Tour de Fleece - Week 2

I'm pretty happy with my progress for the Tour so far this year!  I've been trying to have a goal of 15 minutes of spinning a day, or 30 if I can make that happen.

I finished up the Two If By Hand Polwarth roving, dyed in the "Calavera" colorway and LOVE how this one came out!

I wound up with 204 yards of a super squishy 2-ply worsted weight; final skein was 4 oz.  No specific plans for this one yet, but the little bright pops of jewel tones are so pretty.

Next up, which I just started yesterday is a braid from deep deep stash. This was part of a co-op type dyer's club where a different dyer sent out a braid each month based on a "nature" theme.  I can't remember what the inspiration for this one was, but it's 80/20 merino/silk and reminds me of fall leaves. 

This one went on the wheel yesterday, so not much in the way of progress to show yet. 

Tour De Fleece 2018

The annual Tour de Fleece is always great fun and a really nice way to focus on some spinning over the summer.  The Tour officially kicked off on Saturday, July 7th, and will run through Sunday, July 29th.  I'm a bit late getting started since I was in DC until Tuesday, but I did get home with enough time on Tuesday the 10th to at least put the start of a spin on my wheel.  (If you're a spinner and you'd like to come join Team Wooly Wonka, we've got a lovely small group of like-minded folks here.  Very casual - you can spin anything you'd like!)

My first spin for the Tour is another one out of stash.  This is Calavera from Two If By Hand, on Polwarth wool.

I decided I would try to get through a couple of braids in the next week or so at a DK-ish weight before I knuckle down and try to work on a thinner-grist spin.  I've got 2 Two If By Hand braids earmarked for the heavier-weight items and I think I'm going to tackle a small amount of a 50/50 angora bunny/silk blend I've got as my lighter-weight yarn - but that is subject to change based on my schedule of things around here. 

I've started the first half of the singles and hoping to get the first half finished up tomorrow.  Here's where that stands so far: 

I'm really looking forward to working on some more deep stash fibers for the Tour!

Knitting Update: December 5, 2017

I'm currently working on a sekret design project so no info/photos about that until it's ready to be released, but here are some things I can show you.

In my ongoing stashdown quest, I grabbed a partial and full skein of Rowan's Yorkshire Tweed DK leftover from a sweater I knit... oh... about 8 or 9 years ago.  I used all of that yardage up to knit Lete's Knits Tied Knots hat (which is a freebie pattern on Ravelry).  Super well-written pattern; charting and instructions are both very clearly done, and I had fun knitting a little cabled project.

Warm and cozy, with a good fit and fun to knit for the win!  (And another skein and a half out of stash.)

Currently, I'm working on a pair of plain vanilla self-striping socks (56-stitch circumference) in Gynx Yarn's Strong Sport in the Gingerbread House colorway. 

Another stashbuster project for me and holiday-themed to boot.  I'll be working on these this week. 

I'll have a 2018 planning post next week - one I'm really excited about!

FO: Timber Bay Hat

As another stashbuster project this week, I started and finished the Timber Bay hat this week.

This is a slightly slouchy, very simple and quick to knit textured pattern hat.  I did not do a double-layered brim, as written in the pattern. I worked the twisted ribbing for 2" and then started the rest of the pattern.

Project Details:

Pattern: Timber Bay by Melissa Schaschwary.

Yarn: Madeline Tosh Worsted in the Moss colorway.
Needles:  US size 5 (for the ribbing) and 7 (for the body of the hat).

This one will go into the charity/giveaway bin.  It's not a great color on me personally, but I really liked the shaping and fit of the design, so I know it will keep someone else'e head warm this winter season.  Another great stashbuster and a quick knit.

FO: Sagebrush Infinity Scarf

I finished up a great stashbuster project this week - the Sagebrush Infinity Scarf.

Project Details:
Pattern: Sagebrush Infinity Scarf, designed by Romi Hill.
Yarn:  Tendril from Tale and Tendril on Etsy.  Colorway is Gringots.  (Color looks a bit gray-er in the detail shot and a bit yellow-er in the above mood shot.  Color in the final photo is probably closest to real life.)
Needles: US size 3.

