FO Parade Part II

Some more Finished Objects

OFF MY SPINDLES/WHEELS:

Top Left:  about 416 yds of a semi-worsted fractal spun 2ply, wheel spun and ply, 100% Targhee from Sheep Spot in the Ignite colorway.  Finished 5 Oct 2015. 

Top Right:  also a semi-worsted fractal 2ply of about 441 yds. Wheel spun and ply. Shetland fiber in the Gerbera colorway from Spunky Eclectic. Finished 23 Oct 2015. 

Bottom Left:   Moon Shadows colorway from Spirit Trail Fiberworks is a deep stash fiber. I bought it when I first started spinning but held off spinning until I was ready. Fiber is a 50/30/20 Merino/Silk/Angora blend. Wheel spun supported longdraw and chain plied into about 189 yds.  Finished 26 Dec 2015

Bottom Right:   A small sample skein I also spun on 26 Dec from a Jacob fleece I'm prepping.   Wheel spun supported longdraw from hand carded rolags for approximately 25yds of 2ply gradient. 

Spinzilla 2015

I went rogue again this year because I wasn't sure what I would be able to accomplish.  I did manage to spin every day but one - better than I thought. 

Clockwise from right:

The white yarn is mystery fleece I found last year. Prepped a couple of ounces just before Spinzilla started. Spun supported longdraw on wheel and got about 147 yds of 2ply. 

The yellow multicolor is the first of two bumps of Shetland fiber from Spunky Eclectic in the Gerbera colorway.  Wheel spun semi-worsted end-to-end for 437 yds of 2ply. 

The final little skein is all I could fit in of Polworth fiber from Crown Mountain Farms in their Finding Rainbows colorway. Spun worsted/semi-worsted for 41 yds of chain ply yarn. 

My total yardage for this year is 1,916.  

Reality Sets In

Sometimes the discrepancy between what I want to or think I can do and what I actually can do takes on the dimensions of a canyon.  

Take my Stash Dash plans to finish the stash-busting Log Cabin blanket and the Hexipuff Baby Blanket, as well as a couple of pairs of socks.  Great idea but totally unrealistic. 

Seems I've lost my sock knitting mojo so finishing the half dozen pairs I've started is like pulling a shark's teeth - a messy and painful endeavor. And never mind the other half dozen pairs I promised to make that I haven't started. 

All I've been in the mood to knit on is the Log Cabin blanket which I've decided will be a Queen/King size.  That's 120 blocks, 12 long & 10 wide.  And so far I've got a dozen made.  I'm guessing this project will take a year or more to finish. 

I'm supplementing the Palette yarn with my handspun stash that's approximately the same fingering weight.  And I will also supplement with some yarn from my stash that I've either hand dyed or overdyed.  

The first ten blocks are joined, and I really like how it looks. I think it's going to be a great blanket - however long it takes me. 

The Hexipuff Baby blanket on the other hand is languishing in a corner. It needs about 50+/- more puffs I think. And I also need to decide on a border or not.  I just can't seem to get interested in it again.  I think I'm going to have to set aside a week to work exclusively on it and just get it done.  Maybe next week. Or the week after.  Maybe. 

OFF MY SPINDLES/WHEELS:

I've finished some spinning:  

First up, about 332 yds of 2ply BFL in the Forever colorway from Miss Babs. This was spindle spun and wheel plied. 

Also spindle spun and wheel plied is this approximately 275-300 yds of chain ply Masham in the Verdigris colorway from Spunky Eclectic. 

Tis The Season...

...for frantic finishing of knitting and spinning WIPs.

OFF MY NEEDLES:

The blue socks I started on Aug 9th out of Schachenmayr Regia Racing Color were finished on Dec 2nd.  They are a men's size 9 with nine inch legs, and are my eighth pair of socks this year.

ON MY NEEDLES:

On my needles are the usual assortment of socks in progress and holiday gifts.   Also, have a few gauge swatches going for the three or four sweaters I have planned to knit for Project Sweater Chest.   I'll be casting on for the BFL Delight and Pagoda sweaters when I get back home in a few weeks.   

