Shades of green

This is a 60" skein which I dyed in 2" sections with a sequence of different greens. The small skeins in the middle are commercial yarns with wool or alpaca content along with some acrylic and I wanted to see how much dye they would take up. Not a lot as it turns out.

I was wondering how many different shades of green I could get from lime, sunshine, bluebell and charcoal. This was the question I tried to answer yesterday. The result was five variations, all quite pale, but nevertheless interesting. I think I need to get some deeper colours of acid dye because then I could get a wider range of shades. The green skein is the 75m of thick and thin BFL from the other day and because I miscalulated the amount of dye I needed for it, I ended up dyeing the last 100g of superwash merino broken tops as well. I'm thinking hat and mittens maybe.

I've made some progress with the alpaca, I now have three skeins done. I'm having fantasies about drum carders since I find carding to be quite a challenge. I can't seem to avoid the doubled up fibres which occur. Still, somehow I'm getting fairly consistent length/weight ratios for each skein - about 2m/g. This is another 140m waiting for the twist to be set.

Biased

I know that 1 x 1 ribbing worked in the round has a tendancy to bias. I know why it happens, all circular knitting does it to some degree, but I don't know how to avoid it. This may not be too much of a problem in a small item like the twisted ribbing in the Monkey socks, but the neckband of this sweater is a disaster. I hadn't noticed how bad it was until I'd cast off some of it. Back to the drawing board. I do have an idea of how to get a better looking band, which I'll try later.

This is the cushion so far, I wanted to do something other than plain stocking stitch and the idea of a ripple appealed to me. It's going well although I might do some surface crochet up the lines of yarn overs, to fill the holes and add a bit more colour interest. We'll see.

Warm feet for me

The socks are done, washed and ready to wear. I'm very happy with them and I definitely want to make more. They are toe up, using Judy's Magic cast on, 60 stitches around on a 3mm Addi lace needle, magic loop. I used this as the starting point for the heel, fudging the number of stitches a bit. The cast off is the Norwegian cast off and I used a 3.25mm needle for it.

The two skeins of singles just before I wound them ready to cast on for the cushion cover. A swatch showed that a 5mm needle should be fine for this. I only did about three rows yet, and it feels lovely and soft to knit, but then BFL is supposed to be!

Got some dyeing done

Finally, I managed to spin the dyed sliver and finished up with about 150m of variable thickness singles. Then I realised that the undyed singles were a lot thicker (75m, oops) than the coloured ones, so I spun some more and this time I got 170m. It seems that it is harder to spin consistently when making uneven yarn than it is when spinning fine singles. I may dye the thicker skein in a different colourway and make a hat.

Here are the two dyed skeins side by side, drying after all the fun this afternoon. I managed to get similar shades, but obviously the colour distribution is very different. I can't wait to get knitting with this.

This book arrived a few days ago, I think it will be good for ideas. I need to have a reading session instead of flicking through which is all I've done so far.

Bright colours

This is over 100g of blue faced leicester sliver having a rinse after being dyed. I tried not adding any vinegar until after I'd put the colours where I wanted them which helped with the colour blending. Previously, I'd acidified the wool before dyeing, and then the dye stayed where it was put, which might be what is wanted, but not this time. This is definitely freestyle dyeing - add a bit of this and a bit of that and see what develops.

This is it when dry. I'm going to spin this into thick and thin singles like these...

and then knit a cushion cover for the spinning chair. The undyed yarn won't be that way for long, I hope to get that dyed over the weekend in a similar colourway to the sliver and then that will make the back of the cushion. This way I should get to see the difference it makes dyeing the fibre or the yarn first.

The second sock is under way, it's actually a bit further along than this picture shows. The first one fits fine and I'm thrilled that my plans for these socks worked out. I should even have a bit of yarn left over.

Booties and alpaca

I really appreciate all the lovely things that have been said about my stole. Thank you all.

Over the weekend, not a lot of knitting went on, but I did make something, from start to finish. They are (small and rather fiddly) bootees from the book I won last week; '50 Bootees to knit' by Zoe Mellor. I made the smallest size using some 4 ply baby superwash merino in non gender specific colours. There are supposed to be some french knots around the top of the foot, but I decided against them after several attempts failed miserably. I can do them with embroidery floss on linen, but can I do them on knitting? Anyhow, I like them just as they are.

I started another sock, this time in a commercial yarn. I haven' t got enough done yet to show up in a photo though. I've finished the first handspun sock, I'll take a picture tomorrow.

My ongoing spinning project comes under the category of ' What on earth was I thinking?' I bought about 800g or 1.75lb of raw alpaca fleece soon after I got my wheel. The fleece is lovely and soft, very dusty, and it is quite a challenge for a new spinner who has got used to prepared rovings. I spun two skeins like this one while the fleece was unwashed. I've washed about half of the rest, and I've just started spinning some of that. It's going to take persistance. The plied yarn is ending up roughly double knit thickness and it is fairly fluffy. I was expecting a smoother effect. This is going to take a while!

I've tried spinning it from the lock and also carded it to get parallel fibres, but it isn't easy for me. I expect it will get easier with practice. I certainly hope so. It would help if I could decide what I want to make with the finished yarn.