I used up all but about 3 yards of the 400-yard skein.  This cowl is worked back and forth, flat, from one end to the other, starting with a provisional cast-on.  The provisional cast-on is then unzipped and the 2 ends' worth of live stitches are grafted together with a 3-needle bind off to create the loop. A very straightforward pattern, nicely written, like Romi's usually are, and perfect for a stashbusting single-skein project.

Knitting Friday - October 13, 2017

I finished up my Gravel Socks last night and aren't they fun?

I knit these using Wooly Wonka Fibers Beryl Sock.  The colorway is Under the Cherry Tree.  While I'm not normally a fan of loud, handpaint colorways, for whatever reason (purple?) I love how these turned out.  The front has a simple knit/purl textured pattern that helps to break up the handpaint.  (Although nicely enough, this colorway doesn't particularly pool).  The back of the leg/sole is just basic stockinette.  I used the Fish Lips Kiss Heel for my heels on these.

Because the Beryl Sock is a bit plumper than many sock yarns, I went down to the 56-stitch leg circumference size and they fit perfectly.

I've also cast on for a lace/stashbuster project:  Romi Hill's Sagebrush Infinity Scarf.  I'm using a skein of a merino singles from Tale and Tendril's Etsy shop in the Gringots colorway. 

Just a few repeats in and, as with a lot of lace, it doesn't look like much at this point - but I love the colorway with this pattern and it's knitting up into a deliciously soft fabric.  I'll be working on that as a travel project next week.

I also dyed up yarn yesterday for a new sweater: Comfort Fade Cardi.  I had been toying with the idea of knitting up one of these "fade" cardigans to showcase some yarn colorways for the shop, but when Drea Renee Knits released this one yesterday, that shawl collar just grabbed me so I dyed up a sweater's worth of DK merino for myself yesterday and I'm going to cast on for that tonight!

Knitting Friday - September 29, 2017

October is almost here!  And I thought it might be time to get back into the swing of knitting/spinning blogging.  (Better late than never, right?)

I'm hosting a Socktober craftalong over in my Ravelry group.  Any pattern, any yarn is welcome as long as it's socks!  I'm going to be casting on a pair of Gravel socks using Wooly Wonka Beryl Sock on Sunday to kick off the event.  I'm using a skein of Under the Cherry Tree which is kind of a departure for me since I usually like plainer socks, but I love the colorway and thought these would be fun.

I've also been working on the Bailey Cardigan; pattern by Amy Christoffers.  I've gotten all of the knitting done and seamed up the body.  I need to knit and attach the pockets and finish the I-cord edging on the front edges and cuffs but I'm hoping to finish that up this weekend.

This was a stashbuster project as I'm trying to get my yarn and fiber stash down to more mangeable levels.  To that end, I reorganized the stash over the last week, pulled some things out for giveaway-ing, and repacked/reordered bins to tidy things up.  I have a LOT of sock yarn I need to make use of, as well as a bunch of sweater lots of things I'd also like to get knit up into actual wearable garments.  In reorganizing, I didn't realize (but I do now!) how MUCH 2-ply jumperweight/fingering yarn I have for colorwork projects, so I think 2018 may be the year of stranded knitting to try to use up a bunch of what I've got.  I earmarked several Alice Starmore patterns that I want to work up, so I may tackle one of those next.

I did also get back into my spinning groove this week, but I just finished plying up a small skein and I need to work on the companion skein to go with it, so I'll wait and share those next week!

WIP Wednesday: July 13, 2016

The newest podcast edition is now live (recorded July 12, 2016):

For the quick low-down on what I'm working on, here ya go!

Sekret Knitting:

• Working away busily on The Yarn Guys September project in my Nimue Sock yarn.  Currently about 1/4 of the way thru this one. 
• I also cast on the first sleeve for the fall Sweater Club and that is 3/4 finished.