ON MY WHEELS/SPINDLES:

Back in August I revisited my Promise spinning which I first started in summer of 2012.  I'm spinning this from the fold and will chain ply.  Promise is a 50/50 blend of SoySilk and Wool from Tempted.  My August/September spinning on this was done on my Barebones spindle.  However, the bulk of spinning was done the end of November on my wheel, but it hasn't been plied yet. 

OFF MY WHEELS/SPINDLES:

I spun approximately half of a four ounce braid of superwash BFL in the Maple colorway for the Howarts at Ravelry Deputy Headmistress Interhouse Unity challenge back in August.   The fiber is from Sweet Georgia and I used my Barebones spindle.   

 I spun and plied the second half on my Sidekick wheel Oct 28-Nov 4th.  I finished with about 306 yards of 2ply yarn that looks like this:

The BFL Delight yarn I started spinning during Spinzilla in October I finished in November.  Total yardage of 2ply yarn is 2,537, which I'm hoping will be enough for a sweater.  All the fiber for this yarn is  Bluefaced Leister from either Crown Mountain Farms (white plus the Novalis and Bacchus colorways) or Miss Babs (Dark Secrets colorway). 

 

Finish Line Crossers

Which is another way of saying I've got some Finished Objects here.


OFF MY NEEDLES:


Genell's socks were started on July 31 and finished on Oct 8th. I used the pattern from Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder (which I've used before) for the legs/instep on my own basic cuff down pattern. The yarn is Zitron Trekking, and I used about 312 yds.  This is pair six for this year.

I started a pair of Monster Socks on Oct 3rd for the Sock Knitters Group Monster Sock KAL, and finished them on Oct 31st (appropriate I thought). They are toeup with a reverse Strong heel using an assortment of leftover sock yarns, handspun Itty Bitty Bits samples and Phat Fiber yarn samples. No plan or pattern followed except I used the same color for the heels, toes and cuffs.  I really had a lot of fun making these and can't wait to start another pair. These are pair #7 for this year.

OFF MY SPINDLES/WHEEL:


 I fractal spun four ounces of Wensleydale fiber in the Spunky Eclectic Jello Shots colorway on Sadie, my Sidekick wheel, and plied it on Jack, my Hansen for approximately 340 yds of 2ply (112 grams).   This Wensleydale fiber was a little more coarse than others I've spun, and because I tend to spin all my singles with a high twist, my singles were a little wirey.  So I loosely plied in hopes it would soften them up. I think it helped.

Spinzilla Spinning:
I went into Spinzilla this year as a Rogue Spinner.  I had a wonderful time last year on The Knit Girllls team, but had no idea how much I'd get done this year and didn't want to let a team down, so I went Rogue.

I went through my stash and pulled out 36 ounces of BFL top in both white and handdyed.  I wanted to see if I could spin a sweater's worth of 2ply yarn.  I didn't. I only got three skeins done, but I had fun trying.   I pulled:
 1lb white BFL top from Crown Mountain Farms spun semi-woolen on wheels from the fold from fauxlags
Crown Mtn Farms dyed BFL in Bacchus and Novalis colorways, 8oz each. Spun on wheels semi-woolen from the fold from drum carded batts
Miss Babs dyed BFL in Dark Secrets colorway 4oz spun semi-woolen from the fold on spindle and wheel

 One strand of white plied with one of Novalis or Dark Secrets gave me 3 skeins totaling 231 grams, 1,827 yds plus 296 yds white BFL. Total Spinzilla yardage: 2,123.

This yarn, plus the rest of this spinning I've dubbed BFL Delight, will be finished shortly, and I'll be using it to make a pullover for myself for #ProjectSweaterChest.  I hope to cast on by the beginning of December.


...to be continued....


BROUGHT TO ME BY: 
Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:
Audiobooks: To The Grave and In The Blood both by Steve Robinson;
DVDs:   Murder She Wrote; The Big Bang Theory; Rizzoli & Isles; Bones; Moonlight; Harry Potter: Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets; Hawaii 5-0; Blue Bloods;
Pod/VideoCasts: The Knit Girllls; Two Tangled Skeins;








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Tour de Fleece 2014

The first week of the Tour de Fleece I finished spinning the remainder of my Phat Batts, this:

And spun it into four skeins of worsted weight, thick and thin, chain ply yarn totaling about   426 yards.

