Yarn

Spinning Experiment and It’s Yarn!

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I gave my Kromski Polanaise spinning wheel a work out this week and got a skein of yarn done!  I have always struggled with left over singles on a bobbin when I’m done plying, so I thought (after I started of course and was on my 2nd bobbin) that I was going to weigh the 3rd empty bobbin I had to see how much the bobbins weighed.  Then I would weigh each of the singles when I thought I had them about half full (always hard for me to judge) and see if I could get close to not having much left on one of the bobbins after plying the two singles together.  As you can see the first bobbin weighed 101 grams and the 2nd bobbin was 93 grams, so I took 8 more grams of the fiber and added it to the 2nd bobbin.  They both weighed 101 grams.  The empty bobbin for plying was 53 grams.

So I plied the two singles and ended up with 139 grams, and I thought, um, how is that, oh yeah the weight of the 2nd bobbin.  I weighed the now empty 2nd bobbin, it was 57 grams, ugh didn’t take into consideration that the bobbins might not weigh the same.  So all in all the 1st and 2nd bobbins weighed 57 grams each and the 3rd bobbin that I used to ply them with was 53 grams.  I ended up with 90 grams (202 yds) of plied yarn after it was washed.  It looks like a light sport weight yarn.  I ended up with only 1 yd and 6 inches of left over singles on one of the bobbins, so my experiment was successful.  I know the differences between the amount of the singles on each bobbin will always be there because of the inherent inconsistent spinning for hand spun yarn, but I’m pleased over all with how it worked out and how to cut down on left over singles on a bobbin. 🙂

Off to find the perfect pattern for a scarf for my friend, and then on to my next spinning project :).

Hope everyone is having a great Spring.  We have had rain for most of our days throughout this Spring.  I dream of sunshiny days.  I am not a rain person, one reason I don’t live in the northwest coastal areas, I need the sunshine!  The few days we have had that were dry, sunny and warm enough to be outside on the balcony without high winds, had me outside on my balcony spinning on my spinning wheel , it’s a peaceful thing to do.  Hope you find a peaceful thing to do too. 🙂

Spinning on the Kromski Polonaise and a New Project.

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With the help of the Kromski Raverly group and a local friend, I was able to get the Polonaise configured to be a scotch tension drive, thankfully it comes with both options :).  The pictures do not do it justice, it is a dark mahogany color but looks like a walnut color in the pictures.  It is portrayed a little better in the picture of the singles I am spinning tho’ it still does not show the dark mahogany color as it is, it is really beautiful.  It spins like a dream and I am enjoying spinning on it immensely.  The fiber is some super wash merino that I had dyed some time back when I spun a skein for a friend.  I am spinning this skein to make a scarf or cowl (we need those here in the winter :P) for Marge’s sister (also a friend).  Something for her to think about her sister when she wears it.

Changing Staircases  I also cast on a new project.  Was going to make this last year for Christmas for a family member but I fell and broke my hand so that didn’t happen.  Not taking any chances this year, if I procrastinate, “Murphy” will come to visit again and he is not allowed in my home :P.  This is the Changing Staircases shawl by Trysten Molina of Dragon Hoard Designs.  I am using Stroll Tweed Sock Labs yarn by Knit Picks in the Teal Tweed colorway.  It’s really pretty and has a generous 462 yards.  Because I am a loose knitter I am using a size 4 instead of a size 5 circular needle.  Tho’ it looks difficult, this pattern is very easy and easily memorized :).  Not sure if you can see it very clearly but I am using a beautiful bronze heart progress keeper made by Stephanie of the Knitting Samurai podcast, from her Adore Knits Etsy shop.

I am loving Spring but could do without all the rain, but at least it’s not snow :P.

 

Starting Another Chemo Hat

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Chemo Cap with Curls

I did get the pattern from the Designer, she was nice enough to put it back up on Raverly.  It’s called Chemo Cap in Splash & Merino 5 there is a link on the raverly page to an archive with the pattern.  I plan on doing the hat including the curls in the black with red (in the same kind of yarn I used in my last chemo hat) to match my friends shawl.  I hope it turns out like the picture in my head :P.  Both yarns, Yarn Bee Sunggle Up in the black and Yarn Bee Cloud 9 in the garnet, are very soft and when putting them together they are extremely soft, makes you want to pet all the fiber off of it :D.

