A Tale About Knitting With Handspun

Once upon a time there was a lovely 4 oz. bump of Frabjous Fibers that did not know what it should be when it grew up.  But a nice lady took it home with her and lovingly spun it into singles.

Because the lady was a novice spinner and had not yet learned to Navajo ply, she decided to spin a bump of some Ashland Bay in a pretty cranberry color to go with the Frabjous Fiber.

When they were all plied together, the lady had a wonderful yarn that she was so happy with. 

But this lady just didn't know what to make with her new handspun yarn.  So she set it aside to admire and wait for it to speak to her.  She waited.  And she waited.  And she waited.

Eventually this lady began to feel kind of silly.  She had spun this yarn (and a few others) to be knit, not sit on a shelf.  She had even spun yarn for friends to knit, but the lady had never actually knit with her own handspun!  So the lady decided that this must be rectified immediately!  She went on a quest through the vast forest of patterns found in the mystical land of Ravelry.  After much searching, the lady finally stumbled upon a beautiful shawl pattern put out by the good fairy Miriam L. Felton.  This Lune Shawl had a magical swirl to its shape making it easy to wear.  It also had a variation that was in simple stockinette stitch...perfect for her yarn with it's many color changes.

And so, the lady cast on and began to knit with her handspun.  This made the lady so very happy, that she vowed to knit up ALL her handspun and to never be so foolish again.

Productivity

I've been a busy gal lately and done a LOT of things. However, blogging isn't one of them!

Here is an update with lots of pics for your viewing pleasure. Most are projects that I started and finished in February. Click on name of each project to view the knitty gritty project details.

Nebula Wrap.



I started and finished a sweater for my hubby in February using Elizabeth Zimmerman's Seamless Saddle Shoulder Pullover pattern in her book Knitting Without Tears.

I call it "Beloved."




I have to say I am so happy with how it turned out.



This sweater was not without it's trials and tribulations.





There was some spinning in February. I spun alpaca...



...and some wool...



...and plied the two together.



There were smaller, less ambitious projects too. I crocheted a few water bottle covers to help my daughter with her AWANA missions project. She is making them to give to folks in exchange for donations which will all go to support children's programs in Nepal.




St. Patrick's Day is coming! I decided to make a crocheted Shamrock Garland.




This month, in anticipation of a little spring cleaning, I tried out two different patterns for Swiffer covers.



On the left is the Reversible Swiffer Sock and on the right is the Crochet Biffer Shrug.

Currently there are socks on one set of needles and and a cabled sweater in progress as well. However, I've spent the last two days doing a little sewing. I designed my own pattern for a reversible project bag.

This one is prize for a fellow participant in Ravelry's Nerd Wars. Her favorite colors are jewel-toned blue and green.





I made another one to donate as a door prize at Camp KIP in April.




I definitely see more of these bags in my future. I've really enjoyed sewing them!

Well, that pretty much sums up what I've been working on the last month or two. As you can see, my hands have been pretty busy! Now, if I could just be more consistent about writing my blog!

More wheel love...

I gave my new baby a spa treatment last night with some Watco Danish Oil, and look at how she glows! I wish I was a better photographer so that I could adequately convey how lovely her wood is. I haven't come up with a good name yet, but she definitely needs a name. Any suggestions?

She is currently set up in double drive, which is new to me. I have only spun in single drive with Scotch tension (Schacht Ladybug, Ashford Traditional, a variety of Kromski wheels) and a little on a Hitchhiker which is direct drive.


And, she is just the right size to proudly sit on our small hearth, ready to spin at a moment's notice.

My hubby even likes her--bonus points!

SQUEEEEEEEEE!

Guess what I got today!

It's mine, mine, all mine! I have been trying for some time now to get my hands on a spinning wheel of my own, but forces have been conspiring against me. I never even dreamed I might have a Schacht Matchless. They are sooo far out of my ballpark. But a friend of a friend is no longer able to spin due to a knee injury. She had hardly used this wheel when the injury happened, so the wheel is practically new, but the price was WAY less than a new wheel. She also gave me a sweetheart of a deal making it within my grasp.

I am so thrilled and so thankful that I waited for the right wheel to come along.

Beginner's Luck???

In the last post I showed you my first singles spun on a wheel. Of course, the next logical step was plying. Since I only had one bobbin of yarn, I used my ball winder and wound it into a cake. I then plied by pulling a strand from the inside and a strand from the outside. That was a bit fussy, and may have not been the best way for me to ply for the first time!

After letting the plied yarn rest on the bobbin for a few days I wound it up on a niddy noddy, and LOOK!



Do you see what I see? The yarn is balanced! It is not twisting and curling all over itself as I expected. I confess to being a TOTAL novice and pretty ignorant about spinning, but I THINK that is a good thing! Experienced spinners, please let me know!

Here's a close up. You can see the inconsistencies. I am thinking that some of that would be due to the fact that my very first spinning (beginning of the spun singles) is plied with the my very last spinning (end of the strand). I'll just think of it as adding "character" and "charm" to the yarn. As a commenter said in the previous post: "...if you want smooth perfect yarn--buy commercial!"

Spin Pic

Here is a picture of my first spinning. My friend gave me some Corriedale to practice on with first. I like how it spins, but I think the fiber would benefit from a little carding or combing. The fibers are not all lined up well and sometimes that leads to small fluffy bits in my spinning...or maybe it is because I am a TOTAL novice and don't know what I am doing! But generally speaking, I am happy with my singles.

Next thing to try: plying!

Spinning!

Sorry. Can't talk now. I'm too busy playing with this:



I have a fiber friend who is getting married and spending her honeymoon cycling in Italy. Yes, you read that right -- a honeymoon in ITALY. Let's all breathe a collected sigh of pity for the poor gal. ;-P

So, she is letting me "babysit" her Schacht Ladybug spinning wheel while she is gone. Wheeeeeee!

I tried to make myself watch the whole how-to video first, but after about 15 minutes, I just dived right in. The fiber you see on the bobbin in the photo is what I have spun so far.

I'm hoping that after having a wheel for almost a month I will get thoroughly bored with it and kill the desire to have my own wheel...

Ha! hA! Ha! hA! Ha! hA! Ha! hA! Ha! hA! Ha! hA! Ha! hA! Ha! hA!

Yeah, right.