Through the Loop...

Finished spinning the Loop bullseye bump.  Let it rest on the bobbin overnight and then chain plied it on my Louet wheel. 

Plied "Goddess" from Loop on the Niddy Noddy

I have a system for chain plying that works well on that wheel.  I put the full bobbin of singles behind my shoulder on a ledge behind my spinning chair.  I draw off the bobbin in a straight line to the orifice of the wheel so I don't have as much snarling of the singles as I work.  To do the chain ply, I tie a loop onto the bobbin leader and put my right hand thumb and forefinger through the loop.  Then I draw a loop of singles through the loop on my right hand with my left hand forefinger and draw it out about 20-24" (I've never measured - oops!) until my left hand reaches a spot on the wall.  Then I bring the loop over to the continuous strand from the bobbin and do a counted number of treadles, in this case 13.  I do this for consistency of my plying twist - and I do count treadles, then stop the flyer and wind on the finished yarn.  Fiddly, yes, but I like the evenness I get in my yarn from all the counting.  It isn't perfect, I don't think handspun is, or at least mine never is perfect.  But I love my yarn, so it works for me.


Full view of the finished yarn on the Niddy Noddy.

This skein's vital statistics are as follows: Loop bullseye bump in the "Goddess" colorway.  I don't think this is one of the repeatable ones.  Fiber content is Merino, bamboo and tussah silk in undisclosed percentages.  At a guess, I'd say about half Merino from the way it spins up.  It became a very nice and soft yarn.  Not much sheen or springiness, probably because of the silk and bamboo.  The skein weight is 4.7 ounces or  132 grams, length is 686 yards and 24 wraps per inch before washing.  It isn't dry yet, but it doesn't seem to have much spring to it, so I don't think there will be much change in this skein as it dries.



Full view of the "Goddess" skein

I washed the skein in hot water with a small squeeze of Dawn Olay Hand Renewal dish liquid in the Lavender scent.  I was really hoping for some color bleed to tone down the bright green, but that didn't happen.  I may still split off the colors later on, but I'm currently considering a round yoke sweater using this yarn for the colorwork portion.  If I break up the colors, I could overdye that green with something else to tone it down - maybe a peacock blue or a darker green, just to knock the intensity down a notch.  Another option would be to plan the colorwork specifically to break up the stitches to small "pops" of the green.  The quilters call that kind of oddball color a "poison color" that is needed to energize the color scheme of a project.  In a colorwork yoke, I'm thinking of doing something floral... maybe iris or violets... or maybe something abstract, I haven't decided. The grist of 24 wraps per inch makes it a fingering weight yarn, so I do have plenty of options.  Many suppliers make a grand array of colors in this yarn weight.

Close up of the "Goddess" skein - color is more accurate in the full skein photo.
 

This seems to be my default yarn.  It is what I naturally seem to spin.  Unless the fiber wants to be something else - but then I have to pay closer attention to maintain some other grist.  But I do make the attempt, especially with the superfine wools I've been sampling lately.  Speaking of that, I'll show you what I've been sampling in the last few weeks.

This particular sample is also from the Loop Fiber Studio and it came in the box along with the Goddess bump as a gift.  It is a sample of Steph's Spontaneous Spinning Clouds.  The fiber is carded but not aligned in a batt or top.  This little bit had white and a pale pink fiber with a smidgen of sparkle fiber that appears to be Angelina.  No fiber notations were made so I can only speculate what might be in this yarn.

It is pretty stuff, a 5 gram sample, and I got 20 yards of chain plied soft yarn with a pale golden glimmer that is quite appealing.  Only enough for a little accent on a knitted piece, but scrumptious enough to be worth it.

Also in progress is some of the Grand Champion Targhee fleece that I purchased at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival last month.  I chose some of the fleece near one edge and did some lock washing on it.  Then I flick carded and spindle spun some of it quite fine.  Chain plied on the spindle - because the Louet pulls too hard to ply a super fine yarn, it breaks the singles.  We have an understanding now, and there is much less frustration.  There are some things a Louet S-10 does marvellously well, but fine yarn isn't one of them.


Grand Champion Targhee fleece, yarn sample

Statistics on this sample are thusly: spindle spun singles clockwise, spindle chain plied counter clockwise.  Before washing, it measured 28 wraps per inch and 13 yards.  After washing the sample is 27 wraps per inch and 12 yards in length. Pretty springy yarn, not quite as much as the super fine Corriedale that I prepared with the same method.  This is a very pleasant yarn, still in the fingering weight range, even though it feels finer. It will be a great pleasure to work through this lovely fleece!

Gone Loopy...

