I’ve begun work on my second braid of Studland Beach Falkland (Wildcraft Sept 2011 club fibre). I’ve torn the braid into colour sections of white, cream, grey, light blue, and dark blue. With the exception of the white, I’ve got between 22 ang 27 grams of each colour set. I’ll add in some white Shetland I have on hand to bump up the amount of white. I’d rather use Falkland, but I simply don’t have undyed Falkland and I think that the Shetland will be a suitable substitute.

I’ve also started carding up those colours.

It is a bit of a slow process as I can only card so much a day due to nerve injuries in my hands. I don’t mind. I’m sure the results will be worth it.

I’ve even started spinning some of it. I’m using an English Longdraw technique and will be making a 2ply yarn. I don’t usually go for a two ply, but I want to use this yarn for colourwork and 2ply yarns work better for colourwork than 3ply yarns.

My final yarns are going to become Fiddlehead Mittens, though I haven’t chosen a yarn for the main colour as of yet. It’ll likely be a dark blue of some description, but I’ll decide once the Studland Beach is all spun up. I have some time to think about it. :)

If you’ve never carded wool before, Sue Macniven has an excellent video tutorial showing how to card wool into rolags, part 1 and part 2.

I decided to conquer a second project for the Silk Hankie Along. I received these lovely hankies (and a set of orange hankies) from Sue and Sophie as a birthday gift. Sue dyed them herself.

I found the silk a bit hard to deal when knitting the unspun mittens because of the state of my hands (think sandpaper), so I decided I’d try and spin these hankies. I attenuated the silk just as I did last time, then spun them on my wheel at a 10:1 ratio. Once the single were spun, I made a centre pull ball using my ballwinder, and plied the singles back on themselves creating a 2ply yarn.

I got 69 metres of DK weight yarn. Here it is all caked up and ready to be knit:

I knew that 69 metres wouldn’t be enough for a pair of mittens, but that was okay since I wanted stripey mittens anyway. I paired it up some 100% wool:

I used the wool for the cuffs, using the mitten pattern that lives in my head.

The mittens fit wonderfully, and I find that because the silk has been spun it is less likely to catch on my sandpaper hands. I also adore how the colours worked together. I love these mittens.

The details:

Cast on: January 25th, 2012
Cast off: January 26th, 2012
Pattern: from my head
Yarn: Toppull 100% wool from Sandnes Garn
Fibre: Silk mawata squares dyed by Sues Crafts
Needles: 3.25mm needles for the cuff, 3.5mm needles for the rest

Back in October, I talk a bit about some fibre I was spindling. It was the September club fibre from Wildcraft, ‘Studland Beach’, dyed on Falkland top.

I finally finished it this week!

I always forget how lovely spindle spun yarn is. I find it has a wonderful bounce and hand to it that I don’t always get with a wheel. It is yarn that says, ‘I am yarn that was spun with love, time and effort’. This yarn is no exception. It is delightfully soft and springy.

Now, the discerning readers amongst you might notice that I said I was finished, and yet there still appears to be a braid of fibre sitting there unspun. And my friend, you would be correct. I usually spin up all 200g (or 600g or 1kg, or whatever quantity it is that I have) up at the same time. I spin all the singles, then do all the plying, and then wash it all at the same time. I’m a bit obsessive-compulsive like that. However, last week, in a sleep induced idea came into my head at 3am whilst I was feeding the baby, I decidedI was going to make coordinating yarns out of the same colourway.

This skein produced 263 metres of a lovely sport weight 3ply yarn which I’ll likely use for either a hat or cowl. Likely a cowl. As is obviously apparent, I have yet to pin down a pattern. The second (coordinating) skein is going to become mittens.

I’ll divulge more of the plans with you next week once I have some photos to share. :)

The January club parcels have been arriving, and I’m quite pleased to have received mine. I love getting squooshy parcels in the post.

This month’s club colourway was ‘Snowstorm’ and it was dyed on some really lovely Suffolk top.

We were all really excited about this month’s club as we were told that it would be on a fibre that she’d never seen done as a top. Usually, if you can find Suffolk as a top, it is grey. Suffolk sheep are white. Deb Robson even makes a statement about this in The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook and that the grey ‘Suffolk’ top does not have the same characteristics as fibre from (white) Suffolk sheep.

