Spinning the summer away

As always this summer blew right by me. Part of me always dreads the summer and the non stop busy days at work that the summer reading program brings. Add to that a family emergency (everything is good now) and nonstop weekend shifts I have barely had any time this summer. My vegetable garden is doing well but sadly I have not uploaded any photos of that lately. My other gardens are full of weeds and struggling but since those don’t give me my beloved tomatoes I’m not that concerned at the moment. Back in July I did participate in Tour De Fleece, just not the way I would have wanted. I had lofty goals that were squashed when the more important aspects of life came about. I was just happy to find a few moments of calm and spin whatever I could. Last year I was unable to attend Rhinebeck so my friends picked out a bump of fiber so I wouldn’t be left out. They came back with this:

Frabjous Fibers Mermaid Tail in “Purple People Eater,” it is a blend of wool and seacell.





That’s 696 yards of a heavy lace weight that will be paired with this mystery fiber:






That’s 670 yards of a heavy lace weight, maybe merino/tencel.



I spun these two for Andrea’s Shawl from Through the Loops. I really like how they look together and think they will make a lovely shawl.

I also joined All Spun Up’s summer spin along; the colorway is “Down to Earth” a merino/silk blend.





I managed a very thin lace weight, 1,150 yards out of 4 ounces. This has knit up into a beautiful and very large Citron that is nearly finished; it was placed on scrap yarn in order to start my Andrea’s Shawl for the Through the Loops KAL.

Next up cookies!

You spin me

I have always admired people who can spin up 4 oz of yarn and get over 1,000 yards. That has been my goal for a while now and I have finally, with some patience and practice I have been able to achieve such a thing.






I really should put something in for scale here, but trust me it is really thin. In the end I have just over 1,000 of this beautiful pink merino tencel blend from Spincerely Yours. Now I just need to find the perfect pattern for this beautiful yarn.

Heathcliff, my love.

Not too long ago I snatched up a merino/silk/bamboo blend from Funky Carolina in the colorway “Hermione.”




I just couldn’t resist the colors or the fibers. I knew that I wanted to make a nice warm shawl and thought that the “Wandering the Moor” pattern would be a perfect fit. The colors also make me think of the heather on the moors, or what I think they look like since I have never seen them. I set out spinning it with a particular weight in mind. I wanted it a bit thinner than this yarn



But thicker than this one



Unfortunately I failed and instead of a nice middle ground of around 500 yards I only managed 388.



I think it was the fiber content that threw me a bit. It spun like a dream but when I plied it the singles puffed a bit more than I’m accustomed to. It made a very lovely squishy yarn but not nearly as thin as I intended.

The simple pattern lends itself to handspun yarn very nicely. While the pattern is very well written I couldn’t help myself and added a few changes. I like my triangular shawls to have a spine; it allows the pattern to be balanced. If the shawl does not have a decorative edging a simple two stitch garter stitch edge will do; this makes it so much easier to block. Since I added the spine I had to adjust the lace part a bit, incorporating the increased stitches into the lace. I don’t really remember what I did there since I winged it as I went along.





It is a bit smaller than I wanted, even after I added another repeat of the lace at the edge. I also wanted a more scalloped edge than that pattern calls for so between the points I k3, sl1 k2tog psso. It isn’t as pointy as I wanted but it will do.

Goodbye 2010... Hello 2011

2010 was the year of lace and handspun for me.  I did attempt to knit 10 shawls in 2010, but only made half of my goal.  I actually started nine shawls this year, three of which are in various states of completion and the last one needs to be ripped and started over.  I really think that the reason I did not reach my goal was because I spun for most of my shawls.  Two handspun mitts, a cowl, a baby gift and an owl made for a fun 2010.  I wasn't nearly as productive as I was in '09 but I think I lost some knitting mojo this year.  I hope that '11 will bring more inspiration, both creatively and through my blog.



Despite the uninspired knitting I was inspired to spin up a storm.  I managed to spin about 5446 yards, all shown except for one in the mosaic.  I tried some new fibers this year, and learned to love merino/tencel once more.  I'm excited for this year, I will be joining more fiber clubs and trying different fibers in attempt to break out of my merino/bamboo box I'm in.

2010 also found Scott and I traveling across the Atlantic for the first time.  I have yet to write up our adventure in England, which I'm slowly but surely doing.  We had such a blast seeing so many amazing places.