Spinning is one of my favorite things to do.  Takes me to a wonderful, peaceful place with very few distractions. Of course, it also helps that I'm doing it in the middle of the night!  Even so, there is something creative and tranquil about the feel of prepared fiber slipping through my fingers on the way to the spindle or wheel.  Currently I'm working on a bump of fiber from a online shop called Loop.  This is the photo from the advertisement:

It is called "Goddess" and it is made up of Merino wool, bamboo and tussah silk.  It is spinning up well, although not especially quickly since it wants to be pretty fine singles.  Most people chain ply these bumps, and for a while I was thinking of doing the same thing.  I'm into the bright green part right now and I'm not crazy about the contrast with the other colors, so I'm considering removing the bright green and spinning it into a separate yarn.

Here's a shot of the bump after I started spinning the olive green section at the center of the bump. 

One of the interesting things about these bumps is that the fiber pulls from the center.  Most of the fiber I work with isn't put up this way, so it has been a new experience for me to spin from this kind of preparation.  One thing that is going to be nice is that I'll have a bit of time to decide how to handle that bright green, and it will already be in the spun singles form.  The blue is also quite bright, but it doesn't bother me as much.  An option I've considered is to use a neutral ply to tone down the brilliant intensity of the bright green.  I will keep on spinning the singles while I think this over.  I'd welcome any opinions on this quandry, please use the comments section to contribute your thoughts.  There are 4.6 ounces of this fiber, so in a chain ply, I'd probably end up with about 500-600 yards or so of a three ply in approximately fingering weight yarn.  If I do a neutral ply I'd have about twice that.

Here is a shot of the bobbin with the singles in progress:

As I've worked with this fiber, I've thought about making my own interesting color combinations, but doing up the colors as separate small batts from my drum carder.  Perhaps blending a small bit of the colors so that the progression is smoother between the colors.

But that is an experiment for another day.... I remember how long the color study took me to finish!

Works in progress - Part Two

Here's another episode... Bought this lovely kit from Knit Picks (http://www.knitpicks.com/) since I wanted to try out entrelac.  I just checked and the kit isn't available any more but here is the link for the Andean Silk yarn (http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Andean_Silk_Yarn__D5420126.html).  I've decided that I just love the hat, but I'm not as crazy about the long cuffed mitts.  I also changed one of the colors to suit me better, I swapped out the bright red for a blue.  The color starts at the ribbing in Sangria, then the first entrelac triangles and first round of blocks in Merlin, then Hyacinth for two rounds of blocks, then Imperial for two rounds of blocks and then back to Sangria for the decreasing sized blocks at the top of the crown. It will be a big slouchy beret which should be nice and warm.  Update: I found the pattern on Ravelry here's the link http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/yvette-entrelac-beret--mitts

To answer the obvious question, no, I don't actually knit this way - I just strung the hat onto a cable so I could shoot the picture.  I do confess to having a wonderful time using my ebony double pointed needles from Germany on this project.  I never really thought of ebony as a good choice for knitting since it is so brittle, but it is a delight to knit with! Smooth, but not slippery, holds this silk and alpaca blended yarn just right for the way I knit.

Entrelac is a neat concept that I'm really looking forward to using for some design work. It is an illusion of a diagonal weave and technical enough to keep me interested.  Stockinette is nice, but boring, and I do keep some plain stockinette projects on the needles for when I knit somewhere I can't devote my full attention.

As for this project, I'll finish the hat and probably do a scarf in entrelac to finish up the set. I question whether I'll do mittens to match since I think the alpaca wouldn't hold up as well as wool for the hard wear that mittens or gloves get compared to a hat.

Spinnable Stash

So here is the great stuff I found at the wool market!  There were several vendors there, all with wonderful things available for sale.  Since I have waaaaaaay too much fleece on hand, I tried to restrain myself.  Did pretty well - but a couple things followed me home anyway.



Corriedale cross dyed rovings

 These pretty pink/red/burgundy rovings from Frene Creek Farm.  My closest shepherd, she's just outside of town which is very handy!  I need to learn how to do this kind of painted roving, but for now, it is nice to be able to pick it up from Frene Creek.  Besides, she has an amazing collection of fleeces.  Some from her own livestock and some from other shepherds and fiber farms.

She's also got the most amazing lotion bars, I've nearly used mine up.  Guess I'll be making a trip out there again soon to replenish my supply.


Superwash BFL and Alpaca and Silk Top

The other batch of goodies I couldn't resist came from a farm that was new to me.  Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm in Harvard, Illinois.  A nice superwash BFL handpainted roving in blues/purples/teal with a touch of white left intact. The colorway is called Lincoln Park. Very nice!  Also an exquisite Alpaca and silk top in a colorway called Eeyore's Brooding, in heathered purples/blues/grays.

I suspect the lotion bar will come in very handy when I start spinning the silk.  Haven't spun silk in years, but I remember it being a little hard to handle since it wants to stick to any rough spot on my hands.

Now I need to pick a Stashdown goal for March... what shall I choose?  I'll let you know next time...