This top is soft, fluffy and bouncy. Like other down breeds, the fibre is also durable and thus it’ll make great socks, mittens and other everyday items. I’m very torn between spinning for socks and spinning for a bag. I have 200g of fibre, so either is doable. I may just have to sit and pet it for a little while to decide.

Amongst the squishy fibre was also a spindle. This is actually one of the extra spindles from the November 2011 club in the theme ‘Last of the Sunflowers’. I love this spindle and am very much looking forward to filling it up with fibrey goodness.

A few weeks ago I shared a holiday swap gift I received:

The fibre was originally from Hilltop Cloud and it was a Merino, Finn and Firestar blend that came in little nests like so:

It was a very pushy fibre and insisted on being spun up (I think it was that firestar. Firestar has attitude.) I gladly obliged and spun it up on my Louet Victoria as a laceweight single. I have to admit it took me a little while to get used to spinning Merino again. Once I got the feel, it spun beautifully. My biggest problem was finding the end of the fibre nests so I could start spinning. Not entirely a problem, except that I often do my spinning first thing in the morning before my second cup of tea. So really, the problem was likely tea deprivation.

Out of the 100g of fibre, I ended up with approximately 675 metres (a conservative number), which should be just enough to knit a Bitterroot shawl in the large version.

I’ll need to find some beads. I usually don’t add beads to a lace shawl because I’m just not a bead type of person. However, I think this time I should add the beads if for no other reason than having never done it on a shawl before. And the yarn wants beads. Did I mention that Firestar is pushy?

Many thanks to my secret santa for my lovely fibre gift. I’ve really enjoyed it thus far. :)

It’s official. The first skein of handspun of the new year has been finished.

I chose some Lincoln that was given to me as a going away gift. The fibre is by Sue’s Crafts, in a colour I’ve called Marigolds. I’d not spun Lincoln before, in fact I’ve only ever spun one other longwool before. However, with a beautiful colour like this, I couldn’t resist any longer.

One of my goals for 2012 is to get a feel for spinning longwools. My previous experience was spinning some Wensleydale into laceweight singles. I wouldn’t vouch for the integrity of those singles, but I certainly learned a lot from doing it, especially as it was my first attempt at singles. Although I may never knit with that yarn, the experience it provided was extremely valuable.

My goal with this fibre was to spin a 3ply. Sue originally chose the Lincoln as she thought it would be great for socks, and I’m sure she’s right. I know I’d never get enough yardage out of 100g to knit socks in my size, so I figured the next best thing was mittens. Like socks, they need to be knit in a sturdy wool, there are thousands of patterns in a variety of yarn weights, and best of all (and unlike socks) you get to show them off in public. Longwools are more resistant to felting than finer wools, have a gorgeous sheen, and take dye beautifully. Isn’t that perfect for mittens?

I set my ratio to 16:1 (my default ratio) on my Kromski Symphony, split the fibre into 3 equal lengths, and let the fibre tell me how it wanted to be spun. My goal was to not have rope, something that is quite easy to do with longwools if you add too much twist.

I spun in a woollen style, similar to a supported longdraw, but from the top. This is still considered a worsted yarn, however, my goal was to keep the yarn as lofty as possible and I didn’t want to risk putting in too much twist by micro managing it in a worsted spinning style. The plying was done at a 10:1 ratio so I could manage the amount of twist at a slower pace. If I were to spin this yarn all over again (aiming for the same weight), I’d likely use a 10:1 ratio for the singles as well. It would have given me a little bit more control as I found myself treadling much slower than I normally would in order to compensate for the higher ratio.

I’m really pleased with the results. The final yarn is nothing like rope and is ready and waiting to become mittens, which I think will wear very well. I have 122 metres of an approximately worsted to aran weight yarn and plan to knit them up soon. I’m interested to test out the yarn/fibre in an actual wearable object before I start spinning my next braid of longwool so I can tweak my spinning process where necessary to achieve the best possible results.