Personal Knitting:

• Plain vanilla stripey socks in the Calvin and Hobbes colorway from Desert Vista Dyeworks.

• Pumpkin Spice Socks: Pattern by CC Almon.  Yarn is Wooly Wonka Aerten Sock in the "Bittersweet" colorway.

WIP Wednesday: June 29, 2016

This week's podcast is now live:

Lots of details in the podcast, including a new pattern release (the shawl you see behind me).

For the quick version, here you go!

FOs: 
Talisman Shawl: Pattern by Helen Stewart. Yarn is Wooly Wonka Fibers Gaia Sock in the “Bluebells” colorway. 
Beitha Shawl pattern release. Yarn is Wooly Wonka Fibers Nimue Sock in “White Birch” and “Black Forest”. 
Handspun Cabin Socks. Original fiber from FatCatKnits in the “Denim” colorway.

WIPs: 
White Sands self-striping socks. 
Design for Austin Yarn Crawl/The Happy Ewe

WIP Wednesday: June 15, 2016

The newest episode of the podcast is live with all kinds of details about what I'm working on:

Otherwise, here's what I'm working on:

Os: 
Fall 2016 Sweater Design 
Whirlwind Romance Shawl: Pattern by Nim Teasdale. Yarn is Sock! Merino (now discontinued) from Lisa Souza Yarns in the “Deepest Purple” colorway. 
Valentine self-striping socks (no pattern).

WIPs: 
Caramel Latte Socks 
Heathered cardigan 
Talisman Shawl 
Design for Austin Yarn Crawl/The Happy Ewe

Spinning Friday: March 4, 2016

I've kind of lost track where I am in showing my spinning projects after the week-plus hiatus to and from Stitches West, so I'm just going to jump in with my most recently finished project (and if you want to see where I am in the crazy 52 spins in 52 weeks project, you can always go here.)

This week, I worked on a Spin the Bin fiber from deep stash.  This was 4 oz of mixed BFL from Funky Carolina in the custom colorway "Adler".  A moody-broody blend of dark pine green and a deep plum and herby greens.  The original roving looked like:

I split the braid in half, and then split each of those halves again lengthwise - one half I split into 4 pieces and the other into 8.  I then spun each of those halves into singles, and then plied them together for a 2-ply heavy DK weight yarn with 224 yards in the skein.

My grist was a little bit wonky on this one - I spun it in small bits of time this week (like 15-minute sessions) and it was much harder to keep a consistent size for my singles.  I also purposefully spun this with a light twist, trying to keep the BFL loftier, as I think it's slated for either mittens or a hat, and I wanted it a bit soft and squishy (and normally my BFL winds up being very worsted-spun with a tighter smooth twist).

Next up, I'm starting a spin with 2 coordinating braids of Finn from Three Waters Farm for a challenge in their group.

WIP Wednesday: February 3. 2016

For those of you following along on the antics via the Podcast, Episode 4 is now live!

For those of you here for just a quick drive-by update, here ya go!

Sekret Knitting:

• Sweater #2 of 3 is finished!  Sample is knit, blocked, buttons are on and it's ready for photography.  The draft is off in the capable hands of my TE for review as we speak.
• So I'm working on sweater 3 of 3.  Just started the first sleeve and I'll be working on the sleeves this week while I am finishing up the last bit of...
• The second Heroines Club Shawl pattern.  I'm in the final repeat of the biggest lace pattern, so hoping to have that off the needles by the end of the weekend and blocked!

Personal Knitting:

• I finished my Hogmanay Shawl.  If you are interested, you can find all the details on my Ravelry project page here.  A very successful project - I love how the pattern worked up in handspun.  I was able to use just about every yard of the skein too - win/win! 

• Having that off the needles, I cast on my next handspun project - the Dewberry Cowl by Hilary Smith Callis.   This one I'm knitting up in a handspun gradient in the Iceberg colorway that I spun up on Falkland from the shop.  Currently, I'm through the first 2 pattern sections and about to start section 3. 

