FF*: Verdant laceweight

My first installment for Project Spectrum 3 - Earth. Finally, at long last, I'm done spinning the Verdant laceweight. This was my first attempt to spin laceweight, and it was more or less successful I think. But it took a damn long time!

I started with this gorgeous fiber from Hello Yarn:

70% merino, 30% mohair, Colorway "Verdant". I got 8 oz of this fiber in my double order from the Fiber Club, but only used 4 oz for this experiment.

I split the top in half lengthwise and then in half again. Each half (2 quarters) was predrafted in sequence, and rolled into a ball. My goal was to spin two singles with more or less the same color sections so the two ply yarn would be sort of self-striping instead of marled.

Spun each half on a separate bobbin at 15:1. I used a sample card with a sample of commercial two ply laceweight (Knit Picks Shadow) showing both the two ply and the single. I actually spun up a sample of the fiber before starting the whole batch, so the sample card also had a Verdant single, the unwashed two ply and the washed two ply sample.

I started off spinning this knowing only a few things about spinning laceweight: 1) thinner singles need more twist, hence the higher ratios so your knees don't burn out of their sockets, and 2) another way to help get enough twist was to keep the take up really really low. My initial takeup was so light that I felt like I was pushing the single into the orifice and it was going nowhere. So I increased the take up a little bit and it seemed to work ok. I had to keep adjusting it as the bobbin filled however, and that took a bit of attention. I spun from the fold, using a supported long draw, which I'm liking more and more as I get better at it.

I plied at 12:1, and the colors matched up pretty well. There were only about 5 points at which I had to wind off one single onto a holder to get to the next color in the progression. Those held singles got spliced back in at the end. It was tough going on the last few bits though - that was one full bobbin!

I finished the yarn by soaking the skein in warm water and hanging to dry. I didn't give it too much abuse, since I'm planning to knit lace with it. I also didn't want the mohair to bloom too much - fuzzy lace isn't my thing.

Final specs: 3.9 oz, 18-22 wpi, 520 yds.

My original thought was to let the yarn sit for a bit until I cast on with it, but I couldn't resist. I wound it up and cast on for this the day after it was dry. It's flying off the needles, and once again, I am almost overwhelmed at how much fun it is to knit with my own handspun.

* I know it's Saturday, but I was ready to write this post yesterday when my mouse went bonkers and refused to cooperate. So it's a day late. So sue me...

FO: Devil's leftover socks

Pattern: my own, simple toe-up socks worked in k5/p1 rib, short-row heel
Yarn: leftovers from the Rainbow Socks, Lang Jawoll Aktion
Needles: well, theoretically US 1.5/2.5 mm, but I lost one needle partway through and substituted a US 1/2.25 mm. Didn't make any difference.
Gauge: 11 sts/12 rows per inch in pattern, unstretched.
Comments: These are finally done! It's been a long time coming. I made these extra long in the foot so they'll actually fit her the next time it's cold enough to force her to put on socks (like in December).

Some may notice that the stripe repeat is disrupted in one of the sock legs (which one?). That's because I finished the first one and ran out of yarn on the second leg, so I had to cannabilize the first to make them match. I totally guesstimated how far to rip back, but it came out pretty close:

Note small amount of yarn left after binding off.

I use the work two, put back on left needle, ktbl bind off method for toe-up socks, and realized this morning that I'm not particularly consistent about the orientation of the stitches (twisted vs. untwisted) when I'm doing it. I wonder if it makes any difference in the appearance? Perhaps there's a tutorial post in there somewhere.

These socks are my first contribution to the Sock a Month knitalong, which I just joined a few weeks ago (although it started in January). Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with at least one pair a month!

A Cricket in a Frosted Forest

Two different handspun FOs this week. First up is Cricket, from the very first installment of the HYFC. I had spun up most of the original 4 oz when I received it, to make my grandmother's Branching Out, but I had a bit left over. This

became this,

which, after washing became this:

Fiber: BFL, colorway "Cricket", Hello Yarn Fiber Club May 2007 offering
Spun on a bottom whorl spindle.
13 wpi, 72 yds in 1.4 oz/40 g (about DK weight)
I spun the singles fairly tightly and overplied (that would be picture #2). The twistyness was tamed pretty well by a hot-cold shock wash, and hanging to dry unweighted. Not much yardage there, but could work for something small for the kids.

