yarn, via shock and strike. Soak in very hot, dunk in cold, beat madly on the shower wall. If Butthead finds this behavior odd, he's never said anything. The yarn bloomed massively, almost doubling in size. It's unbelievably soft and smooshy. 

Skein number 2 is a thick and thin singles, also dyed as roving on my field trip. The wool is a 21 micron merino from australia, bought in tremendous quantity at the Great Lakes fiber festival more than a year ago. Gloriously soft, the color is good too.I wet finished this too, but more with an eye toward fulling a bit. Terrifying, right? But I plunged ahead. Soak in hot, the dunk in cold, then into another hot bath in which I agitated a bit with my hands. Not a ton, but some. Then the beating on the shower wall. The twist distributed well and the skein was actually balanced when done drying. ( I don't block my yarn, I like to retain the elasticity of the wool.) It's about 50 grams and 240 yards. This particular yarn is going to be offered as a door prize at the Knit Picky Christmas party, on Dec 9. 

Another upcoming fiber adventure for me is going to be blending fiber. I've asked Jan, who originally showed me how to spin, to borrow some combs to experiment with fiber prep. I'm hoping to have a little spending money after christmas, and I'm wanting combs or cards. I'm leaning toward combs and hopefully getting  drumcarder in the future to have both kinds of prep at my disposal. I'll try to post photos as I try to blaze through a ton of fiber in the short time I have combs on loan.

Dyed as roving on a field trip to Laura's studio, this was spun woolen relatively fine (my S17 doesn't do really fine at all). I made no attempt to pattern-ize the color, in neither dyeing nor spinning. Two-plied somewhat tightly. Finished by shock and strike. This yarn bloomed incredibly with finishing, about doubling in size. 

Dyed as roving in Laura's studio, I spun this into a thick and thin single and wet finished vigorously with some felting. The yarn was balanced, hanging totally straight when it was dry.