• And finally, I'm still cranking thru samples of self-striping sock colorways.  I have a half-dozen of single socks right now, since I'm trying to keep ahead of new colorway releases, but this summer when things are a bit quieter (or sometime soon!) I need to get mates knit up.  Drives me crazy to have half-pairs of socks finished.

Spinning Friday: January 15, 2016

Wow - it's been a month since I've done a Spinning Friday post.  Go grab some tea or other hot beverage - I've got a lot to share today!

I've spun a LOT since the turn of the year.  Most recently, I've finished two 2.5 oz braids that came from FatCatKnits as part of Ginny's 2013 Fairy Tales Club.  I took the first colorway "Angry Dwarf" and separated the lightest parts from the brights, and then spun up 2 small skeins to use for colorwork.  This is a 2-ply sportweight and my plan is to use it for an easy stranded knit hat.

I then took "The Prince" colorway and spun that 2.5 oz braid up into a 2-ply worsted weight that I want to use for a pair of textured fingerless mitts at some point.

Since I'm working from deep stash right now, I grabbed a 75/25 BFL/silk roving from Funky Carolina in the "Austin" colorway.  I originally bought this braid because the colors in it were sort of outside my usual color choices - burnt orange and a burgundy.

There were a lot of very lightly dyed sections inside the darker colors, so this spin came out a lot lighter than I had anticipated - the burnt orange was VERY toned down and it's more a set of muted pastels.   Pretty - but not what I thought it would look like.  This is 388 yards of a fingering weight 2-ply.  This one is slated for a shawl of some kind.  I have a coordinating tonal dye that I think I'll try to use with this.

Last but not least for the new year thus far, I also spun up a gradient colorway from my shop, "Iceberg" on Falkland wool.  I split the braid in half lengthwise to keep the colors lined up for this 2-ply.

This is 311 yards of a 2-ply sportweight.  It's slated for a lace cowl.

Currently, I'm working on two 2.5 oz braids of a dark/light swirled merino wool from FatCatKnits and her Famous Couples Club.  This is the December pair: Rhett and Scarlett.

My plan is to spin each of these up into singles and then ply together for a fingering weight and then use a very dark - maybe black or charcoal gray - tonal dye as the contrast for a striped shawl.

For those of you on Ravelry who are interested, I'm currently participating in 4 challenges, which sort of run concurrently and have morphed together all my 2016 resolutions regarding fiber stash.

• From now until March 31st, I'm working on the Great Big Stashdown Spinning Party.  I've picked a selections of fibers and some personal goals for that one which you can see here.
• I'm in the 16 in 2016 group, with a goal to spin 16 pounds over the course of 2016. 
• I've joined the Spin the Bin Challenge 2016 as part of the CTA spinning group.  For this challenge, you pick a certain set of fibers - I chose randomly from my stash - that fits into a bin and you spin those up over the course of the year. 
• And finally, my own personal 52 skeins/52 weeks challenge.

There obviously is some/will be some overlap as I'm not spinning separate braids for each of these challenges, but I AM going to try to get through a fair amount of fiber stash this year and challenge myself to make some gorgeous handspun yarns to use!

Spinning Friday: December 18, 2015

So happy to announce that I met my 2015 challenge goal of 7.5 pounds of fiber spun this past week.  (That's 120 oz for those of you keeping track that way).

I rounded out this last 2.5 oz with a 2-ply of superwash Targhee wool that's the companion colorway to 'Anna' from the FatCatKnits fiber club in November.  (So I'm also caught up with the current FCK club fibers as well!)

Yarn Specs:
Fiber:  Superwash Targhee from FatCatKnits.
Colorway:  Mr. Bates.
Ply: 2-ply.
Yardage: 204 yards/2.5 oz (fingering weight).

I think I've highlighted most of the yarns I've spun this year in individual posts, but here they all are in a mosiac - I spun just a tiny bit over the 120 oz I was shooting for, and that worked out to be 9331 yards of handspun! I know I've got a bit of time left in the month to keep spinning and I am currently working on some non-superwash Targhee from deep stash that I'm hoping to finish before the end of the year - but I'll report on that next week.