Just off the wheel and finally dried is Frosted Forest:

Fiber: 50/50 wool/soy silk top, colorway "Frosted Forest", HYFC December installment
Spun at 9:1, ST Lendrum, not plied.
16 wpi, 128 yds in 4.2 oz/119 grams. I was aiming for DK weight but ended up closer to fingering weight.
I wanted to preserve the intensity of the colors, so I decided to spin this as a singles yarn (my first). I pulled off chunks and spun from the fold, semi-long draw, but smoothing down the single as I went. To finish, I again did a hot-cold shock wash to felt the singles a bit and keep them together. The felting part definitely worked! - I tried to rewind it on my niddy noddy after washing to get everything aligned again, and it took me three evenings to get it untangled and back in a skein! There are sections that are a bit overtwisted, but on the whole it's fairly balanced, and I love the shininess of the soy silk. I'm not sure I'd want to spin 100% soy silk (holy slippery Batman!), but 50% was ok. And the colors are gorgeous. Now I have to find a pattern for 120 yds of fingering weight.

Verdant is on the wheel now, in the "laceweight" incarnation, and I suspect it will be keeping me busy for quite a while. And the secret project is done, I'm happy with it, and now am in the throes of pattern writing so I can submit it and see what other folks think.

FO: Ivy

Sorry for the crappy photo - my photographer is on an expedition with the kidlets

(boy do I need to clean the bathroom mirror!)

Pattern: Ivy by Glenna C.
Yarn: Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool, color 23, just over 7 skeins
Needles: US size 3
Started/finished: Jan 2007/Feb 2008
Comments/mods: First off, I love this sweater. And I am beyond thrilled to finally have it finished. I started this when I was still pregnant with Boo, and it was going to be my celebratory no-longer-pregnant sweater for this winter. Hopefully, there will still be a few chilly mornings so I can justify wearing it a few times before it gets put away for the summer.

I knit this according to the pattern, but in retrospect there are some changes I would have made. I'm not a big seaming fan, and I think I would have knit this in the round. The only complication is the hole for the waist ties. It would be easy enough to knit in a hole as you were going and continue in the round. The other thing I would have done, and which I highly recommend for anyone contemplating this sweater, is to write out the waist and neck shaping for the fronts line by line. There's a lot of shaping going on, and every time I put this down, I spent a lot of time trying to count the number of neckline decreases I'd done to try and remember where I was in the pattern. I'd also take some time to figure out how to knit the neckband and attach it to the neckline without seaming, just to get rid of that one extra step.

I love this yarn - it's nice to work with, with a fairly soft hand (particularly when knitted up), but has a little bit of crunch from the silk that makes the twisted stitches stand out nicely. I wet blocked the pieces before seaming, and the fabric evened out nicely.

I'm glad it's done, if only to get one project off the plate. Now, given that it's a balmy 70 degrees out, it's time for some summer sweaters.

Toxic finally finished

Fiber: Superwash corriedale top
Colorway: "Toxic", Hello Yarn Fiber Club November fiber
Specs: 3-ply, 14 wpi, fingering weight, 515 yds in this skein, not sure of the weight
Spinning: singles spun with short forward draw, worsted style, at 10:1. Plied at 5:1 (this was my first "real" 3-ply (i.e. not chain plied), so I did it slowly.

I actually had a plan when I started spinning this fiber (more details here). I wanted to end up with a yarn that had two plies more or less the same color, and one ply of a varying color throughout. I'm not at all convinced that it worked out terribly well, but I like the finished product.

A couple of notes about the plying: usually I end up over-plying to some degree. I don't mind overplied yarn, and it's never bad enough to be an issue, but this time I decided to do something a bit more technical. I counted treadles for each length of yarn, putting in the same amount of twist for each length. I think the end result is a bit underplied - it doesn't obviously twist in the skein, but the plies look a little loose to me. It also doesn't seem as round as the chain plied yarns I've done previously, but that may just be due to there being less plying twist. While I didn't mind the treadle counting (much), next time around I will use a higher ratio so I can get more twist with less treadling.

I've still got some singles left, which I'm going to chain ply in sequence for a little mini-skein. No idea what yardage I'll get, but it will make a fun stripey something. The intensities of the colors are just amazing!

******************************************************
I stumbled across Deb's blog recently, while looking for sock patterns, and I've been inspired by her monthly tallies. Well, it's more like I've been amazed by her monthly tallies - talk about production! - but it struck me as a good way to keep track of what's in progress and what's actually been finished. So here are my stats for January:

Finished:
Rainbow socks for the gift pile
Toxic superwash sock yarn

In progress:
Ivy - I started seaming this up last night, hoping to finish it in January (and completely forgetting about the whole knitting the neckband issue...), so it's going to be done soon. I only hope it's done before it warms up to 75 degrees for good.

Started:
Blanket for Devil - to replace the precious blanket lost at the Houston Marathon Expo
(planning stages) Sock submission for summer Knitty - waiting for the Blue Moon fiber goddesses to ship out my goodies.