My second project, spinning sock yarn from some lovely gray Finn/Lincoln cross fleece I hand combed is a traditional worsted spun 3ply with two singles strands spun clockwise and one counterclockwise, and plied counterclockwise. I've never spun this kind of yarn before so I was eager to see what happens.  I ended up with about 299 yds of 3ply which isn't enough for a full pair of socks but would work if I use a different yarn for the legs.

It probably should have more plying twist to be a good sock yarn. I may add that later on.

My third project was to finish plying the 2x2 cabled yarn I was making from the Rambouillet/Montedale cross fleece. I thought I'd finished it several months ago but found some extra bobbins tucked in a corner.  The end result is about 61 yds worth of worsted weight yarn.

Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:  
  Audiobooks:. Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas; The Vampire King by Heather Killough-Walden; Curtains For Three by Rex Stout;           
  DVDs etc:   Murder She Wrote; The Big Bang Theory; Witches of East End; Moonlight;              
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Two Tangled Skeins; Twinset Designs; Yarnspinners Tales; Knitmore Girls;                                    

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.

On Your Mark...Get Set

This year's Tour de Fleece starts this Saturday, July 5th and runs through July 27th.  If you are not familiar with it, the Tour de Fleece (TdF) is a global Spin-Along (SAL) held in tandem with the Tour de France cycling competition.  While the cyclists race through France, we spin along with them in an effort to meet our individual goals. Our goals can range from just learning to spin, or spinning a new fiber, spinning down a certain amount of stash or learning a new technique, to spinning a whole fleece - whatever is challenging to us.

I considered joining several teams this year, Wildcard and Official, as I usually do, but eventually decided to keep it to just one team: the Diagon Alley Marauders from the Hogwarts at Ravelry group (and not just because I'm the team captain this year).

My TdF goal is simply to spin down as much stash as I can.  That includes finishing up old SWIPs and starting new ones. For the new, I'm still in the process of prepping fleece, and also deciding which commercially prepped fiber bumps to spin. I love spinning my natural color fleeces, but I need some color to break up the monotony. They're all so pretty though, it's hard to choose.  So I'm thinking maybe I'll go deep stash diving and pull out some of my really early purchases.  Age before beauty I guess. LOL

What I have decided on so far:

(1) five ounces of hand combed Finn/Lincoln cross (adult) to be spun into 3ply sock yarn, one singles spun 's' & two singles spun 'z', plied 's'.

(2) finish plying up (2x2 cable yarn) the remaining Rambouillet/Montedale cross singles (yes, just when I thought I was done with this I found more hiding in a corner).

(3) if I haven't already, finish flicking & combing the Shetland Moorit fleece, then finish spinning.

(4) if I can find it, finish spinning that soysilk/wool blend in Promise colorway that I started in 2012.

Add in three or four more and I'll make a decent little dent in my stash. I would like to spin a minimum of 24 ounces (680 grams) but I don't intend to race through my spinning and sacrifice quality of spinning for quantity spun. That's why my goal is just to spin as much as I can. If I make or surpass 24 doesn't really matter. I'll be happy with whatever yardage I can get to add to my StashDash2014 total.

Dashing Through the FOs

  The finished May Day project - socks knit in Miss Bab's Cosmic yarn in Vlad colorway - was started March 20th and finished May 5th.  The stitch pattern is from Simple SKYP Socks by Adrienne Ku and the heel is from Basic Strong Heel Socks by Gerdine Crawford-Strong.  

  STASH DASH - PART 1:

Stash Dash, sponsored by The Knit Girllls, began on May 23rd and runs through August 7th.  This year our goal is 5k of yarn (5,468 yards).  

Over these first few weeks I finished: 

1) The second bump of Annunaki at Tiaman colorway from Crown Mountain Farms. I started spinning this fiber January 1st-ish and finished May 24th.  All singles were spindle spun and chain plied on either spindle or wheel (depending on whether I was home or on vacation). Some of this fiber was used to teach spindle spinning, which is why my 394 yards weighs only 3.7 ounces. Total singles yardage is 1,182, and the average wpi is 16.  