One of my goals for 2016 is to actually MAKE something with some of this gorgeous yarn I've now got sitting in a storage bin, but I am going to try to continue spinning my way through the stash as well!

WIP Wednesday: November 25, 2015

Sekret Knitting:

• I'm in the home stretch on the first Heroines Club Shawl pattern for 2016.  I have a couple more hours of knitting time to put in on it, and it'll be done and ready to head off for tech editing/testing.  I'm looking forward to sending this one out into the world - it's a really fun set of gradients!
• The yarn just arrived yesterday for the next deadline project, which will be a fair isle/stranded knitting garment.  Lots of knitting to do on that with a pretty short deadline, so I'll be focused on that for the next couple of weeks. 
• Waiting on yarn for 2 other deadline projects that got accepted for Fall 2016 publications - one is small-ish and the other is a men's garment, so I have plenty on the deadline knitting front to keep me busy for a while. 

Personal Knitting: 

• Because I suffer heartily from the Cobbler's Wife syndrome (as in... I knit constantly, and hardly ever have knitwear to wear myself), and I needed a new hat, I cast on for a Felicity Hat in some of my oldest stashed handspun yarn.  This is a blend of wool and mohair (60/40 maybe?) in the Winter Dawn colorway, which is kind of a dusty mauve/purple colors.  When I purchased it, or even when I spun it, is lost in the mists of time - it's VERY well-aged stash.  It was sometime pre-Ravelry and it's been waiting for a project. 

• I haven't made any further progress on it, but just to show an updated picture of my Mesa Verde shawl, here it is.  I've got another repeat and a half to do to finish it up and may work on this a bit over the holiday weekend if I have some spare knitting minutes. 

I've got a bad case of startitis right now.  I suppose that's what one does when faced with mountains of deadline knitting?  I'm trying valiantly to suppress the urge to cast on new quickie projects - that's what I've been in the mood to knit right now (and maybe a fallout from a lot of larger deadline projects?).  I also have 2 WIPs, which is a rare occurrence for me.  One is the mystery shawl from Kirsten Kapur from this summer.  I think I have clues 4, 5 and 6 left to knit.  The other is a pair of socks which I've gotten as far as the cuff and maybe 1-1/2" down the leg on.  Both of these are holdovers from many months ago - like last spring (socks) and summer (shawl).  I generally don't like to leave things on the needles this long.  I am strongly considering frogging the socks and starting over with something else.  I'd like to finish the shawl, but I may have to wait a bit on that and try to work on it after December 20th when I'll need to have 2 of the 3 deadline projects (other than the Heroines shawl), finished.

WIP Wednesday: December 2, 2015

Sekret Knitting:

• I finished the shawl for the Heroines Club January kit.  That is off to my TE and test knitter. 
• I started the big stranded garment knitting deadline project this weekend.  I've got 1 sleeve about half-knit and I've started on the body, with about 2" of that finished).  I'm going to get sleeve #1 done completely and cast on for sleeve #2.
• I have 2 other deadline projects, 1 large, 1 small, that I'm waiting on yarn to start. 

Personal Knitting:

• The handspun Felicity hat is done!  It's maybe a wee bit dense with this yarn (which is more like an Aran then a worsted), but it's SUPER warm because of that and the mohair content.  This was a really quick and easy project.  I only used half of the yardage of this handspun, so I could either knit another hat, or might knit a pair of gauntlet-length fingerless mitts, or a pair of mittens.

• I also finished my Mesa Verde Shawl #2, which I knit out of Rowan Scottish Tweed from deep stash.  

Spinning Friday: November 20, 2015

This week, I finished spinning up the combo spin from FatCatKnits "Famous Couples" club.  This was the September 2015 installment - Sam and Dean.

I got two 2.5-oz braids of a superwash merino/sparkle base, which are shown coiled around each other above.  The "Sam" colorway is the red/black/white/yellow one, and the "Dean" colorway is the purple/black/teal/white one.