I’ll post a picture after I get it started or finished, which ever I can fit in first :P.

A one sentence rant today.  We are not Easter Worshipers, we are Christians, we celebrate Easter, we worship our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Dish Cloth and Free Cycle Haul :)

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I needed something nice but simple for a friend’s birthday and also a pallet cleanser (yeah, pun intended :P) so I made this pretty dishcloth called Eloomanator’s Diagonal Knit Dishcloth which is a free pattern on Raverly.  I just knit it in the bits and pieces of time I found this week.  It was a nice knit.  I used Cream n Sugar cotton yarn (very nice for dishcloths even tho the colors do fade quickly,  it won’t matter with this one because it’s white :P).  I used a size 6 circular needle but didn’t didn’t knit in the round, circulars are just my needles of choice.  You probably noticed I missed a yarn over on the side (that is what happens when you get distracted and have to put down and pick up a project frequently), but I don’t think it detracts too much, I know she won’t mind, it’s just for her dishes.

I get emails from the Free Cycle Organization.  It is an organization where people can offer unwanted but useful things they want to give away.  If it doesn’t work they always say so in the listing.  If you are interested in it you can see if they have a local one in your area.  I saw a listing for a large amount of free knitting patterns and some misc patterns.  Things go fast at Free Cycle so I responded not expecting to be the first one to claim it,  but I was!!!  Lots of knitting magazines etc in a small plastic tub.  Was a nice haul :).  I don’t respond to very many of the ads, but it’s interesting what people give away, most are nice things still in working shape, but like I said, you have to be quick :P.

HFO!

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2nd Pair Baby Socks HFO Ok, I finished the first sock in the new yarn.  Still larger than I hoped for but a little smaller than the last one.  I got all the colors in the one sock lol, but the color changes are short so it all works out, and looks like I won’t have to do too much yarn management to start the 2nd sock in about the same place.   I did a kitchner toe on this one instead of just pulling the stitches together as per the pattern, because I didn’t like the original toe.  This one looks so much nicer and rounded :).

Looks a little weird to have all the reds, oranges, pinks and yellow for them to have thrown in a green – looks a little out of place to me, but they didn’t ask me :P.   I will start on the 2nd sock, probably tomorrow, too tired tonight to deal with casting on tiny socks on tiny double pointed needles and making sure I didn’t twist anything.  They might not end up being matchy matchy, but I think they will be close enough.

 

1st Robin, It’s Spring! + Drop Stitch Shawl KAL

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Soooo happy!!!  I have been waiting to see the Robins return, and I saw my first Robin today!!  Welcome Spring!!!  Sorry the color in the picture is not very good :(.

I follow a blog Muddling Through Life and she is having a KAL, (knit-a-long for my non knitting friends.)  It looks so pretty, so I dug out some very deep (meaning I’ve had it a very long time :P) stash.  The above picture shows the yarn, it is a synthetic yarn unfortunately, but it is a fingering weight.  It is some my mom sent me from South Korea when she was working for the Air Force as a non military personnel civil Service employee, years ago.  It is a large skein at 8 oz, it is a beautiful light lavender even tho it shows up like a grey in the picture.  I did have to go buy some new needles because I didn’t have any 40″ needles.  I now have a pair of ChiaoGoo size 7 red lace circulars. 🙂  The pattern calls for a size 8 but I have to go down a size to get gauge because I am a little bit of a loose knitter.  I wanted some ChiaoGoo bamboo needles (my needles of choice) but they were out and I wanted to get this started so I settled for the stainless steel.

I have also started the Welcome New Born Socks , from a previous post, now using the new sock weight yarn (rather than the baby weight) and they are definitely smaller :).  I’ll post a picture of my progress in a couple of days and we should see the answer to my one of my questions about how much of the repeatable colors you can get in a little sock :P.

FO!

/ LDSVenus

I finished the socks I was knitting for an infant I am watching for a few months.  Altho’ these went pretty fast (because they are small :P), they really were not small enough to be newborn, they would probably fit more like a 12 to 18 month old.  But maybe it’s because I used a baby yarn that is a bit thicker than a sock yarn.

