SpinKnit

I began SpinKnit last month by spinning some Columbia/Dorset roving into a two-ply bulky yarn.



This month I finished up SpinKnit by knitting the cream colored yarn I spun and some black brown handspun from my stash.

Cookies 'n Cream Pillow


Two-tone Interpretation

Pattern: Wovenflame's Free Cushion Pattern
Yarn: My Handspun, Two-Ply Bulky Weight
Fiber: Columbia/Dorset and Mystery Wool
Color: Cream and Black Brown
Needles: US 10.5 (6.5 mm)
Size: Fits a 14" Square Pillow Form


Garter Stitch Button Band

Changes Made to Accommodate a Bulky Weight Yarn:

~Larger needles - US10.5 (6.5 mm)

~Cast on 40 stitches

~Pattern Stitch (changes in red):
Row 1: K1, *K6, P2. Repeat from * across to last 7 sts. K7
Row 2: Purl across

~Single yarn-over buttonhole instead of double yarn-over buttonhole


Back View

Knitted pillows are a great way to enjoy wool year round, especially if you live in a warm climate like I do. And, I think they are good projects for showing off hand spun yarn.


Front View

Spin, knit...enjoy!

SpinKnit

I'm joining Margene and others in SpinKnit.



Everyone is invited. No special sign-ups. All you do is spin some yarn in February and then knit it in March.

I decided to spin a blend of Columbia/Dorset that I've had for a while. It's combed top which I have found to be a little more challenging to spin in the past. Usually I have a harder time drafting it evenly and I have to be extra careful not to put too much twist in it.


Straight Out of the Package (left) and Pre-drafted (right)

I didn't have too many problems this time though. And since I was shooting for a bulky weight two-ply to match some other handspun in my stash, the spinning went quickly, as will the knitting.


Two-ply Bulky

I plan to use this yarn and two others to knit a pillow. No need to spin a fine yarn for something like that.

Snippets

We found the perfect cards to send this year.


Thinking of you and sending the warmest greetings of the season.

Sums up our interests pretty well: birds, beach, shells, knitted scarves...all that's missing is a fish.

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I finished spinning the 1/2 pound of Fine Brown Shetland roving that I started back in September.



It turned out to be a light worsted weight yarn. There's a lot of it. Probably enough to knit a vest.

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Putting together jigsaw puzzles was a winter activity in my home growing up. That's why I always get the urge to start one this time of year.



We probably won't finish it before we need the table for Christmas dinner, so I'm glad we're using a puzzle mat.

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As for knitting, I'm trying to finish John's socks and I'm working on a quick garter stitch project.

December

007 Snap a Dozen Days


Spun by Hand

December is the month I first learned to use a spinning wheel. A year ago, I asked for and received a wheel for Christmas. My first time using it produced yarn that lumpy and uneven, though functional. Over the year, I've practiced and improved.

My preferred way to spin wool is to pick out some roving, sit down at the wheel, and just see what comes from it. There is little planning for me and I like it that way.


Sue's Luxury Yarn
Hand-dyed Roving

I don't think I'll ever be very technical about my spinning. I'm sure it would be beneficial, but I don't care to know the angle of twist or to count the rotations of the wheel to get my plying just right.


Wasatch Watercolours
Fine Range Wools
Fish Lake

I enjoy spinning "freestyle". And if you know me well, you are probably surprised by this. Normally I'm a by-the-book, follow-the-recipe type of person.


Sue's Luxury Yarn
Hand-dyed Roving

But, with spinning I have a carefree attitude, because I've learned that even the most unlovely yarn can be knitted into a thing of beauty.

Snippets

I've been practicing.



This time I'm using a Schacht spindle. It's a little heavier and probably a better weight to learn on. I'm improving, but have a long way to go before I feel comfortable with spindling.

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It didn't feel like I knitted very much at all last week, but the sock is progressing never the less. It has grown to just past the heel and should be finished soon.



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Our weather for the weekend was supposed to be nice and sunny, but things change quickly around here. Instead, the remnants of hurricane Lorenzo brought rain to the Texas Gulf Coast.



It was not bad enough to keep us from the beach though. The sky looked ominous at times and the winds were churning up the waters, but the rain held off while we were there. It was beautiful in a different way.

Psalm 93:2-4

Your throne was established long ago;
you are from all eternity.

The seas have lifted up, O LORD,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.

Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the LORD on high is mighty.

