Call me Your Blueness

My 3 skeins of Beaverslide did not match so I tried over-dyeing them with indigo. I had a kit of pre-reduced indigo so decided to try it out. I like the color, but even after about 5 washings, and a synthrapol rinse the color still comes off on my hands. I'm tempted to throw the yarn into Nuuanu Street to rinse out the excess dye, but the moss and the leptospirosis warnings deter me. Oh well. So of course, my sweater, which had a stripe in front where the yarn did not match also makes my hands blue. I really love the color, but reading up after the fact, I wonder if the stripe will gradually come back as the dye washes out.

It's approaching 90 here, so I won't be needing the sweater any time soon. But when I start wearing it I suppose I could be addressed as Your Blueness.

Final Day Tour de Fleece

Final Day Tour de Fleece, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Plied polwarth, fingering weight or so, hot off the bobbin. My time zone is 12 hours from the actual Tour and I'm not sure what the rule is, but I'm counting this in.
I'm looking forward to soaking this to see if it will bloom like my other polwarth.

This was a very enjoyable tour for me. I still don't quite get all the rules of where and what to post and how to win a prize, but the joy is in the spinning.  Perhaps the Tour de France will grow on me, too, although I really don't like seeing the crashes.  The weather was sure glorious this year.

Candy Howl

Pattern: Modified from Lion's Brand Diagonal Eyelet Cowl
Yarn: Araucania Colium Multi, #06, pinks and purples. This is a bulky single ply with 30%silk and 70%wool. It stayed together through a bunch frogging
Needles: size 13
Modifications: I just used the pattern stitch, CO 44 and finished with an i-cord bind-off. The cord is a twisted cord with poms, thread through the second row of holes from the CO edge. The pattern knits with the "bumpy" side out, but I liked the smooth side better. The cord can be gathered and word on the outside or inside.



The Tour de Fleece spinning is coming along. The second half is just going more slowly. I moved my wheel on to the carpet and now there is a funny knock from one of the peddles. I'm spinning on.

Day 19 Tour de Fleece

Day 19, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Since my Wild Flyer has not shipped yet, from Majacraft, I attempted some "art" yarn on my drop spindle. I spun two singles, one of the combed short pieces on mystery curly yarn, and a thinner single from some natural mill end Lambs pride base. I then try to ply the the longer curls in. Some are fairly tight but some look like they will slip out, so I'll try and fell this bit to see if they will stick.

In the background is the Polwarth in progress. The plan is to spin 4-6 oz into a two ply fingering/sport weight and save a bit for some thick and thin adventures.

TDF Day 14 and Catch Up

I finished spinning and plying my Alpaca from Upstream Alpacas around Day 12 The color is Pinot Noir. It's 3-ply except for the little bit at the top. I'm guessing is a worsted weight.

Being a-wracked with a virus and despite the day of rest, I talked myself out of starting my 8-oz braid of Polwarth. Instead I finished these little spools of odds and ends on my drop spindles. The spindles are both Bosworth's, and I dearly love spinning on them. The largest bit is some mystery wool acquired at Aloha Knitters knit night destash. While clean, it was just a big bag of disorganized fiber, so I carded some bits and spun them up, slubs and all. I may find something to ply it with eventually. The smallest bobbin is a silk hankie from Madrona, given to me by blogless Sandy. The green stuff is also a mystery, I think a silk blend. Happy Spinning!

Day 7 Tour de Fleece

I managed to ply my two strands and finish up about 195 yards of fingering weight yarn. I hope it blooms a bit after the soak. It's drying now. It may take a couple of days in this humidity. I'm not sure I like how the colors mixed or what this yarn will be. It was a a real silky treat to spin.

I finished Wingspan.

Yarn: Color Changing Cotton 50 gr by Wolle's Yarn Creations, colorway black cherry, 480 yards. Needles: size 4Mods: I kept knitting and ended up with 11 triangles. I was trying to make it black on both ends and red in the middle. The yarn was a bit tricky to knit as it is 4 cotton threads together. The scarf was quite drapey so I don't think I'll block it. The pattern is a very clever though simple to knit. I got a little bored with all the garter stitch, but it beats purling!

I spent the spinning time looking through my sparse stash for something to spin on challenge day. One bag of locks I had was quite dirty and very short. Now I know what to look for next time I buy them. I don't know if it will spin which is a shame as the fibers are very silky and shiny. I also know know I should label my purchases. I thought I would give corespinning a try. My trial piece ended up too chunky to pass through the guide on the flyer. Hmmm.

Tour de Fleece 2012 Day 2

I got off to a late start this year being mostly oblivious to things in the sports world. However, the Kaylee (Firefly inspired) SW merino from Woolen Mill Street Yarns is spinning up like a dream! These colors are a real departure from my usual gloomy choices, but the hot pink is such a happy color! My goal is to spin a fingering-sport weight 2-ply that is less dense then my usual spinning, and to make the singles more consistent in diameter. I wanted to to do sock yarn, but I've read pure merino does not wear very well. I'm not sure what this happy yarn will be. Perhaps a striped shawl as I have some green that may match.

My worsted-bulky 2 ply SW merino/seacell from dyeing for color, is waiting to be dyed. I spun this up before the Tour so can't really count it in. Friday will be the day it gets dyed. The fiber on this was shorter then some merino I've spun. I was going for fatter singles and the thick-thinness of my singles was much more pronounced then on the thinner singles.

Practice practice practice.