Stole With Bee

I'm having difficulty getting photos of the stole. We got one very good one but it highlighted a snag and then looking closely I saw what must have been a dropped stitch in the lace pattern so I didn't want to use that one. Truly, there are more than a few snags and I expect there will be more as it gets worn but I have only found two areas where the pattern is messed up a little. I suspect I dropped a stitch in these places.
Here's one with a visiting bee. (Well, it is called Hanging Garden Lace Stole.)


I really am pleased with the stole even though it is not completely flawless. It is so soft and it drapes beautifully. Despite it's size, it works well as a long scarf. Exactly the way I'll wear it. It turns out to be a good color for me unlike the shawls I made last year.
Ah, when I enlarge the photo, it becomes quite obvious where the flaws are! Still happy, though. I tend to tread the fine line of challenging myself but not to be too rigorous in my expectations if it will discourage me from continuing.












I took a break from spinning up the rest of the baby camel/merino blend and spun up the entire 8 ounces of the moss baby alpaca. I ended up with only 200 yards of a 3 ply of about "worsted" weight!!! I know alpaca is heavier than wool and yes, I did seem to break off a lot of fiber as I spun but it seems a very low yield even taking those 2 factors into consideration. I had a hard time getting the settings on the wheel and my spinning method just right. One bobbin was overspun in places. I think this is because I just started spinning the alpaca in front of a subtitled movie. The resulting yarn seems "okay" but it isn't my best effort. This is a constant problem with me. I attain some skill and then get a little sloppy and end up with something not really up to my current skill level.









I'm back to the camel/merino and I'm being very careful to try to maintain consistency with the first skein. If all goes as planned, I'll have 440 yards of a 2 ply of about fingering weight. It's a very round yarn for a 2 ply.

And I finally decided on the yarn for my next large lace project. I had spun up a half pound of merino from Ashlnd Bay as a 2 ply slightly heavier than lace weight that should work well. It's a mossy green called Garden Ivy.












My fear was that I didn't have quite enough but then I found the other half pound of unspun fiber. In a pinch, I can always spin up a little more.

Blocking the Hanging Garden Stole..Finally!!!

After 9 months of knitting...off and on, it's true, it's finally being blocked.

Unfortunately, the pretty stripes are not part of the stole...just the towel lying beneath it.
I have to confess that I'm pretty lax about getting everything just right during the blocking. I just tell myself.......next time I wash it.
I left some ends to weave in to fix after the stole is dried.
I'll get a photo of the stole once it's dried. It's a lovely lambswool/cashmere blend from Makalu Yarns in Canada. The design is one of Sivia Harding's. I bought it from Knitpicks but I just looked and can't seem to find it for sale anymore.
I have been spinning too.
This 8 oz. of baby alpaca top from Little Barn in Alabama, my new favorite fiber source.

A mossy green, in person.




I'm planning a 3 ply..hoping for about sock weight yarn. I just bought this beautiful book.

A collection of historic designs from the Selbu District in Norway. All mittens and gloves. Traditionally worked in black and white but I see possibilities for using handspun in whatever colors are on hand.
I snapped up the book because it's published by the author. At this particular point in time, I imagine the number of copies is small and it could go out of print more quickly than other books.
I usually take my time purchasing books. Like this one:


I have this out from the library for the second time. It's a wonderful book and I know I'll have to buy it eventually.








I spun up half of the 8 ounces of baby camel/merino blend and got this:

About 220 yards of 2 ply of about fingering weight. I spun it up on the double treadle Babe I bought off craig's list last December. I never really got a chance to try it out. The flyer seems to have something rough that the fiber catches on. I don't think it affect the yarn. It's just terribly annoying. I switched the flyer with the one from my single treadle and got through it all. I like the yarn and will spin up the rest of the fiber.


Most of all, I am so happy to actually have finished a piece of knitting! I swore I wouldn't do any large lace projects but I'll probably start another because Sivia Harding is doing a Gothic Leaf Stole knitalong. I plan on taking my time with it. Let's face it, taking my time would probably happen anyway without me planning it.

Plied!

It was a fun spin! I ended up with 150 yards of this handpainted superwash merino.

Llama Lace

After not too much thinking or planning, I jumped in and started a scarf with my 2 ply llama yarn. I usually get held up with sampling and nixing everything but this time I charged ahead. My thoughts are generally "Don't waste your handspun on anything other than something you'll be proud of." or "If you're going to spend all that time making something, it really should be the best you can come up with." All well and good but lately these reservations are making me very unproductive.
So I dove in with a lace pattern I charted out.








I do like the lace but I'm not sure about the yarn, needle size etc. I'm trying to be optimistic.









I did ply up that 3 ply out of the merino Rose Quartz but I still need to set the twist.
















And I couldn't resist spinning up the roving I was going to put in my Etsy store.











Already on my third bobbin with my fingers jonesing to ply. So curious what it's going to look like.

Amazement!

Amazing! My two friends Mary Ann and Sheri sent me this beautiful card with a large check for a loom or a fibery thing.

It's a man's Navajo shoulder blanket from the 1860s!
I've put the money aside so I can take the time to choose wisely. Thank you Mary Ann & Sheri!
Meanwhile, I've been using a lot of my free time to clean up and organize my work space and supplies. It's a big project and is cutting into time I could be making something.



I still have had room for a little bit of spinning and even less knitting.
Here's what's on my bobbin now:




Destined to be a 3 ply of a "heavy worsted" or Aran weight. It's Ashland Bay merino Rose Quartz.




I did finish up 300 yards of the llama as a three ply and am swatching it for a lace scarf though I don't have anything substantial yet that will give any clue to what it will eventually become.


And bad picture, yes but this is a sock for the Dulaan Project. (In case you don't know, it's a project to send warm clothes to Mongolia to help them in their very harsh winters. Hats, sweaters, mittens, scarves etc are collected and sent in one big shipment in July each year.) I've been having fun knitting little things here and there and using yarns I wouldn't normally knit with like this self patterning mystery yarn.












It is fun to pick up the odd ball here and there at the thrift store and often it's more than one ball. This is a recent mysterious addition. It seems to be cotton and it is wound in balls with 6 or 8 strands together. In the past, I've run into needlepoint yarn like Paternayan approximately like this but this seems different. I'm wondering if it would make winding warp easier.











I also began dyeing roving with the idea of perhaps selling it. The dyeing part isn't that difficult. I found the biggest challenge is presentation i.e. photographing it so it actually looks good and also trying to adjust the colors so that they are accurate. The color is the biggest problem for me.
This is suppose to be a fairly brilliant turquoise with a very deep teal bordering on forest green with an occasional bit of deep violet.










And this is suppose to be a turquoise with a deep blue that sometimes becomes deep violet. A little bit of a reddish purple here and there too.



I'm hoping to work out the presentation & color glitches. I'll just keep soldiering on.