Now we're two weeks into Tour de Fleece 2011, and I've made a bit more progress on my spinning (though still not as much as I had hoped, thanks to the current state of my kitchen). This week I spun up some superwash merino from Susan's Kitchen in the Water Depths colorway.
Unspun fiber (very pretty!).
I think I bought this fiber at WeFF in 2009, but I didn't write it down so I don't remember for sure (note to self: write things like this down in the future!). The blues were so pretty I couldn’t resist. The colors marled in a really lovely way in the singles:
Singles on the bobbin.
A better view of marling in the singles.
I tried not predrafting or splitting this fiber at all, and instead I attempted to spin "across the web", if that's the right term. This was a bit challenging for me, and I probably should have gone down a ratio or two to compensate for my slower drafting. When I plied the yarn, it ended up nicely squishy and springy, even though I think I overspun it a bit.
Plied yarn on the bobbin.
Plied yarn in the skein.
The yarn ended up a heavy worsted weight-ish, and is closer in WPI to what I consider to be my default yarn. I'm not quite sure what I want to make with it yet, but it does look like good hat yarn.
The Yarny Details
| Wheel: | Spinolution Hopper |
| Spinning Ratio: | 6.25 |
| Singles WPI: | 22-24 |
| Draw: | Short, mostly worsted |
| Plying Ratio: | 4.25 |
| Finished plies: | 2 |
| Plied WPI: | 6-8 |
| Weight: | ~4 oz. |
| Approx. Yardage: | 118 |
I also started spinning some SW merino/Seacell/Banana fiber mix.
Unspun fiber (love how the Seacell and banana didn't take the dye).
This fiber is taking a bit longer cause I'm spinning the singles pretty fine (for me), but I predrafted the fiber (without splitting it at all) so it's spinning really nicely.
Beginning of a bobbin of singles.
And in other news, I have been getting some knitting done this past week. I'm working on Kiama, a pattern I fell in love with because it looks incredibly flattering on everyone, and I always need more layering pieces for wearing to work because the air conditioning is always a bit chilly in my office.
My Kiama in progress.
I'm using some yarn that's been in my stash for quite awhile. It's Twist, a cotton/acrylic/rayon/nylon blend from Knit Picks, though I believe the yarn has been discontinued. I've been working on this sweater for about 3 weeks now, and I'm making really great progress. Hopefully I can finish this up soon so I can wear it this summer!
Until next week, happy knitting (and spinning) :)!
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