The fibre itself was beautifully dyed and drafted wonderfully. It took we a little while to get to grips with the hair-like texture of the Lincoln, but it wasn’t difficult to spin. It does, however, have a tendency to slip as it doesn’t have the crimp to help with integrity and thus I’d not recommend it for a beginner. The beauty of the longwool is in the sheen. Those long, smooth fibres absolutely shine. The skein also has a lovely drape.

I had a bit of leftover on my bobbins and took the opportunity to try a mini skein of 2ply and a mini skein of navajo (chain) plied. I found the results interesting. I found the joins of the navajo plied skein to be very obvious, though I’m betting that they’d most disappear into the knitting. The 2ply skein was gorgeous, and from someone who isn’t found of 2ply yarns, that is saying a lot. The sheen was incredible, and it has lovely drape. It would be perfect for something like a lace shawl.

I have two other longwools stashed away — 200g of a Devon longwool and 115g of Romney. The Devon is being earmarked for socks, though I think I still have a bit of a learning curve to overcome before I can make a successful fingering weight 3ply yarn out of a longwool. I think it’ll be a great learning experience and it’ll really stretch and improve my skills as a spinner. I’m also thinking of trying some Massam or Teeswater. In for a penny, in for a pound. :)

And they are done! I’m so pleased with this yarn.

The fibre, as mentioned last week, is a BFL/Silk blend that I got from Maggie at Blackbird Fibres in the colourway lagoon. I spun this on my Louet Victoria, on the smallest whorl. I love that little wheel for singles.

The resulting yarn, after washing (with slight fulling to give strength to the yarn), was 840m from the 100g skein, which works out to a nice laceweight.

I’m planning a shawl. I haven’t decided on a pattern yet, but definitely a shawl.

I thought I should post a Spinning Saturday report before it wasn’t Saturday anymore. ;)

This week I pulled out a spinning WIP (work in progress) that I had started back in England. It is a beautiful BFL/silk 70/30 blend called Lagoon from Blackbird Fibres on Etsy

Here is the original braid:

And here it is in progress on my Louet Victoria, Gracie:

I stripped the fibre in half before spinning, and I’ve just started in on the second half. My intent is to not ply the yarn, as I thought it would make a great single.

I have to say, I love Blackbird Fibres. The colourways are gorgeous and the quality is excellent. I’ve spun up several braids from her now, and they’ve always been fabulous to spin and exceptionally fluffy.

Here are some of the fibres I’ve received, plus a photo of some of her fibre on my spindles:

And what I’ve spun from her fibre:

There is a mix of fibres in there including BFL, superwash BFL, BFL/silk, Shetland and Jacob. I think her BFLs are what have the soft spot in my heart, though.

It is finished! :)

This was originally part of the Wildcraft Fibre Club January 2011 club shipment, entitled ‘Evergreens’ which was dyed on white Shetland. I get a double dose (200g), and then I had Karen do me up an additional 400g. I was determined to have a cardi out of it.

Here is the original fibre:

And the subsequent batts:

My 3ply yarn worked out to a total of 1490m as a DK weight and is destined to be a cardigan. I’m currently thinking of Hannah Fettig’s Spring Ribbed Cardi. I’m delighted it is done, and I’m looking forward to actually knitting with it. How I love Shetland.

Now to see what else I can clear off the bobbins before the year’s end. :)

I was very excited when the postie came bringing woolly goodness today. It was my holiday swap package from a fellow Wildcraft Woolly.

It came wrapped in paper that pleased Thing 1. (Though, I was a bit worried she might try and claim the entire parcel.)

Inside, there were beautiful batts from HilltopCloud and a card that coordinated brilliantly! I love the card. I have a thing for trees. And paintings. And orange. I’m thinking of framing it… I just need to find the right home for it.

A close up of the batts, which are Merino, Finn and Firestar in a colourway called Pumpkin Pie. I’m really looking forward to spinning this up. They told me they want to be spun up as singles. On my Victoria. For a shawl. Who am I to argue with determined fibre?

My Santa also included a lovely little pouch which will be perfect for notions, a magnetic bookmark, and some delicious dark chocolate. Oh, how I love dark chocolate.

This totally made my day. Thank you Santa. :)