2) The white Oxford/Border Leicester cross fleece (10.1 oz raw, 8.5 washed) was hand combed then run through my drum carder, and spindle spun semi-woolen for a traditional 3ply yarn that was plied on either spindle or wheel from plying balls.  I got 306 yards (164 grams) of 3ply DK weight from 918 yards of singles.

3) Another leisure hat for the Socks For Soldiers group (168  yds) from leftover sock yarn. Started May 8th, finished June .

4) Spun Cloudlover's merino/cashmere/silk blend in the Mother of Dragons colorway.  This four ounce bump gave me approximately 350 yards (underestimated - twist hasn't been set yet - probably higher) of yarn with an average wpi of 15. It was wheel spun semi-worsted and chain plied. Start/Finish June 6-19. 

5) a small, 17 yd woven rectangle made on a mini loom I got to make washcloths with some old yarn that I don't like knitting or crocheting with.  Not too bad for a first try but I definitely need practice.





Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks: Skinwalker by Faith Hunter; The Tale of Briar Bank by Susan Wittig Albert; These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer; The Black Echo by Michael Connelly;          
  DVDs etc:   Murder She Wrote; Veronica Mars Movie; The Big Bang Theory;                  
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Two Tangled Skeins; The Knit Wits; Twinset Designs;                                  
 

Ponderings

The Tour de Fleece this year starts on July 5th, and I've been contemplating what to spin. The Knitmore Girls are doing another sweater SPAKAL (spin-along knit-along) so spinning a sweater's worth of yarn is one possibility. Another is to see just how much I can spin in three weeks, and if I go that route, will it include plying what I've spun or just spinning the singles? I also have to consider the weather. July in NYC is hot and sticky and I don't have A/C. On the really bad days I just can't spin.



ON MY NEEDLES:

A hat in leisure colors for the Socks For Soldiers group. I'm using Claudia Handpainted Yarn in the Desert Dusk color way.





I also have a couple pair of socks on the needles in various stages from just started to almost finished.



ON MY SPINDLES:

I'm about halfway through the four ounce bump of Annunaki at Tieman. The first ounce and a half has been plied (chain ply) and is sitting on Sadie, my wheel, at home. If I finish spinning my singles before I get back, I'll start plying them on my spindle, otherwise I'll just add them to what's on the wheel.

FUBAR fix

ON MY SPINDLES:

Unspinning the horrendously overplied 2x2 cabled Rambouillet Montedale cross yarn using my Navajo spindle is working. It's a little tedious because I have to go slow and watch for the yarn to pop back into the cable, but it works. This is the first skein I got from that tangled mess. It's about 72 yards worth and the wpi is 8. The yarn is quite soft, and I'm quite pleased how it's turning out despite the mess-up.

Balancing Act

Until this past week, I hadn't touched my spinning in ages - at least since early January. Mostly, I'm just knitting. A lot. But last weekend my hands finally said enough, no more knitting straight for hours at a time. So I'm back to alternating - knit for a bit, spin for a while, knit for a while, comb/card fleece for a bit, etc.

ON MY NEEDLES:
The first of the Fleeglized Panda socks is done and the second sock started.


The Charlotte Bronte Shawl has seen some more progress, finally. I finished the first lace border with the beads. The second lace border is about three quarters done. I'm knitting it separately (so I don't have to lug the whole shawl around) and will sew it on the shawl. I chose not to put beads on the second lace border.

I'm up to the heel gusset on the second of Bob's socks. The toe shaping's a bit tricky, but otherwise they're coming along nicely.

The OD (Olive Drab) socks are also progressing nicely, as is the tan regulation cap. Both are for the a socks For Soldiers group.

And if that's not enough WIPs to work on, I cast on stranded colorwork socks and a sweater.


ON MY SPINDLES/WHEEL:

There are a number of open spinning projects on my Spindles and Wheel, but the three main projects are:

(1) During the Fall and into early December I worked on the Rambouillet/Montedale cross pre-washed fleece I purchased several years ago.  I hand combed the fleece then wheel spun it in a smoothed, attenuated long draw. This will be a 4ply cabled yarn (spun z, 2ply s, cabled z).

