Batting Practice

I have two boxes of Phat Fiber fiber samples that have been sitting around for some time now. I'd originally planned to spin each of them up and chain ply then use for an afghan or something similar and modular. I spun one up the other day and it came out fine, but frankly, I was bored.

So there I was staring at two boxes of all different kinds of fiber and assorted colorways and wondering what I should do with them. Should I even bother spinning them or just give them away like I had the other box? Then Wallace (Wally for short), my little drum carder, spoke up. "Use me! Use me!" He said, so I did.

Paying absolutely no attention to what the fiber content of the sample was and only choosing by the colors, I gleefully fed them to Wally. Some I pulled apart, others I ran through as is. This was FUN! When I made a half dozen or so batts, I started spinning.

I never thought to take a picture of those first batts before I spun them, but this is what they looked like spun up (or at least the last two batts which are all you can see):

I did think to take a picture of some of the rest of the batts I made before I spun them:

I spun however the fiber flowed easiest, but mostly either from the end or from the fold. I'd say most of the singles are pretty close to semi-woolen rather than semi-worsted (woolen or semi-woolen is my default style). Slubs, etc. were left in to give the singles some additional texture and color pops. It was interesting watching how changing my style of spinning (from the end to from the fold for example) changed how the colors blended or didn't blend.

My finished skein (pre-twist set):

I have enough batts carded up to make another skein. I'm saving them for Tour de Fleece spinning this weekend. Once the second skein is done, I will set the twist for both and see what total yardage I have. I'm guessing the set yarn will come out around a DK weight, or maybe worsted. There are so many different fibers (like Merino, BFL, Romney, Icelandic, Llama, Alpaca, camel, silk, tencel, bamboo, glittery stuff, etc) that I'm not sure if or how much the yarn will poof up after I wash it.

My only regret, if you could even call it that, with how I carded the batts is that I had no idea whose fiber was whose. And there were some fiber samples that spun really well and I wish I knew who made them so I could get more. But oh well, its not as if I have nothing good to spin here.

Haphazard FOing

 

I had every intention of posting monthly Finished Object posts but that doesn't appear to be happening, at least not this half of the year. But I have been knitting and I have been spinning, although I've been doing more fiber prep (combing, carding, etc.) than actual spinning.

     

I finished the The Knit Girllls Fiber Optic SAL in early March

This was spun semi-worsted on Jack, my Hansen mini spinner, and Navajo/chain plied for about 357 yds of 16wpi 3ply Merino/Silk blend yarn from one bump (about 1,071 yds singles).   Pictures were taken before it's twist setting bath.  The Fiber Optic fiber's prep made this a joy to spin with no predrafting required.  

I also spun a few little fiber samples for my Itty Bitty Bits during March and April, but bless me if I can find the little devils. They've apparently disappeared into a black hole or something. They'll turn up eventually, like when I'm frantically searching for something else.    

I started working on the E. Friesian/Corriedale cross last August and finished most of it this April. Altogether there was a little over three pounds of raw fleece, both adult and lamb. Some I washed, but most of it was washed by Q. I combed and/or carded all of it and spun most of it woolen or semi-woolen; the remainder was spun by Q. These three skeins total about 400 yards of 3ply heavy sport weight yarn and were given to Q to use for a test knit.

this skein is approximately 288 yards of 3ply, spun by Q and plied by me.

The Berry Happy socks, also a plain vanilla afterthought heel, were started on April 27th and finished on May 28th, the day they were due as a birthday present.  This is the Berry Happy colorway in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino.  I really enjoyed knitting with this particular yarn and am actively stash diving for more.  I should have at least four more skeins tucked away somewhere.  

The Autumn Walk socks were started in November 2012 and finished on May 30, 2013. These are plain vanilla afterthought heel socks knit with Three Ewes Twisted in Fiber self-striping Merino/Tencel yarn in the Autumn Walk colorway. Sadly, this was my last skein of Three Ewes yarn.     

    
  

  
Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks:                
  DVDs etc:  Midsomer Murders; Craig Ferguson: Does This Have To Be Said? & A Wee Bit o' Revolution; Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Moonlight; Downton Abbey;                  
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist; Knitting Pipeline; Cast On; Yarnspinner's Tales; The Anatomy of Knitting; The Knitmore Girls;    

Fall FO's Part III

 
  Off My Spindles/Wheel:
 
  Columbia-Merino cross:  there is a definite difference in this Columbia/Merino cross ("CxM") fiber than the solely Columbia fiber I previously spun.  The Columbia fiber was soft but crisp.  This CxM fiber is soft with an almost whispy/silky texture.  Also the finer staples allowed me to spin my finest singles from attenuated longdraw to date.  Very little veggie matter, short cuts & nepps meant I could card without precombing or flicking, giving me little waste and excellent (for me) yardage: three skeins of woolen spun fingering wt 3ply, about 840 yds total from eight ounces of fleece.  
   
   
   
   
   
 
   
   
  
   
   Manx Loughtan This is a breed I didn't get to spin in 2011 when I was doing the SpinDoctor Wool Breeds Challenge, so when I saw it at The Spinning Loft I couldn't resist. Manx Loughtan is one of the Northwestern European shorttail sheep breeds, and is on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's watch list.
  
