FF: Grab your sunglasses

Because this stuff is retina searing:

Devil's merino handspun, 8.1 oz/229 gr, about 575 yds, 13-14 wpi (fingering weight).
Spun/plied at 12:1 on ST Lendrum.

Fiber from Yarn School, dyeing by me and Dev, spinning by me (with much "Are you done with my yarn yet?" from Herself). Dev has requested a blanket made from this stuff, so I chain plied to keep the stripes intact. I'm envisioning a garter stitch edged triangular shawl type thingie, with a central column of double YOs and YOs on each edge just inside the garter stitch border. That will give me lots of stripes and a non-curling edge. And make it something she can wrap up in as needed.

I've also finished the body of her sweater. It's quite gratifying to find that she is rather excited about it. Or at least marginally enthusiastic. I even interrupted her viewing of 101 Dalmatians to ask for input on the buttons and didn't get my head ripped off and stuffed down the stump of my neck. So she must like it!

I got the flower buttons specifically with her in mind, but to my surprise she picked the pinky red ones. Which is great because I can do the same ribbing that's on the bottom as a button band and not have to worry about buttonholes.

Here's hoping that a good blocking takes care of the wobbly stitches. Damn cotton will get me every time!

First top-down raglan

Having now moved massive amounts of yarn across several thousand miles of ocean, I am seriously motivated to do some stash-busting. Three skeins of pink Cotton Fleece have been calling out to become a cardigan for a certain wee Devil, so last week I cast on.

Size 6 needles (4.0 mm), a couple of hours in front of ITV1 with Barbara Walker's "Knitting from the Top", and I've got a finished yoke. I'm using yo increases along the raglan lines to make it a bit lacy, and I'm really liking it. Devil helped me wind the yarn cakes, so she's feeling involved as well. Good times. And it's zooming along - I'm hoping to finish it this week, and I've got some pretty flowery buttons in my stash that I picked up for just this sort of project.

The girls seem to be adjusting to the UK pretty well, particularly since we've gone to visit a Princess Castle...

What more could you ask for?

Mini-FO: Ditty Bag

Pattern: Ditty Bag by Maia Discoe
Yarn: Araucania Rancho leftovers from the Science Geek socks, no idea of the yardage
Needles: US 0/2.00 mm
Comments: Fun, quick way to use up some sock yarn leftovers. I finished the knitting on this before we moved, but didn't weave in the ends or do the cord until last week. So now it's finally finished, and Devil has appropriated it as her new purse. Unfortunately its not pink, but she seems to be muddling through anyways.

Fiber Friday: Corriedale Handspun

My main spinning goal before we left Houston was to finish up all the singles (2 lbs worth) of the Corriedale I dyed last fall at Yarn School. That accomplished, when the wheel arrived in the UK a few days after we did, my next step was to ply all seven bobbins of singles.

Yes, that's right. Seven bobbins. In keeping with a multitude of wiser and more experienced spinners out there, I choose to spin all the singles and mix up the bobbins in the plying. So I plied the last bobbin (#7) with the first one. #6 with #2, #5 with #3, etc. Of course, there wasn't an even amount of singles on each bobbin, so it didn't line up exactly, but I ended up with only a small amount to Andean ply when all was said and done.

I ended up with 4 skeins, 1 lb (plus or minus a bit), of 2-ply, looks to be about sport weight, but probably ranges from fingering to light worsted. The singles were spun long-draw from the fold from commercial top at 10:1, and plied at the same ratio. Soaked in hot hot hot water (the hot water from my tap is over 120 degrees F), and got a fair bit of purple dye coming off, but no noticeable fading of the yarn.

The fiber was not terribly soft in the top, but the finished yarn is nice and cushy. It was dyed in a crock pot with purple, violet, brilliant blue and orange Jacquard Acid dyes, and I didn't do anything to try and match up the colors when plying - I wanted them to blend together pretty well.

I ended up with ~1000 yds, which is kind of disappointing - I'd been wanting to make Tempest with this stuff, without the stripes. But my size calls for about 1200 yds. I might be able to make it anyway. Guess I'll have to swatch and see!

Aaaaaaaaaaah!

That angelic noise you hear is the choir of angels sounding off now that we have home internet access once again. This is the first time in 15 years that I haven't had the option of checking my email at the drop of a hat. I'm hoping that my twitch will fade out in a few months.

So...no big knitting/spinning news today, but I have on tap 1.5 finished knitted objects, 4 finished spinning objects, and one top down raglan cardi for Devil in (of course) pink to share with you. Plus some goodies from my trip to my new LYS yesterday.