spun :: “Winter Storage” (Hello Yarn Finn)

spun :: Hello Yarn Finn, originally uploaded by earthchick.

So I’ve been spinning all my holy grail fibers lately, and I would be hard-pressed to name one more precious to me than this one.

This was the September 2009 Fiber Club, “Winter Storage” – 4 squishy ounces of delicious Finn

I knew I wanted to chain-ply it for socks. I also knew that, at the time, I wasn’t very confident in my chain-plying skills. In fact, it was only recently (as in, the last month!) that I began to feel like I could tackle chain-plying, which turns out to actually be easy-peasy. So I finally pulled this baby out.

I split it down the middle vertically, in hopes of getting two equal amounts of fiber, for matching socks. But I didn’t get the split exactly right – the skein on the left is 2.2. oz, the skein on the right is 1.8. I also ended up spinning the second skein (the one on the right) slightly thinner. Oh well, live and learn. I think I can make it come out even in the knitting.

I ended up with 240 yards of DK chain-ply, and I am ridiculously happy with it. With the exception of not splitting the fiber perfectly evenly, it came out exactly as I’d hoped. LOVE those colors, and I look forward to a sweet pair of socks.

raveled

Including this yarn, I’ve now spun 2.25 lbs. of fiber so far this year (out of a goal of 13 lbs. for the year). Sadly, I haven’t spun anything since this one! (i.e., in more than a week) I’ve had very little time (work, writing a paper for a doctoral class, training for a half-marathon – these things interfere with my sitting-around time!), and what time I’ve had I’ve been trying to finish up mittens for my kids.

When I do get back on the wheel, my goal is a sweater spin (that’s the March Challenge for the 13 in 2013 group on Rav). I’ll be spinning this:

Hello Yarn BFL/Silk, “Night Gathers,” the July 2011 Fiber Club
I have 1.5 lbs. of it and have plans to make it into a Game of Thrones-inspired sweater (the colorway itself is also GoT-inspired). I’m pretty excited about it, and I hope to get on it soon, in happy anticipation of the next season of GoT.

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spin, spin, spun :: Hello Yarn, all the time

spun :: a round-up of 2013 so far, originally uploaded by earthchick.

So apparently all it took to push me over the edge from someone who enjoys spinning yarn occasionally to a crazed spinstress who wants to spin all the yarns all the time was the acquisition of a Woolee Winder. My Old Man gave me one for Christmas, and basically I’m in love with it, and with spinning. It’s cutting into my knitting time, which I’ll admit is a bit worrisome. On the other hand, I seem to be making a whole new stash of yarn with which to knit. So there’s that.

Pictured above: (all Hello Yarn) Superwash Merino (“Peat” – March 2009 club); Corriedale (“Dark Waves” – February 2012 club); BFL/Silk (“Slither” – December 2012 club); Portuguese Merino (“Silt” – August 2012 club); Wensleydale (“Smells of the Sea” – September 2011 club); BFL (VanChocStraw – my one and only shop fiber, purchased in December 2007!); Panda (SWM/Bamboo/Nylon – “Villain” – March 2012 club); Targhee (“Sprout” – March 2011 club)

At the start of the year, I joined a Rav group called “13 in 2013″ – everyone has the goal of spinning (at least) 13 lbs. of yarn this year. That’s a pretty big goal for me. I think last year I spun 5 yarns of 4 oz. each, so yeah, that was 1.25 pounds for the whole year. I’ve already passed that in the first 7 weeks of this year (and I was out of town without my wheel for 2 of those weeks). I’m starting to think 13 lbs. of yarn might be doable.

Of the 8 yarns above, one of them is already knit up (pics soon), but the rest are likely to sit a bit while I tend to other projects (i.e., continue to spin like a madwoman). I’m thinking cowl for 5 of them and shawl for the other 2.

I’m starting to become a bit more adventurous with my spinning. Two of the yarns above – “Peat” (first one) and “VanChocStraw” (the bright pink one) are two of my oldest fibers and they are ones that I loved so much I was afraid of ruining them. It is super happy-making to have finally gotten them on the wheel. I’ve also at last faced my fear of chain-plying (also known as Navajo plying), which is what I did with yarns 7 and 8. And I’m exploring some “extreme plying” with the Hello Yarn/Spunky Eclectic/Southern Cross Fibre Spin-Along (main rule: yarn has to be at least 4 plies). That hot pink yarn is my first cabled yarn – I plied two 2-plies together (resulting in a 4-ply). The light green yarn is also a cabled yarn – I chain-plied 2-ply yarn (resulting in a 6-ply).