We also made our home a bit more ours by installing a patio and turning one of the bedrooms into a craft room.  Hopefully this summer won't be as hot and we will be able to enjoy our patio a bit more.

I also tried my hand at gardening for the first time.  I started seeds, albeit a bit too early, planted a workable but not the best vegetable garden.  I made some mistakes but despite the poor planning and placement of plants it still yielded a good amount of food.  I also tried canning for the first time.  My summer jam turned out more like soft jelly candy than spreadable jam but my apple butter was simply amazing.  This summer I want to can a bunch more jams and vegetables.  I'm hoping that my fledgling raspberry patch will thrive.

This year I hope to:
knit more sweaters and socks
spin a variety of fibers
write in my blog once a week
plant a bigger garden
can more foods

What are your hopes and dreams for 2011?

A dragon for a castle

I am not sure why I haven’t finished writing my post on our trip to London in May, it seems like ages ago but I do want to write something up. I’m finding that with where the computer is in the new house I don’t spend as much time on as I did in the apartment. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but I don’t update here all that very much.

This summer I spun this lovely merino/tencel blend I purchased sometime back in ’09 from Poppy flower Fibers. This lovely green, gray, and brown roving surprised me and became something spectacular!





I never imagined that the colors would blend so well.



I spun very thin singles that I turned into a two ply lace yarn. The colors reminded me so much of my favorite photo from our trip to England, the motte and bailey as at Warwick Castle.



Since the yarn made me think of that stunning castle I knew I had to knit the Red Dragon Shawl, every castle needs a dragon right?



This project just flew off the needles, in just over three weeks.









I completed four repeats of the star pattern which nearly killed me, and knit then knit until I was almost out of yarn. For some reason I kept dropping stitches when I purled the k1, yo, k1 in the same stitch. I think this reason alone prevented me from finishing in less than three weeks. The pattern itself was very straight forward and well written. I named my shawl Rhaegal because I’ve been slightly obsessed with George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire which I have read since June. I’m really missing it and hope the next one will finally be published soon.

A spinning good time

I’ve been in a knitting slump all summer and I’m not sure why. The weather has been brutally hot and despite having the central air on at all times I just can’t seem to pick up anything to knit. I am also seriously behind on my 10 shawls in 2010 with a grand total of three. I have three more on the needles and one waiting to be frogged. I have been spinning up a storm though, 2,773.5 yards this summer alone, and a grand total of 4,786 yards for the year! I tried something new this time around and really played with color. I have been lusting over some Raveler’s handspun yarn that shifted colors and wanted to try it myself. I took this merino/bamboo from All Spun Up



I separated the colors progressing from really light, to dark green and spun them up. The end results are exactly what I wanted to achieve.  700 yards







I’ve also tried my hand at spinning a thicker weight yarn. 143 yards



I n-plied this Polwarth from All Spun Up with hopes of making a light worsted weight yarn. It is thick and thin in places and no where near perfect but it should make some nice wrist warmers.

I spin some yarn for socks for Scott:



This is n-plied Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sheep 2 Shoe kit in Sockgate2 I think, 511.5 yards.

I also spun up some merino/soysilk from PigeonRoof Studios in “Plumeria” 745 yards



I found the soysilk to be very sticky and hard to draft so I predrafted the entire roving before spinning. After I washed the skein the fibers softened up a bunch and should knit into something soft and lovely.

My favorite has to be this merin/tencel from Poppy Flower Fiber, 674 yards





I really wanted to get closer to 1000 yards but I'll settle for the evenness of the yarn and the beautiful drape it has.  This will make a really lovely Red Dragon Shawl.

 Now my fingers are itching to spin up some of the merino/bamboo/silk that I have stashed.

2009 crafting round up

2009 turned out to be a productive crafting year for me completing 21 projects:

(click on the photo to see better)

Two mittens, eight lace shawls (three from handspun), four toys, one pair of mitts, two golf club head covers, one hat, three pairs of socks and one sweater.

I learned:
that lining mittens is always the route to go when knitting something stranded
knitted toys always put a smile on people's faces
handspun is always a pleasure to knit with
math is my friend.

I love knitting lace and when I saw that there is a group on Ravelry that challenges you to knit 10 lace shawls in 2010 I jumped right in! This will be a fun challenge for me.