I spun each of the colorways up separately, and then I plied them together to get:

This crazy bright 2-ply yarn!

Yarn Specs:
Fiber:  Superwash merino wool/nylon sparkle - 5.0 oz.
Colorway: Sam and Dean (2.5 oz of each color).
Ply:  2-ply.
Weight: Fingering weight with 504 yards and 4.9 oz in the finished skein.

I originally thought I'd make socks from this, but 504 yards is WAY more yardage than I need for socks.  I might do socks AND a pair of mitts, or maybe try to figure out a really simple shawl pattern that would play nicely with this.

Next I'll be starting the last blended roving offering from my Wooly Wonka Mythical Creatures Club - Gryphons, as I'm in the mood for a little heathery/tweedy yarn to make something for the colder weather.

Spinning Friday: October 23, 2015

This week I've been spinning up a few small bits to add to my yardage for a sweater spin.

You might remember during the Tour de Fleece, I had spun up 8 oz of a hand-dyed variegated BFL and a dark coffee brown natural roving into a bouncy worsted weight yarn, but I don't think I have quite enough for a sweater, so I bought a handful of 2-oz braids of the same variegated BFL base from Ginny at FatCatKnits (who also dyed the original variegated BFL colorway) to get myself a little more yardage, figuring I can add some contrast color stripes to the mix.

This week, I spun up and plied 2 oz of "Sienna" into 122 yards of a 2-ply worsted weight.

And then I finished up the 2 oz of singles of "Lagoon", which I will try to get plied this weekend.

That will give me somewhere around a total of around 875 or so yards, and I have one other tonal-dye colorway I could also spin up from Ginny ("Toffee"), but I may see how far I get by casting on and knitting a bit.

Spinning Friday: Sari Batts

I did get some spinning accomplished since my last Spinning Friday post.  I dug into the deep dark recesses of my stash bins and hauled out one of my oldest fibers, a set of two 2-oz batts from Enchanted Knoll, in the "Sari" colorway.  These are a blend of superwash merino, silk and sparkle, and a wee bit of loose silk threads.

I have the first 2 oz spun up and have started the second 2 oz of singles.

My plan is to spin this up into a fingering-weight 2-ply yarn, probably for a shawl since it has a lovely shine and drape with just a hint of sparkle to it.  We'll see how the weekend treats me (Saturday is forecast cool and rainy for a change, so maybe I'll be indoors a lot), and try to get the singles finished up on this project.

Spinning Friday: August 14, 2015

This week, I decided to dig into deep deep stash and pulled out a set of batts from a club from 2009.  These are from Northwoods Dye Works, and are themed on the bald eagle.  Each 1-oz batt (total of 3 oz) was carded with superfine merino wool in a dark brown with light blue-gray silk noil and then a layer of natural (cream-colored) alpaca.

I really had a hard time deciding what to do with these.  I didn't want to get a barberpole-y yarn and I worried with the really high contrast between the 2 fibers, that's what I'd get.  I had thought about recarding, but then I worried the silk noil was going to cause neps with all the other superfine fibers - and honestly... handcarding these didn't sound like a whole lot of fun.  So I opted to split the batts and pulled off the alpaca section and separated the two colors.

I spun both of the fibers (I had 1.9 oz of the brown and 1 oz of the white) as a 2-ply fingering weight, semi-woolen technique.   Here's the brown with the silk noil.

And the white alpaca.

Technical Specs:
Fiber: Three 1-oz batts from Northwoods Dye Works (club fiber from 2009) with 55% wool, 40% alpaca, 5% silk.
Ply: 2-ply.
Weight: Fingering weight.
Yardage/Oz:  154 yards/1.9 oz of brown and 101 yards/1 oz of white.

The yarn is super soft and very drapey.  Since I don't have a ton of yardage from it, I'm thinking about knitting a simple striped cowl, like this one, to try to make the most of what I do have.

Up next week is a club fiber from the Wooly Wonka Mythical Creatures club: Dryad.