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I want to thank everyone that commented on Friday's post. The consensus is that I do indeed own an antique yarn winder minus the stand. However, no one is certain of how it is intended to be used. My only guess is that yarn is wound onto it and then knitted straight off the wheel or wound into a ball instead of being removed as a hank. If I ever find out any more information, I'll let you know.

Easy Spun

Now that I own a beautiful Greensleeves spindle, I want to learn how to use it. I've read the book Spinning in the Old Way by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts. She clearly explains the process of high-whorling. She makes it sound so simple. Surely this is something I can do.

I felt motivated the other day to give it a try. So out came the spindle, the book and a bit of newly purchased Lincoln Longwool roving. I was all excited to figure this out...to learn something new...until...I began to fumble with the spindle and roving. My motivation quickly faded and I only managed to spin a couple of yards of yarn.



I guess my heart wasn't into learning something new like I thought. What I really desired to do was just spin yarn. When I realized this, I abandoned the spindle for the wheel and got to work on some Fine Brown Shetland roving. Now this was easy spinning: relaxing and fun. I spun up a couple of bobbins that afternoon.



And the next day I plied both together. Two-ply easy spun yarn straight off the niddy-noddy. I'll soak it and set the twist when I finish up the rest of the roving.



As for learning how to use a handspindle, I think I'll have to make sure my next attempt happens when I'm away from home and there is no wheel in sight to tempt me to give up.

The Best Day

John and I had a great time on Saturday starting with the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair. After a couple of wrong turns we found our way to Wheeler Historic Farm where the fair was held.



Once we got there, it didn't take me long to spot Margene and the gang. We joined them for introductions and a quick visit. I was really excited to meet Kim for the first time. We've been friends through our blogs for a couple of years. She greeted me with a welcoming hug and we talked for a bit. Next time I hope our visit will be longer.


Back row, left to right: Susan, me, Margene, Judy
Front row, left to right: Teresa, Carole, Kim

I hope I have all the names right. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Later I also met Kim, but I didn't get a picture.

This was a wonderful little festival. Not a huge affair, but plenty of vendors with good things to sell.



There were classes offered and demonstrations too. You couldn't miss this guy: quite colorful in dress and personality.



He kept the crowd entertained with demonstrations of the great wheel.

And there were a few animals too.



I picked up some great souvenirs.



A beautiful Greensleeves spindle (Maureen's Mjolinor made from Masur Birch) and a couple of different rovings: Lincoln Longwool from Nelson Land and Livestock and a blend of Corriedale, Alpaca and Mohair in a purplish color from Spinderella's.

After saying our good-byes to the gang, we stopped by to check on the Wheeler Farm sheep.



Then we headed up to the mountains to spend the rest of the day at Mirror Lake. That's a story for next time.

Ribs and Cables

Continued from this post.

My intention was to spin a yarn that would be suitable to knit the neck gaiter from the book One Skein. I was shooting for a worsted weight, but ended up with a bulky weight instead. I tried to adjust the pattern to work with the yarn, but I didn't have much luck, so I decided to knit a scarf instead.



Pattern: A combination a couple of different patterns from the Rib & Cable Quartet
Book: One Skein
Yarn: 2 ply spun from J. Knits 100% Merino Wool Roving
Color: Iowa
Needles: US 9 straight
Finished Size: 5" wide by 38" long



This scarf is for John. It's long enough to go around his neck and tuck into a jacket or vest, but short enough not to get in the way when he's casting a line into the water. It will be perfect for winter nights on the pier or other extreme weather fishing he's famous for.

I enjoyed knitting with this yarn which is extremely soft and squishy. It spun up round and smooth and I really like the way it looks in ribs and cables.

Progress in Pictures

It started with roving.



That was spun on a wheel.



Then plied into yarn.



And knitted into cables and ribs.



(Finished project and details next week.)

Spiral Rib Bag

There is something very satisfying about knitting with your own homespun. Even yarn that looked like an unorganized mess coming off the wheel, can work up nicely in a project.



Pattern: Spiral Rib Bag
Book: One Skein by Leigh Radford
Yarn: My Homespun (3rd picture from top), 100% Colorado Wool, Natural Dyes
Needles: US 10: 16" Circular and DPNs
Size: Choice of two sizes. This is the small one.

This was a fun, quick knit. From start to finish, it only took me two nights of knitting. It could easily be worked in one sitting. The small size is worked on 50 stitches.

The body of the bag is worked first, starting with a provisional cast on. The live stitches are picked up later to knit the bottom of the bag.

I like the way the purl stitches are bound off in the rib pattern while the knit stitches are continued. This forms the tabs at the top. An I-cord drawstring is run through the eyelets in the tabs to cinch it closed.