2009 really improved my spinning.

(click on the photo to see better)

I took my first spinning class with my guild and was able to try spinning luxury fibers such as angora, bison down, llama, alpaca and mohair. I'm proudest of the last skein I spun, the Sheep 2 Shoe kit from Blue Moon Fiber Arts that will soon become a pair of knee high socks for me. I hope to keep getting better every time I sit down at the wheel and maybe produce a true lace weight, much thinner than the heavier lace I have been spinning.

If you didn't already know that I am a nerd...

Last February Scott gave me the very fast flyer for my Lendrum so I could spin lace weight. The first yarn I spun on it was a merino/tencel blend from Spunky Eclectic called 'Walking on the Sun.'



I started out with 4 oz hoping that it would be enough to knit the Woodland Shawl. The colors of the yarn made me think about what Mallorn trees would look like. For those who don't know what Mallorn trees are, read about them here. The yarn and the pattern were a perfect fit! I started it in March of '08 and knit until my brother's graduation in May of that same year. The pattern was very easy to memorize so it was the perfect project to take on the trip up to Oswego. Unfortunately I ran out of yarn just as we reached the University on the first day of a long weekend.



I ordered more fiber knowing that the color wouldn't match perfectly but I didn't mind. I spun up another 2 oz, and the final 2 oz languished in my bin for months. I really wanted to finish this shawl/stole in time to wear to the 21st Century Orchestra's Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring in October. The deadline was quickly approaching and I needed to spin and knit like a fiend. I was able to finish the knitting the week before the show and block it the night before. It was still damp when I unpinned the best but we did need our bed back to sleep on that night. I wore it pinned with Arwen's broach with pride.



It isn't as wide as I would want a stole to be, although I did wear it like one to the show. I think in the future I will wear this more like a scarf, doubled up and looped through itself. I wore it around Rhinebeck that way and it kept me pretty warm.



If you look closely you can see the difference in the spinning, the first half of the shawl has my very first attempts at lace weight yarn and the second lighter half is smoother and more even. I have been assured by many people that I'm nuts and no one can see the difference. I wouldn't want this piece to be any other way, I love that you can see a short history of my spinning.

Ravelry Details

2009 the year of lace?

It is no secret that I love to spin lace weight yarns. They take a long time and some concentration but every time I sit down at the wheel I want to spin thinner and thinner. I am constantly challenging myself to get more yardage from a mere 4 ounces. This desire either fuels or is fueled by my love of knitting lace. Don’t you think that everyone needs a lace shawl or ten? How about one in every color? Maybe it is time to start a lace revolution! Do you work in an office with an overly aggressive air conditioner? Grab a shawl. Do you want to add a splash of color to your outfit? Throw on a shawlette.

To round out the teal/blue part of the spectrum I began spinning this in early March.


4oz of Merino/Bamboo “Into a Cerulean Sky” from Gnome Spun Yarns

Which quickly turned into this


Then into this


724 yards at 33 WIP

This yarn was destined to become Laminara from the start. I started on April 6th and by the 18th it was completed.



It is a bit smaller than I wanted but I love it just the same. The only thing I will do differently next time I knit this (and there will be a next time, and handspun once again) I will go up a needle size for the star chart to make the stitches open a bit more.

More Handspun

I have one more skein of yarn to show you guys from Handspun February. I bought this beautiful Wool/Silk blend from All Spun Up for my birthday. As soon as it arrived I knew that I had to begin spinning.









Originally I spun this thinking that the yarn would be perfect for the Laminaria shawl but in the end the yarn was a bit too variegated to show off the wonderful stitches. I also did not get as much yardage as I had hoped. This skein is 650 yards, and about 25 WIP, just a bit shy of the 1000 yards required for the large Laminaria.

Once I realized that this yarn wouldn’t work for what I imagined, I started to think about knitting a lace ribbon scarf. I really like how the pattern looks and thought that maybe I should knit something that is not a shawl for a bit; then the Spring issue of Knitting came out that was the end of all those plans. There she was, Aeolian, all the stars lined up. I have the perfect weight yarn, the perfect yardage, and I even have some beads hanging around the apartment. I think that I’ll stop in my local craft store to see if they have some more colorful beads that match my yarn instead of the clear ones I have.

My only dilemma is do I cast on now or wait until I finish my Peacock Feathers Shawl?