Hand Spindle Greens

Last night I finished up some green/brown merino-silk by drop spindle. Taking a break from the new wheel and doing something I know how to do! 

My New But Old Wheel

I got this wheel from my knitting buddy, Barbara in Mesa, AZ. It arrived just yesterday and now I'm oiling it and trying to get the hang of it. I think this picture shows it's unique character. And, I don't mean "oh she must have a lovely personality (because she certainly doesn't have the looks!)" Actually, I love the way this wheel looks. Now the learning begins... 

Double Drive

 

Okay, this is really too steep.

Do I look a little paniced? Yow! We were in the second to last row of Safeco Park for the Stitch and Pitch. Notice the hat? I can be sporty...really! 

Nana and the Fab Poster

Yes, they showed us TWICE on the Jumbotron at the Mariner's/BlueJay's game because of Nana's lovely poster. Sure, we thought it was a little nutty, until of course it made us so popular! 

Classic Seattle Tourist Shot...

oh me and the wee little Nana (don't be mad at me, Nana!)

I'm too Hottttttttttttttttt!!!!!

 

Merino/Silk Loose Shine

 

Silk/Merino Plyed

This came out much better than I thought. I'll have to take another picture to show the shine, but the brownish pink gray thing happening is really pretty.

Single Ply Baby Huacaya Alpaca

This will soon be a 1x1 rib scarf that will probably rarely leave my neck. It's sinfully soft and was spun on my new rosewood drop spindle.

Fiber Wall Installation

Fiber arts (ahhhhts) behind my tv on the wall.
I'd much rather look at yarn then a picture.
I can't claim responsibility for this particular grouping. It's "Over the Rainbow" cotton.
I can change it all the time! What fun. 

Merino Heather and Shetland 2 ply

Just an experiment...

First Ply

Last night I got sick of waiting for my lazy kate (plying tool) to arrive in the mail and decided to stand up with my spindles and try it that way.

It was that intensly stressful feeling I had when I first started spinning that gradually went away. The yarn is running away from me! Oh No! The cats were amused, but also trying to decapitate a really huge moth in the middle of my plying action...

So! Here it is, first and imperfect and done on a too small drop spindle. I used some scrap fleece that I bought, mixing the colors myself.

I read all this stuff on how to know if your yarn is balanced and I actually think that this is, wonder of wonders. No real skewing to one side or the other. I don't even have a wraps per inch tool yet, so it's all just one big experiment, but one that I'm really enjoying.

One wee skein of two-ply. Yah! 

Stash Re-Org Day

Well, it was last week as well, but I just didn't do a very good job. I'm constantly buying more cute baskets but now they are running past the shelving onto the floor. At first it didn't bother me too much, but now that I'm actually CREATING yarn, it seems a little crazy. I know, I've seen other stashes that fit into this little space and that little space. I need to know where everything is, and now that I've moved it around so many times lately, I'm getting confused. Let me warn you. Please no advice on this! It's just my own weird little process and I know there are plenty of better ways to do this. Oy.

And, it's lovely outside and this is what I'm doing instead. Nothing new about that. When the sun's a little lower in the sky I guess I'll go out and try and control myself about not purchasing yet more cute baskets....

Tunic Tank Back (or front)

 

Detail of Tank Tunic

I like this yarn, again from Elann, Lipomo. it's a chainette ribbon sort of thing that has a nice shine that you really can't see in this picture. The color almost has an apricot tinge to it. I've fallen asleep at the wheel a couple of times on this one and have done more frogging than usual, but, c'est la vie. I'm doing the armhole shaping on the back on this one was well, and although it comes to finish in a little high neck, I may go for a v-neck. Not sure. 

Agatha Tank

This is from Book Two of Lavolde's Design Books, Sentamental Journey. The Pattern is pretty easy and I'm working on the armhole shaping now. The colors I'm not so sure about, but I may make it again in a solid, as it was shown in the book. 

Detail in Elann Sonata Print

 

The Fiber, the Spool and the Spindle

This is some of the stuff that I am finally going to try plying. So far I have only spun singles. I bought this fiber last weekend at Blacksheep. It's Bombyx/Merino from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks. I purchased from a great vendor, Crown Mountain Farms.

This colorway is Moonstone, but I bought a bunch of other fiber from them and was really happy with the quality. Mostly I got 2oz roving to try out and see if I want more. I'm so glad I got the drop spindle in rosewood because I now realize that I needed a much lighter one to work with such fine singles.

I still feel like I don't know quite what I'm doing and I'm trying to pick up on the lingo. It'll take some time, and I suppose at some point I may actually take a class.