  "Loaghtans and their relatives covered the hills of the Isle of Man until the 18th century but by the 1950s numbers had declined to a handful. As a result of the work of enthusiasts on the Isle of Man and in England, numbers have steadily increased over the last 50 years. Continued success will ensure the Loaghtan has a future providing excellent quality meat and wool as a pure bred." [Source: Manx Loughtan Sheep Breeders Group http://www.manxloaghtansheep.org/ ]  
  
  "Manx Loghtan fleece is a uniform dark brown, but is paler on the outside where it has been exposed to the sun. It can be either woolly or hairy. The wool is used for hosiery and knitwear, and the staple length is 7-10cm. Technical information about the fleece: Staple length 7-10cm, Fleece weight 1.5-2kg, Bradford count 46-54, Micron measurement 27-33" [Source: British Colored Sheep Breeders Assoc. http://www.bcsba.org.uk/coloured-sheep/manx-loghtan-sheep.html ]
 
  This fiber was spun point of twist from the fold on both my spindle and wheel, and wheel plied for about 490 yards of 2ply fingering weight yarn from four ounces. I enjoyed spinning this and would spin it again.  
  
   
 
   
   
 
   
 

Off My Spindles Part VI

Off My Spindles:  
  At Last!  Tex, the Texel crossbreed fleece is finished.  I plied the last three skeins on Monday morning, making the total number of skeins, 26.    
   
   
   
  There are over a half dozen rolags left to be spun (I originally didn't spin them because I didn't get all the lanolin out) and some singles, but they, as well as the leftover combing waste, are being held in reserve in case I run out of yarn for the sweater.  And frankly, I've been working on this for six months, and I'm kinda sick of it. It's on to the finishing baths for this stuff, and then I can start swatching.  
   
  Also finished two out of three four-ounce bumps of the Gotland fiber in shades of wine and pink.  I'm spinning this semi-woolen (mostly point of twist, from the fold) and chain/Navajo plying. It's a little twisty because I haven't set the twist on it yet, but this is the first skein:  
   
   
   
  Brought To Me By:  
  Audiobooks:    
  DVDs etc: True Blood S4.1-2; Buffy TVS S7.8-10; H5O S2.1-9;   
  Pod/VideoCasts: The Knit Girllls; Cast On; SpinDoctor;      
 

Spinning FOs

I finished spinning the second four ounce bump of the yak/merino blend over the Labor Day weekend. "New Moon" was spun semi-woolen (longdraw from the fold or the end) into approximately 230 yards of 2ply.

50/50 yak/merino blend, New Moon colorway from Abstract Fibers:



I was lazy and didn't pull the first bump's skeins to check what weight/diameter my singles should be. I just spun what I thought I remembered it should be. Not one of my most brilliant ideas. Second bump skein came in at a third less yardage (about 230 yds) than the first bump's skein (360 yds). Lesson learned: my memory sucks.


Another spinning project that changing parameters brought mixed results in is Rasputin. This was an eight ounce bump I divided into eight approximately one ounce braids. All were spun worsted from commercial top and chain/Navajo plied. Here I got variations in yardage by spinning singles on different spindles or switching between spindles and wheel. Weight varies between lace to heavy fingering weight. Total 3ply yardage is 921 yds (2,763 yds of Singles).

Wensleydale, 8 oz., Rasputin colorway from Crown Mountain Farms:

I Haz An FO

Yay! I finished something:

Buccaneer - this was my fractal spinning experiment on some superfine merino in the Buccaneer colorway from The Unique Sheep. It's mostly gray and white with some brown. 2ply, semi-woolen spun (attenuated longdraw from faux rolags from com'l top). I ended up with seven mini-skeins. The first four skeins (from left to right) are fractal 2ply and the last three are traditional 2ply. I think I like the traditional 2ply better than fractal because traditional gives me larger sections of solid color in addition to shaded, blended and barber pole sections.

This picture was taken before their twist setting bath:




Also finished spinning braid #7 of Rasputin. It's resting to make it easier to pre-chain and rewind on another bobbin. Then all I have to do to ply is add twist. Makes for very travel friendly Navajo/chain plying. I will probably start #8 tomorrow.

Started spinning the second bump of New Moon earlier this past week. New Moon is the colorway name for the yak/merino blend I spun during the Tour de Fleece. This will be a 2ply spun semi-woolen to match the first bump. Mostly I've been spinning this while visiting Mom at the nursing home. I'm a little more than halfway through the first half, so it's progressing.


On My Needles:

I've been good. I've been concentrating on just my two projects that I picked last time: the Woolgathering socks and the Ohio Star pillow cover. Both are coming along nicely, although I did have to rip back almost four inches on the sock (boy did I made the sock too long!). It's striped sock yarn and I think I got a little carried away watching the stripes form. Nice thing about having to rip so much is those early stitches are fairly set, so I don't have to tink back. I can just rip without the stitches running.

The 2 1/2 inch pillow cover seaming edge has been ripped back and I'm replacing it with three needle applied I-cord bind off. Looks much better than the striped seam. I don't know what I was thinking with that...



2012 Yardage Goal: 17,600; Total to Date: 16,753; 95% Complete

Brought To Me By:
Audiobooks:
DVDs etc: How To Train Your Dragon; Mad Men; Dr Who end-S5;
Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Cast On; Electric Sheep; Subway Knits; Sticks & String; Knitmore Girls; SpinDoctor;


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