For Mom

Pattern: Doublish by Alexandra Tinsley

Yarn: Noro Taiyo Sock

Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) circulars

Dates: April 4 - 24, 2012

@Ravelry

Wandering around my LYS back in September, this yarn was the only thing that caught my eye. I imagined it as a cute little shawl that would match most of my shirts and and upgrade my usual minimalist style. This idea lingered through Holiday Knitting 2011 and through a prolonged bit of finish-itis. Several projects fewer on the needles, I cast on for this shawl. After I got through the first few rows, I was a woman obsessed. The colors were gorgeous and the pattern was easy enough to knit around town; however, the more rows I knit, the more I knew this shawl wasn’t for me. It was for my Mom. I think I knit a little bit faster after that because my Mom is awesome and totally knit worthy.

I also made one other thing for her and it stole the show. I’m going to have a hard time topping this one.

Almost Socks

Today was the monthly fiber guild meeting and I had a blast. Instead of our usual meeting and class, we had a picnic. The weather cooperated with mostly sunny skies, a nice breeze, and a comfy 70° temperature. There was a ton of tasty food and none of the cookies I brought made it back home. People brought their knitting, weaving, spindles, and wheels. I was kicking myself for not bringing my spindle along. I guess I just haven’t reached the SIP - Spinning in Public - Achievement yet. I did bring my current bit of travel knitting though: socks.

These are the Willamette Socks by Sara Morris. I’ve only been carrying them around in my purse since December 2011. Do not take the months I’ve been working on these socks as an indication of ill will. I love the pattern and the book, Shibui Socks, it came in. I fell in love with the patterns when I first saw them online and literally pounced on this book when I saw it at my LYS. The the photos are inspiring and the patterns are beatiful. Alameda and Ankeny are swiftly moving to the top of my sock knitting queue. 

Shibui Socks isn’t just a pretty book. The socks range from simple to complex and are a mix of toe-up and cuff down. The photos are large, clear, and show off the important details. The patterns have a nice layout and are easy to read. The charts are large and in charge. For the Willamette Socks, the charts take up an entire page. Full page charts make me so happy.

Okay, I’m done gushing. Back to my socks.

I am so close to binding off. A few more inches between the pair and I will be finished. Can’t wait. Even though it will be a few months before I can wear them.

Before you click over to something, here’s my knitting tip for the day: When you want to be absolutely sure that you’re knitting the same amount of ribbing on each sock, mark the first row with a locking stitch marker and keep knitting. Count the rows when you’ve reached your limit and repeat on the second sock. 

How to Wind a Plying Ball

...or Process Part 4 of Spinning Yarn on a Spindle. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

| - | - | - | - |

I have finally finished plying all three singles for my little experiment making a 3-ply yarn. The first single flew off my spindle. The second single ate all my mojo. The third single brought back my mojo with some to spare. I used a smaller spindle that weighs just over an ounce and is just the right size to slide the cop - the mass of single or plied yarn wrapped around the shaft - off to a straw.

It’s really funny how quickly a new tool can change a process. My first favorite spindle weighs 2.2 oz and has a shaft too large to slide a straw over. Every time I finished a single, I’d let it rest overnight and then wind the single onto a small dowel (a ball would work too). It’s more time consuming but worth the effort to get an empty spindle.

Trying to ply three separate singles from three separate straws is just a recipe for disaster but all three plies on a single ball is much more manageable. This method also works well with two singles but I’d hesitate to wrap more than four since it would be harder to keep all the strands evenly tensioned. Also, just wrapping a single around a ball would be a nice way to store it for later since the ball is an easy and tangle free way to start wrapping. 

I’m using a styrofoam ball since I have them on hand but tennis balls and felted beads work too.

Gather up all your ends and start wrapping. A pail or box will keep the singles from running off to the four corners of the world. 

Keep wrapping until you come to the end of a single and cut the rest to match. If you have extra like I do, you can wind them onto another ball to make a cute little mini skein. 

Next up, plying!

Inspiration

Spinning blogs are slowly taking over my RSS reader post by post. Thankfully, they play nice with all the knitting, art, comics, recipes, cute animal photos, quick laughs, and architectural glamour shots that also clamor for my attention.

I’ve given up on the idea of visiting Reader everyday and knocking the unread count down to 0. With the current count at 909 items that is never going to happen short of just marking all as read. Instead, I’ve been just been reading and taking the time to enjoy good posts and good photos without worrying about the X number of blogs to read today. It freed up my mind to be inspired by and act on the things I saw instead of just filing ideas away for later. 

I read this post by the Yarn Harlot where she writes about tearing roving apart between color repeats to make self striping yarn. It totally blew my mind because I had never thought about using roving that way. So, I had to try it out. Photos will be forthcoming. 

On a new to me blog, Weekend Knitter, I read a post about the author knitting with some of her hand spun 3-ply. She described the yarn as plump and full. I’ve spun a lot of 2-ply but no 3-ply yarn and I wanted to try it out. Does 3-ply knit up differently than a 2-ply? How would processing the roving be different than for a 2-ply? How much longer would it take to spin a 3-ply?

So, I took the plunge. 3.5 oz of combed top was separated into 3 equal parts and those 3 parts were divided lengthwise 4 more times. Then a bit of pre-drafting was in order for a thinner single. The only thing that changed in the processing was how I split the roving and a greater amount of pre-drafting (aiming for a worsted or heavy worsted weight yarn). 

I’ve just finished spinning the second single and it’s taken a bit longer than spinning for a 2-ply. Is it because I’m spinning finer singles on a lighter spindle? Maybe. Probably. Only more experimentation will tell.  

Fixing Breaks and Making Joins

...or Process Part 3 of Spinning Yarn on a Spindle. Part 1. Part 2. 

There are days when spinning comes easy. I can pick up the spindle and find my rhythm immediately. Yarn just seems to spring from my fingers and all I have to do is wind it on the spindle before things touch the ground. The only time I have to make a join is when I need more fiber. I’m in the zone. 

Then are days where the spindle drops every 30 seconds and I’ve got a pile of loose, under spun fiber that couldn’t hold a paperclip off the ground. Bah. Once I get so frustrated that I want to jumble up everything into a giant felted ball, I put the spindle down and walk away. Better to calmly fix something the next day than rip it to shreds in frustration. Thankfully, fixing breaks isn’t a difficult, drawn out process.

| - | - | - | - |

When it’s time for more fiber, fan out the end of the fiber coming off the spindle and the end of the new fiber.

Overlap the two ends by about 3” and start drafting and adding twist. If you just add twist without drafting the join will be lumpy and bulkier than the surrounding single.

Keep spinning and keep joining and, soon enough, you’ll have a full spindle. 

| - | - | - | - |

Joining new fiber and fixing a broken single on a spindle are, essentially, the same process. Usually, a single breaks because there isn’t enough twist to hold it together. The ends won’t immediately untwist and become a frazzled mess but they won’t always salvageable. Sometimes, you just have to pull out the weak parts and get back to business. When joining two ends of single back together, just overlap the ends by about 6 to 12” and add more twist. Wind the join onto the spindle and keep going. That’s all there is to it.

If you have a broken single and need to join it a bit of un-spun fiber, draft out the fiber and overlap the two pieces by 12”. Wind yarn off the spindle to work with if need be. “Park and Draft” is your best friend here since it lets you slowly add twist and test the join to see if it holds. Plus, it might be more difficult to draft if the single was tightly spun. 

Good luck and don’t be afraid of a little practice.