I don't know if it's the stitch pattern or the yarn I used, but the bag has enough body to stand up on it's own without anything in it.

Unexpected Surprise

A couple of weeks ago, pictures of Colorado Columbine flowers on my blog promoted an offer from Danielle to send me some seeds from her blue columbine plants. I agreed to send her some Texas Bluebonnet seeds in exchange. I was expecting an envelope of seeds only, so imagine my surprise when a box showed up instead. Inside were the promised seeds and more.

Beautiful wool roving hand-dyed by artisan Susan Hensel.



And the most amazing needle-felted columbine made by Danielle herself. She said she modeled it after one of my pictures.



I love this flower so much! It's displayed on my computer desk where I can admire it often and be reminded of my trip to Colorado, the mountain wildflowers I saw there and friendships that begin in the most unexpected ways.

Danielle blogs at One Day at a Time. She's looking for the perfect pattern to use for a beautiful skein of laceweight yarn and has turned her quest into a contest. It would be great if you could stop by and share your ideas.

This weekend I went to my favorite yarn shop, Twisted Yarns, to search for just the right extras to go with the bluebonnet seeds I'll be sending to Danielle. I was very excited to see that they have started to sell roving. Of course, I couldn't leave without adding to my stash.



Roving by J. Knits, 100% Merino Wool, Iowa Colorway

Amish Country Tour

I didn't expect to be back in this part of the country so soon, but John had a meeting to attend this week in Baltimore and Pennsylvania is just next door, so here I am.

Before we drove to the Amish Country today, we stopped for lunch at G&M Restaurant for their famous Maryland Crab Cakes. They are generous in size (about the size of a softball cut in half) and loaded with lots of crab meat. A definite splurge on my low fat, low cholesterol meal plan, but if you're going to blow it, you might as well go all the way. They were delicious! The best I've ever had.



Leaving full and satisfied, we drove a couple of hours north to Bird-In-Hand, Pennsylvania, specifically to Labadie Looms.



On our last visit, we arrived after closing and could only peek through the window and be teased by the little bit we could see. This time we saw it all. Inside were wheels, looms, hand-dyed yarns, hand spun yarns and some nice commercial yarns too, plus a room devoted to rug hooking.

The owner was very friendly and helpful. A couple of ladies were there weaving on looms and we got to see how that process works. Very interesting. We didn't leave with a loom, but bought some roving (for me), two bundles of poonis (for John) and a book about weaving (John's too).



Then we quickly explored some of the other shops in the area. Most were tourist traps, but there were a few nice ones. If you are a quilter, this is your place.

Next we drove by some of the farms.



The peach trees are loaded with fruit.



And the corn is ready for picking in most fields.



I wish I could have taken pictures of the Amish people, but it just seemed too intrusive. And for the most part, I don't think they want their picture taken. Sometimes it is allowed though, because there are postcards and framed pictures for sale in all the stores. Click here to view some wonderful photos of Amish life by photographer Bill Coleman.

Spinning Lessons

With each session at the wheel, a lesson is learned.

A couple of weeks ago, I drafted some of the gray mystery wool Amy gave me and began to spin it. My plan was to match it to the darker yarn I had spun earlier, since I plan to use them both in the same project.



What I spun turned out okay, but a lighter weight than I was aiming for and plied tighter than it should be. I was undecided how to spin the remainder, not knowing if I should match it to the dark yarn or to what I had just spun, so I set it aside to get ready for our trip to Colorado.



When I got home I was very anxious to spin up some of the new roving I had purchased on our trip. I got busy right away with the brown mix. I decided to spin the brown and the dyed sections together since that is how they were joined in the roving. I thought it would create a nice tweedy effect. I was in trouble right from the start. The fibers of this wool were shorter than I'm used to and it took some time to figure out how much twist to spin into it. Even after I felt I had it right, some of the fiber was determined to be stubborn and resist the twist. And the tweedy look I had imagined? It just turned out to be a mess.



I decided it would be much better to spin the brown and dyed sections separately. It wasn't too hard to divide the two. The brown was much easier to spin than the dyed. I guess the dying process changes the the texture of the wool some.



I like the plied results much better this way and will continue in this manner with the remaining roving.



Even though this wool was a challenge to spin, it did not discourage me. On the positive side, it made spinning the rest of the gray mystery wool a breeze. And this time the yarn I spun was just what I was hoping for.



I feel somewhat redeemed by this hank of homespun.