The spinning is finished. And I am more than halfway through plying the 2ply yarn.  In fact in early December I took the first bobbin of 2ply yarn and plied it back on itself for my first skein of cabled yarn. 

Unfortunately, I was distracted and in a hurry and made a total hash of it. To say it is overplied is a major understatement.  I gave it a nice hot bath and thwacked the ever-loving shit out of it but it's still a mess.  See:



This is a really nice yarn, very soft, so there's no way I'm chucking it.  I will have to untangle it (I messed up the skein ties too) and run it through again to take out some of the excess twist. I haven't done this before, so I think I will use my Navajo Spindle instead of my wheel - better control.

(2) I recently started spindle spinning (longdraw) some Oxford/Border Leicester crossbreed fleece that I prepped in November.  This fleece was hand combed then run through my drum carder. It turned into rather nice batts and spins easily.

(3) Also started spinning the second Annunaki at Tieman colorway bump I bought last year from Crown Mountain Farms in their going out of business sales. It is four ounces of BFL top which I am spindle spinning (worsted) and will chain ply.  

Fleece prep-wise, I'm sampling (combing, carding 2&3plying) a multicolored Perendale fleece, some black & white Jacob fleece, and some llama fleece.


Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:
  Audiobooks: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon;                      
  DVDs etc:   Rizzoli & Isles; Murder She Wrote; Veronica Mars;              
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist;  The Knitmore Girls; Two Tangled Skeins;                        
 

Fall Spinning

Off My Spindles/Wheel:

For Spinzilla, in October, I spun eight ounces of Corriedale pencil roving from Crown Mountain Farms in the Walpurgis colorway. I also spun about five ounces of BFL/Finn cross fleece, and a little bit of "Mo", a Finn/Dorset/Targhee cross.

This is the finished Walpurgis yarn. It's a chain ply:

And here's the finished 2ply BFL/Finn yarn (top skein), as well as what little 3ply yarn I managed to spin before I gave up on Mo (right skein). Oh, and that's the Walpurgis singles on the bobbins. And by the way, the team I was on (Team Knit Girllls) took second place.

On My Spindles/Wheel:

The only active spinning I have going right now is a small portion of a Rambouillet/Montedale cross pre-washed fleece I purchased several years ago.  I started prepping it by combing then drum carding, but I didn't like the way the carded fiber was coming out or spinning.  Way too many nepps. So I settled on just combing it but still spinning smoothed, attenuated long draw. I've finished the spinning and started plying it (2ply) which will eventually become a 4ply cabled yarn.

Oddments of Progress

The four ounces of Rise of the Phoenix colorway BFL top from Crown Mountain Farm that I started while on vacation is done. There's about 400 yds of chain plied yarn (1,200 yds of singles) with a wpi range of 15-18. It was spindle spun and plied. This yarn is a different weight than the pattern calls for, but I will be casting on for a Rivendell cowl with this yarn shortly.



Stash Dash 2013, sponsored by The Knit Girllls, ended in early August, and for the first time I surpassed the goal. This year's goal was to knit, crochet or spin 4k of yarn, that's 4,375 yds. I finished with a total of 4,641 yds worked. Yay Me!

I've been piecing together the Hexipuff Baby Blanket as I've been finishing the hexipuffs. It's really beginning to look like a blanket. See:



2013 Stash Reduction Goals update: the prognosis isn't good for the 40lb stashdown at all. Then again I knew when I set that goal that it was pretty unlikely I'd actually meet it. I think it was more an incentive thing than anything else. P.S. Incentive-wise, it ain't working. It also doesn't help that i keep buying more yarn! On the other hand, there's better progress in meeting my Yardage Goals of 17,000 yds spinning; 13,000 yds knitting. I'm at over 11,000 for spinning and over 5,000 for knitting/crocheting. KnitMeter is my friend.

I signed up for Spinzilla in October on the Knit Girllls team. It's basically a race to see how much you can spin in a week. I've been prepping fiber in preparation for an intensive spinning marathon, and will hopefully have a full fleece ready to spin plus I have lots of commercially prepared fiber too.

Guilt-Free Crafting

 
 

Aaaahh, the joys of guilt-free crafting on vacation. That nagging little voice that says I should be doing ...whatever... instead of knitting or spinning is silenced, and I can just revel in doing what I want as long as I want. Blissful enjoyment!