I prefer to devote entire blog posts to a single fiber-to-yarn pursuit, but I’ve been spinning much faster than I can blog lately, and I decided to just clear the deck. Maybe when I show you the knitted objects I use this yarn for, I’ll say a little more about the actual spinning.

In the meantime, my spinning madness is, of course, raveled

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spun :: Southern Cross Fibre (Polwarth, “Claudia”)

spun :: Southern Cross Fibre, originally uploaded by earthchick.

Polwarth was one of the first fibers I ever spun, when I was a total beginner, and I loved it from first touch. Then, after I’d spun a wider variety of fibers, Polwarth moved somewhat down the list, along with Merino (which I suppose makes sense, since Polwarth sheep are 75% Merino and 25% Lincoln). It’s not that I don’t like Merino and Polwarth – I love them both – it’s just that there are so many other fibers I love even more (Romney, Wensleydale, Corriedale, BFL, and especially Shetland and Falkland).

I was lucky enough to score this Polwarth from Southern Cross Fibre about three years ago. I actually at one point had 12 ounces of it, along with 12 ounces of Polwarth in “Deep Blue Sea,” with plans to make a sweater. But as my fiber stash expanded, I began to get overwhelmed with my options (and lack of time), and eventually I destashed some of both of the Claudia and the Deep Blue Sea, figuring I would rather spin other fibers than Polwarth. That’s too bad, because those two colorways together would have made a lovely sweater.

And also, turns out I enjoy spinning Polwarth way more than I remembered (or maybe I’ve gotten better at it).

*sigh* Those colors, right? I’m not great at capturing blues with my camera – the blues here are a bit washed out compared to the depth they show in real life. It’s pretty scrumptious stuff.

I still have about half an ounce left on the lazy kate, waiting for me to ply. This is 180 yards of bulky-ish 2-ply.

Slated for – wait for it…. – more mukluks!

Here ends my NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) daily posting. I managed to post every day, which seems to have provided the kickstart I needed to get back into regular blogging, as well as more intentional thinking about my fibery plans. I won’t continue posting every day, but I do hope to keep up the more regular posts. In fact, I plan to be back quite soon with a major destash, something that is actually far overdue. Hooray

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spun :: Hello Yarn Shetland

spun :: Hello Yarn Shetland, originally uploaded by earthchick.

“Minerals,” November 2010 Fiber Club
4 ounces bulky 2-ply
For more mukluks!

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on the wheel :: Shetland (Hello Yarn “Minerals”)

on the wheel :: Hello Yarn Shetland, originally uploaded by earthchick.

There are a lot of fibers I love to spin, but if I had to only ever spin one fiber for the rest of my life, first I would rage against the cruel world that came up with such a rule, and then I would pick Shetland. It is the sweet spot of fibers, as far as I’m concerned.

This is the second time I’ve spun this particular fiber. The first 4 ounces I paired with some Southern Cross Fiber Polwarth in “Deep Blue Sea” in a Baby Sophisticate for Grumperina’s little lad:

This 4 ounces is slated for … more Mukluks! I’m pretty excited about it.

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knitted :: handspun Mukluk Slippers

knitted :: handspun Mukluk Slippers, originally uploaded by earthchick.

It’s not that I needed slippers – I have a pair of shearling slippers I got from Rhinebeck two years ago that I adore. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and my heart wanted a pair of these sweet handspun Mukluk Slippers, ever since I saw Melsey’s pair . Basically, I shamelessly copied her.

My slippers turned out more muted than hers – I had more barberpoling in my yarn – but I absolutely love them and think they are perfect for fall. Here was the original fiber:

4 oz. of Hello Yarn glorious Romney, in “Splendid” (April 2012 Fiber Club)

I spun it up as 222 yards of Aran weight 2-ply:

I’ll be honest. I’m pretty much in love with this yarn.

I also love the slippers. These are so toasty and cozy, and they’ll be perfect for packing in my suitcase for my fall and winter travels.