Unpinned

Here it is in all it's glory, the blocking wasn't perfect, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm glad I made it symmetrical, all I did was to use the feathers pattern inside the shape made by the chevron. I followed the chart for the symmetrical border which was posted by a very clever knitter, whose name I don't know. Thank you.

I've never tried 'taking pictures of yourself in the mirror' before! It isn't easy. This is the best I could manage.

It's Blocking Friday

I finally had the time to block my mystery stole. I threaded crochet cotton through the long edges before I washed it, which helped a lot in the absence of blocking wires. I used an old duvet cover over a mattress to pin to. The cover is a stripey pattern, so very good for straight edges. I didn't stretch the lace too much or I would have had multiple scallops along the edges. It measures about 19 x 72 inches.


The sock is coming along well, just a bit more leg to do and then some ribbing. I started with 97g, so the little scales DH bought me for my birthday a couple of years ago will come in useful.

Here is my trial skein of spinning a thicker single. This is the vibrant pink corriedale which came with my drop spindle kit. It is somewhat thick and thin and a little bit overspun. This is a very quick way to use up sliver and to fill a bobbin.

Another bobbin

Three ply here I come! When I got my wheel ( a Louet S10), it came with three bobbins, which is fine if all you want to spin is 2 ply. So I found a source of new ones, placed an order for one, and it arrived yesterday. DH has said he will make a bigger lazy kate to fit where the existing one goes, then I will be all set. Typically, the next spinning experiment I want to try is to spin a thicker single ply yarn which I want to knit and then felt or full. I decided after my last spinning session that I really need a cushion for my spinning chair. The idea is to make a cushion cover. At least DH will have plenty of time to make the kate!

The first merino sock is going well, almost to the start of the heel shaping. The colours look a little washed out in this picture, but there's some interesting striping going on. I'm using a 3mm Addi lace needle, they are brilliant for socks as well as lace. Tension is around 7.5st and 10 rows per inch.

The mystery stole is done and awaiting blocking. I've found a place to stretch it out, now all I need is the time.

Progress

Here we have it - 293m of two ply merino which I plan to knit into socks. I'm quite pleased with it, although there are a few parts which could be better. There are a couple of underplied sections, and I'm not sure why - maybe I lost count of the treadling. Anyway, it's the first handspun which I made with a purpose in mind, which is very satisfying. Since I've only had my wheel a couple of months, I think I'm doing okay. At the moment, it is drying and I should be able to wind it tomorrow. Something to look forward to...

Finally, I am on the home straight with the mystery stole, only about 20 rows to go and they're all getting shorter. I spent some of this afternoon on this, it needed peace and quiet for the necessary concentration, however, I was making more mistakes to start with than I usually do when watching TV at the same time. Why is that I wonder? Maybe I'm better at multitasking than I think!

Still spinning the merino

Close to 50g of multicoloured merino, waiting to be plied with the grey, which is about half done. I seem to have ended up with several different shades of green, blue and red, some parts are single colour and some are stripey.

I used the small sample I made to try out a toe, its feels lovely and soft and I'm pleased with how the yarn knits up. I just hope I end up with enough, which is why I'm going to try toe up socks for the first time. I'd better get spinning the rest of the grey.

I went shopping this morning, and came back with some index cards and some labels. I read somewhere that it is important to keep samples of your singles, and finished yarns, in order to make more of the same in the future. I shall stick or staple short lengths of each to a card and write all pertinent information. Hopefully this will save a lot of hair tearing in the future. I also have a number of smallish sample skeins which I need to label before I forget what they are.

This arrived in the post this morning, it's my prize from a contest held in a Yahoo group I belong to. I was really surprised to have won! I'll have to look in the stash for some baby merino I know I have, I really must make some of these.

Spinning Today

My challenge at the moment is to turn 100g of superwash merino 'broken' tops into a pair of socks. I dyed it in two lots, one grey and one in shades of blue green and red. My dyeing skills need work, but it was a lot of fun. I have spun the colourful part on one bobbin, and when the grey is done, I'll ply them together. Watch this space...

Current knitting projects

On the needles at the moment, I have a lace scarf from 'Victorian Lace Today', the Mystery Stole3 (link will take you to the designers site), and a top down raglan sweater.









This is the second end of the mystery stole that I am adapting to be symmetrical, using the feathers pattern in a different way. I'm using Addi lace needles, 3.75mm with doubled lace weight cashmere, merino and viscose from Colourmart.

Progress so far!

The scarf from 'Victorian Lace Today' is the one with edging 21 and insertion 25, no actual name!I still have a long way to go with this. It's done with a single ply wool laceweight on 3.5mm Addi lace needles.

Alpaca and silk top down sweater. I'm going to see how much yarn I have left once the body is done, and hopefully extend the sleeves longer than the short ones in the pattern as written. Three quarter ones would be nice. It doesn't look much at the moment! The pattern is a free one from Crystal Palace yarns.

This is a new thing for me!

I've started this blog so that I can keep track of my knitting and spinning projects with pictures, which I figure is a good thing, since I tend to forget what I did and when. I'm only a beginner spinner, but I've been knitting and crocheting for a long time.

These are an experiment with dyeing and spinning with silk hankies. From left to right there is BFL and silk, merino and silk (both two ply) and the leftover silk which I navajo plied.