Time To Ply

The weather was nice, so I spun outside for awhile. That is the Green Blue Violet in the works. The bobbin with the Arctic Ice is on a bobbin in front, see?

While I was still spinning singles, I somehow lost the end of my single in the bobbin. After hours of trying to find it, I gave up, broke a strand that was (I think) near the lost end, and kept spinning. I never found it. Even while plying. Weird.

 

Now that I have all my singles spun, it is time to ply. To keep my colors as solid as possible, I decided to use a chain ply (sometimes referred to as Navajo ply).

I put my full bobbin on a lazy kate, and started with a loop. I am plying with an "S" twist. Then as, the spin comes into the yarn, I pull a new loop through the old one, before it is spun closed. I use a short draw, pinching with my left pointer finger and thumb, while pulling the loop through with my right. I really like the way the yarn looks, but I know it will get fluffier after I set the spin.

Arctic Ice

Green Blue Violet

After plying, I skeined the yarn up and tied it in several places. The yarn gets a bath, and then I snapped it and laid it out to dry.

 

 

I repeated this for the second skein. Once the skeins are dry, I can wind them into balls and start knitting!

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Spinning the singles

My fiber is prepared and ready to spin:

Next I need to decide what weight yarn I want, and whether to spin a single to knit, or singles to ply. If I'm plying, I will be N-plying (or chain plying) to keep the colors solid. I practiced on some undyed wool, and made this little card to remember what I was doing. The card is nothing special, ant piece of cardboard will do. I think this one is a label off of a piece of clothing. I wound the single around a few times, then let the singles ply themselves by holding three lengths together so they wound around each other. This will be my reference while I am spinning.

Just a quick clean and oiling for my wheel and I'll be ready. I have two wheels. I have a Louet S15, a gift from my mother. I believe she bought it in the early 1990s, and it has since been discontinued. I don't know why, it spins beautifully. I also have a RoadBug, a Christmas gift from my husband. It took me a little while to get used to this little wheel (going from a ST to a DT, and it is about a foot shorter than my Louet) but once I did, WOW. She spins like a dream, and I love that she has a spot for all her tools (oil and orifice hook) and the double treadle is wonderful.

Here's her picture, with my first day's spinning on it (I started with the hank of Arctic Ice. Love it!)

More spinning to do, but now I need to figure out what to make for dinner... ;)

Splitting the top

Today I'll be splitting the top to prepare for spinning. My plan is to split each piece into two, so I will be spinning six pieces of each color. Then, I'll be chain plying to keep the colors together.

First I laid out the three pieces of the Arctic Ice:

Then I split each one into two:

To split them, I push my fingers through the piece and feel each side, checking that they are equal.
Then, pull the sides apart all the way down the piece like this:

Then I wound up each piece with the light on the inside and dark on the outside.

I repeated this process on the Green Blue Violet hank. I took a look at the pieces and they still seemed too thick, so I split them again. Here is a comparison of each piece, the one on the right is the first splitting (1/6th of the hank), the one on the left is the second (1/12th of the hank).

I decided I liked the smaller piece, so split the rest of the Green Blue Violet and also the Arctic Ice.
Here are all the pieces.

After a mental head slap, I realized I would need to reverse half the cupcakes to make spinning easier. Now I can get to spinning!!

Scarf Spin A Long!

It is March and time to start the Striped Scarf Spin-A-Long! (See Ravelry for more info on prizes and how to get your kit!)

Cheryl dyed me a lovely Spin To Knit Scarf Kit - in the colorway "Kelp Forest".

which is a combination of the colors "Arctic Ice":

 and "Green Blue Violet":

 

 It's a Merino Tencel blend. Shiny and soft!!

Someone wanted to say hello...Hello!

Each hank of fiber is 4 ounces, in three pieces. My plan is to split each piece, and spin each of the six pieces, reversing every other one so there is no sudden color changes. Then I'll be chain plying the singles to keep the colors together.

Tomorrow, I'll split the pieces of top and get ready to spin! Woot!

New Year, New House

Whelp, after the week long "quick" cleaning and stashing of clutter for visitors this Christmas, I find I am sick to death of the crap. I am determined to get the house in order in the coming year. As in TOTAL OVERHAUL of all household areas.

I found this group on Facebook that is doing the whole house, room by room, for 14 weeks. Sounds good to me. So I signed up.



The program starts up again on January 4th, with week #1. So for now, I'm contenting myself by starting on week #6, the Master Bedroom. I will take some before pictures tomorrow, but they won't be pretty.

Busy Season

Panic Time! There are only 22 days until I leave for Knitters Day Out in Harrisburg!

Arabian Nights Drawstring Bag (limited edition)

Used to be, I would be leisurely choosing what to wear and packing yarn, needles, etc. for classes at KDO. I love taking classes at KDO. I love learning something new, challenging myself, and meeting other artisans. Sharing an experience with other knitters or spinners. Making a connection to people like me, who love to create. And the classes! Awesome class selection, and top notch instructors. Instructors like Candace Eisner Strick and Kathy Zimmerman this, to name two. Some of the same instructors who teach at other venues for twice the cost. That's Value, my friends!

Not this year. This year, for the second year, I will be manning the June Pryce Fiber Arts booth in the KDO market with my sister Cheryl. I will miss the classes. But I get something even better. In a class there are maybe 20 knitters, and you get to interact with say, 5 or 6 knitters - usually just the people who are near your seat. But in the market - ya get to meet and be inspired by a whole lot more people.

Pink Starfish Drawstring Bag (OOAK)

If you are in the vicinity of Harrisburg, PA, come on by, I'd love to meet you, see what you've knit, what's on your needles. I am so pumped up with creative energy after meeting so many enthusiastic makers, I'll be riding that high for at least a month. Usually right after a show is my most creative time, when I have my best ideas. and I love having ideas. It makes me happy.

Only 26 days! There is so much to get ready - sewing bags, knitting samples, labeling, pricing, packing. So much to do, so little time!! I know, you would think that it is practically a month - should be plenty of time, but it SO isn't. I have editing, and printing, and packing, and... crap what am I going to wear? Last year it was too warm to wear a heavy knit. Do I have anything in a lightweight handknit that I can wear? I like to represent, too! Maybe I have time to knit something for myself before September 7th... Yeah, Right!

Vintage Glass Stitch markers with Blue Glass Accents

(fits to size US10 needles)

Cocoons

It's finally dry!!
I was trying for coils, but the fiber said NO. (alright, so I wasn't doing them right. Sue me.) I'm dubbing the blobs of fluff "Cocoons".

This is a two ply yarn, using two different fibers.
the thin ply is June Pryce Fiber Arts' hand dyed Wensleydale wool in "Tropical Fish",
the thick and thin ply is Frabjous Fibers' hand dyed Merino wool in "Patina".

I plied them, and whenever I got to the thick part of the Thick and Thin, I moved the TnT to the side, making a right angle with the thin ply, letting the thick part pile up and around the thin ply. They look like cocoons to me.

I'm sure I'll be trying the coils again, I already have the fiber picked out. But first, I am spinning dog hair! Fun, Fun!