27 January, 2009

Promised photos

The brown was hard to photograph...








This is the antique in a close up

Still here...

So I have been neglecting to post....

Lots and lots of spinning is still going on around here. I took some photos of the grey yarn, or rather what's left of it... I have been knitting it. The yarn turned into a pair of fingerless mitts and most of a hat. Yes, most of a hat, I have been distracted by yet more spinning. . (My mom has claimed the mits) She will get the hat too if it fits her. The hat will be too small for me. I washed and blocked the mitts last night and they are still drying.

I started to spin up some of the Chocolate Fleece so I could have a break from the grey. So far I have spun up ~150 yards 2-ply and ~58yards of single ply of the same Chocolate. Working out a swatch on size 5US 3.75mm with the 2 ply. This one is a bit too loosely plied I think. I did get the weight of yarn I was trying for... It is 11-12 WPI (wraps per inch) which puts it at a heavy DK weight or a Light Worsted weight. Perfect for a sweater I think. Need to work on plying a bit less loosely the next go around.

Yesterday I went through my fiber stash and found some "antique" that I purchased from my favorite LYS a few years ago. Had roughly 4 oz left out of the 6 I had purchased. Spun that up last night and today I finished spinning and Navaho plyed it to preserve the colors (umm that was the plan any how) I don't know how well I did on color preservation but I have ~211 yards of a nice 3 ply that will probably be a bit bulkier than I really prefer, but will turn in to... ?? Don't know yet... We shall see.

Knitting... almost finished with my hubby's felted slippers. One more sole to make and then to attach it and sew up the seams. Need to go shopping for some Camo colored yarn for my eldest grandson, who said that he would like a sock monkey if it could be in camoflage.... Have to see if I can find some in a yarn I can tolerate long enough to knit a monkey out of. :-) Have the yarn for the second eldest's sock monkey already. When is Easter?

Photos in the next post

04 January, 2009

Spinning Wheel, spinning round....

... And as a result I now have 208 yards in 2 skeins of 3ply yarn from my Grey Fleece. Approximately 6.5 ounces spun up... leaving roughly 6 pounds and a few ounces to go. ;-) Umm, yeah.... I will be spinning the grey fleece for quite some time. As soon as these skeins are dry, I will measure the WPI (wraps per inch) I am thinking that I have a light to medium worsted weight. Which is what I was working towards. This first little bit of yarn is going to be knit up into fingerless mitts. I want to see how the yarn holds up and decide if I want to spin up a sweaters worth right away or not. (I have a funny feeling that this yarn is going to pill... ) It is a Merino cross. Photos of yarn to come later. Camera battery is dead.

I am thinking that I want to spin up a bit of my chocolate brown fleece next and see what it feels and looks like. It was yummy looking when I bought it all sheepy and dirty, such a wonderful color, and still a yummy color now that it is all clean. And the three drop spindles all have stuff that needs finishing on them as well.

It has been awhile since my spinning wheel has gotten much use, and thanks to three friends that decided to have a "sit and spin" day yesterday, I remembered how much I really do enjoy the spinning. Spent most of this morning spinning as well. I am glad that we have decided to make it a regular event. Now perhaps some of my fleece and roving stash will be turned into yarn stash.

Now to knit for the rest of the day and get this one project finished up. I can do it. There is very, very little left to do. Just have to attach the second sole to the bottom of the last slipper and sew up the final seams on both of the slippers. Then we are having a "felting party" on Wednesday evening. I am hoping to get the pair of socks I am working on close to the toe decreases as well today.

Knit On!