They were a super-quick knit, too – they took less than a weekend to make. I’ve made a lot of slippers in my day, and these were by far the simplest, fastest, and most straightforward to make. I used 160 yards for the size small. I now have plans of spinning and knitting some for the kiddos.

Here they are in their natural habitat – being stalked by a cat.

That look says, “quit standing around taking pictures and knit me a cat sweater .”

raveled

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spun :: Rambo Combo

spun :: Rambo Combo, originally uploaded by earthchick.

This is part of a delicious project that’s on hold for now. I spun this up last May – a combo spin of 4 oz. FLUFF Rambouillet in “Ripe Eggplant” plied with 4 oz. Hello Yarn Rambouillet in “Pallid” for 623 yards light worsted 2-ply – and I am pairing it with another yummy handspun for a long-term from time-to-time project. I’ll share the project soon, but for now I just enjoy this shot of squooshy yarn!

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all my yarns are hers

yarn pillow, originally uploaded by earthchick.

Suki never met a yarn that couldn’t become either a pillow or prey. I prefer it when she uses it as a pillow.

4 oz. Hello Yarn Rambouillet, “Burrows”
232 yards thick-and-thin single-ply
spun up for Aimee/senorayatez for the blog giveaway I did this past summer

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knitted :: Handspun Lavalette

knitted :: Handspun Lavalette, originally uploaded by earthchick.

Well, hello and happy new year!

It’s high time I caught up on all my bloggables so that I can do my usual year-in-review before February, if possible.

First up is this shawl, one of my favorite knits of 2010. I had been wanting to knit this pattern of Kirsten’s for awhile (um, have I mentioned that I love all things Through the Loops> Because I so do.

Sometimes, when I received a hand-dyed fiber, I know exactly what I’m going to ultimately make with it. This was one of those times.

This is the April 2010 FLUFF High Society Fiber Club, 4 oz. of 80/20 Superwash Merino/Silk, “Half the World.” I fell in love with it immediately – it is so delicate and so shimmery. I was thrilled with how it spun up:

340 yds of DKish 2-ply

I took the yarn with me on vacation and 3 or 4 days into the trip, had this shawl done.

pattern: Lavalette by Kirsten Kapur
yarn: every inch of my handspun
needles: size 7, I think
dates: August 7-10

I loved every minute of knitting this. The pattern is another beautiful match for handspun – interesting but not so complex that it overwhelms the simple beauty of the yarn. I loved the way the colors played out as I knit it up, and I loved the drape of the fiber.

I made this for our dear friend Susie, who has opened her beach home to us for the last few summers. These colors reminded me of the beach, and of her. Susie is an artist and appreciates the value of handmade, so I felt really good about giving her something handspun.

Otherwise, this would have been a hard one to give away. I pretty much love it!

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knitted :: Emerald Coast Shawl (handspun Citron)

knitted :: handspun Citron, originally uploaded by earthchick.

First of all, thank you all so much for your very lovely comments on my last post. I appreciate each one. I am looking forward to finding out on Friday who wins the fiber! (or handspun yarn!)

The sandhole collapse I wrote about happened on the Gulf Coast, a place that is very much in my heart these days, as I’m sure it is in many of yours. The part of the Gulf my family goes to is referred to by some as the Emerald Coast, because the water there is a truly amazing emerald (and the sand is white like sugar). I love it.

So when I bought this fiber from Funky Carolina last winter, it immediately put me in an Emerald Coast state of mind:

8 oz. Wensleydale (4 oz. shown), “Deeper Water”

It was my first time spinning Wensleydale and it was a blast!

Scrumptious!
590 yds. sportweight singles

Sometimes when I get fiber, I immediately know both how I want to spin it and what I’m going to knit with it. This was one of those times.

pattern: Citron by Hilary Smith Callis
needles: size 7
yarn: I used almost every inch of my handspun (so almost exactly 590 yds)
dates: April 24-May 24
mods: none
verdict: This is a fun knit, though it does get a bit tedious during those last two sections. It’s a great use of handspun, and I really loved how the different shades played, sort of like ripples in the ocean.

While I’m really thrilled with how this turned out, I’m not so sure I’ll end up wearing it much (if at all). The Wensleydale is not scratchy, but it is furry and SO warm. The shawl has a very heavy feel to it, not really suited to the cool summer beach nights I was imagining! I loved spinning and knitting with this fiber, but I’m not sure about wearing it. But we’ll see!

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