  

The result of all that crafting bliss is a finished pair of socks, forty-three hexipuffs, two out of four ounces of a lovely black & red BFL spun & plied, and another little spinning sample for my collection.

The Cauchy socks. Pattern by Cookie A. from her "Sock Innovation" book. Yarn is Lisa Souza Sock!.

 

 
 

43 Hexipuffs (puff #43 was a bit shy and slipped out of camera range when I wasn't looking)

About 2 ounces of Bluefaced Leicester spindle spun & chain plied Rise of the Phoenix colorway from Crown Mountain Farms.

25 yds of a 2ply Romney/Alpaca blend sample for my Itty Bitty Bits collection

On the Road....WV, I Am In You

 
 
  On My Needles/Hooks:
 
 

Hexipuffed like crazy on the train ride down to West Virginia or at least it seemed that way. A two hour delay in D.C. while they put my train together (don't ask) helped the illusion. Apparently though, I really only make one (or less) an hour. These are the seven I made on the road. There are a few more I made that night.

 

I started the Cauchy socks back in June but ran into a snag when I couldn't decide which heel I wanted to use: the pattern heel, afterthought, sweet tomato, or something else. I brought them with me on vacation and I'm pleased to say progress has been made. I went with a square heel. This is first sock progress.

On My Spindles/Wheel:
  
  

The first half (about two ounces worth) of the BFL from Crown Mountain Farms in the Rise of the Phoenix colorway is done. Spindle spun and plied, I got about 150 yds of 3ply (chain) yarn with a wpi in the 22-27 range. I'm hoping to get enough to make a Rivendell cowl, and I think I should have just enough. Pic taken before twist set.

Fiber Prep

The second half of "Mo", a Finn-Dorset-Targhee cross fleece, is washed and I've begun prepping the fleece to spin. I'm hand combing then drum carding. The plan is to spin woolen and 3ply as the first half was done. The only difference will be I'm probably going to wheel spin instead of spindle spin. Probably. Then again... By the time I get back from vacation and can work on it again I might change my mind.

Off My Spindles/Wheel:
  

The little Corriedale/Polypay sample is done. I started with 8.5 ounces raw fleece and after it was washed had 5.5 ounces. I hand carded the fleece and instead of dizzying off the combs, I pulled it off in tufts and spun it semi-worsted from that. It's my version of "cloud" prep. Worked surprisingly well. Picture taken before twist set. Ended up with approximately 350 yds of laceweight/light fingering 2ply yarn.

What's Goin' On....

On My Needles/Hooks:

I've been hexipuffing like mad lately. I have a whole bag of them finished but it just didn't seem like I was getting anywhere. So I started sewing them together and now I'm feeling much better about it. I am getting somewhere and I can't wait to finish.    

  
  
 

I had a little difficulty when I first started sewing them together - trying to find a way to join them that looked okay, but I eventually settled on something and now it's going smoothly. I know in the actual pattern (The Beekeepers Quilt) the puffs are just tied together not sewn. However, this is a baby blanket for charity, and I didn't think holes that little hands and feet might get stuck in was a good idea. Besides, the yarn and stuffing are all washable.        

At some time in the near future I will have to decide if I'm going to leave this blanket with uneven edges or square the sides off with half hexis. Right now I'm leaning towards evening out the sides, maybe even putting a little crochet border around. I don't know. We'll see.

 
 
On My Spindles/Wheel:

I just love the yarn prep and dyed colors that Klaus at Crown Mountain Farms did, and I was sorry to hear he had to close up shop. So I put in an order in June to pick up some of his colorways that I hadn't gotten to yet. One of them is "Rise of the Phoenix" in his BFL base. I'm spindle spinning (worsted) and chain plying. First ounce spun and pre-chained and resting on the bobbin, and I'm about two-thirds through spinning the second ounce.     

    

Unbelievable how hard it is to decide what knitting to take with me on vacation next week. I'll be gone for two weeks, and I have limited packing space. I can't decide between hexipuffs, socks and hats, or socks and a shawl, or hexipuffs and colorwork mittens. Decisions, decisions!