So, to give this pattern the benefit of the doubt, I picked up a sock yarn from Hobby Lobby (they were having a 30% off all their yarn sale this week :)).  It is Premier Yarns, color Vegas Lights and is acrylic, so her mom can just throw it in the washer and dryer.  I will give this another try before I move on to another pattern.  I’m interested to see how the colors work up in a very small pair of socks.  Wondering if I can even get all the colors in one little sock or if I will have to do yarn management to get them to turn out more or less the same.  Otherwise she can be like the teens and have mismatched socks, which have been the rage for more than several years.

I haven’t seen the robins yet, but maybe I just missed them?  I usually see the males staking out small territories they then defend from other males so they can try to lure a female Robin to their area. The females show up  2 weeks after the males.  I expect to see the male Robins very soon, we have been having upper 40’s and lower 50’s days , it is so wonderful!!  I love Spring!

More Snow and Basia Hat Finished

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More Snow Feb 2019  We got 2 inches of snow on Sunday morning/afternoon, and from yesterday evening until this morning when I took the picture we got a little over 3 more inches of snow.  So the ground is once more white with snow, and more snow is on the way on Thursday or Friday, sigh.  I just keep saying Spring is right around the corner, Spring is right around the corner, Spring is right around the corner…..

Jennettes Basia hat1

I finished the Basia hat, and gave it to the intended recipient.  She was very pleased.  I knit this on size 4, 16 inch circular needle for the ribbing and changing to size 6, 16 inch circular needles and (at the end when it got to small around for the 16 inch needles) size 6 double pointed needles for the crown,  instead of going up a needle size for the slighter heavier wt yarn, causing it to be a bit denser and heavier.  I used the sport/DK wt Polypay, which dyed up a lighter brown, and a dark brown alpaca, which I hand spun as heavy fingering wt.  These two yarns used together was a heavier weight close to, but maybe a little heavier than the worsted wt called for and oh my it will be so warm.  I had promised my family member that I would hand spin alpaca for her hat, but since the Basia hat she chose calls for worsted wt and I truly did not want to want to have to do the math for the lighter wt yarn (I’m not a math person :P), I added the Sport/DK wt wool I had on hand which made it a little heavier than a worsted wt.  She is happy with the hat, and with the sub zero weather we have been having I’m sure it will be a welcome addition to her winter wear :).  I think you can see better the lighter and darker browns together and how they play well with each other :).  I forgot to get a picture before she left, she was kind enough to send me one for my blog ;).

Mid-Winter Thaw and Basia Hat Progress

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1st picture is what happens to 19 inches of snow when the weather is warm for 2 days,  We generally have a mid-winter thaw in the middle of January so it’s a little late but at least we have one.  The temps were 38 on Saturday, 43 yesterday and suppose to be 45 today but a cold front will be here later today so tomorrow we will be back in the 20’s during the day, but that is still much better than the sub zero temps we had last week.  If the ground hog is wrong about there only being 6 more weeks of winter, I’m going to make a big ground hog stew and invite you all over :P.

As you can see I didn’t get the Basia hat done, but I did work on it yesterday and only have 2 inches left before I start decreasing for the crown area, so it should be done tonight, yea!  My daughter will appreciate it now that the cold weather is back.  I really like the marled effect using the two colors of brown, adds a lot of visual to it.  I’ll try to catch that better when I get a picture of the finished hat :).

Hope you all are having a great first part of Feb, SPRING IS COMING!!!

Cold Temps and Another Hat

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jan2019snows This is a picture of the back yard of a friends house so you can see all the snow we have had this Jan.  We also got another 2 inches today, that would make about 19 inches this month, sigh.

We also had some pretty low temps the past 3 days.  Tuesday night got down to about 25 below zero Fahrenheit and with wind chills was about 40 to 45 below zero.  Last night we broke a record with a low of -30 below zero and with wind chills it got down to about 55 below zero.  Our daytime temps were in the lower 20’s below zero  and with wind chills close to 40 below (that is in the day time!), On Wed the post office actually closed and said no postal deliveries.  We got up to -1 today!  Tomorrow should be 18 above and by Sunday we should be around 40 above, a heatwave!!!!

Another Basia Hat

The hat my daughter chose for me to knit from the alpaca I hand spun (a fingering weight) for her was the Basia hat, unfortunately it calls for sport weight, so I added my last skein of the polypay yarn (a sport weight) from the last fleece I sent in a couple of years ago.  I died it brown and tho it is much lighter than the alpaca (I knit them together) it is a very pretty marled color.  I think she will be pleased.  She could have used it this week :P, but it will be done hopefully by the week end.