Things about Spinning

Hello, hello!

J, from my knitting group, recently decided to try spinning. She knew that I spun, and has been talking about 'getting into it' for a while... she has said, however, that she hasn't been sure, because then she'll have to buy a spinning wheel, and all the nice fibers, along with all the beautiful sock yarns and needles she already gets! But a couple of weeks ago, she decided to take the plunge, along with P and B, and she ordered some Turkish spindles. She also got 3 colors of fleece from an alpaca farm, locally, which she has been carding and turning into rolags.

J asked, to continue the story, if I would be willing to teach her and P to spin. I said "Of course!" P let me borrow her Turkish spindle, since I had never used one, so that I could get used to spinning on that. It was a little difficult to get used to; the spindle was much lighter than my usual. I admit, I was quite frustrated and may have lost my temper a bit when the yarn kept breaking...

I finally got it, though, and I love the fact that the Turkish spindle creates a center pull ball... I'm going to buy one when I can!

So, I spun it, and plied it, and you can see how it's loosely spun and a bit thick-and-thin below:



I have no idea how much this is; I don't want to unroll the nice ball and figure it out, haha.

So, I went to J's house to meet her and P, and we sat together in J's beautifully redone loft (where she used to keep a whole truckload (literally!) of yarn, which she has just cleaned out (she says it was the 'Hoarder's Nest')). I taught them the basics and kind of helped them troubleshoot. P caught on right away; I was so surprised! Not that she wouldn't learn quickly, but that all I had to do was show her once and tell her what to do and, boom, there she was, spinning a light worsted/fingering weight single ply, that was fairly smooth. J had a bit more trouble, but once she had the basics down, I had no doubt she would get it on her own, once she had time to think about it and practice. I was right. Last time I saw her, she said that she was already knitting with the yarn! She says that it's a bit "thick-and-thin" but, in my opinion, that's great! It's so much harder to spin thick-and-then when you've been spinning for a while, concentrating on consistency of thickness.

Anyway, J gave both P and I bags of rolags in white, chestnut, and grey. The chestnut is soooo pretty and I'll post pictures of it once I get to spinning it. Right now, I'm on the grey (the same I used with the Turkish spindle) and it's going nicely. I had 9 rolags and I'm spinning 4.5 at a time, so I can ply it as evenly as possible later. I'm nearly done with the first half.




And now, drum roll please, I have finally finished my dad's socks! Socks that he has been asking for ever since I started making socks, and socks that I have promised him (at least in my head) from that time on. I've had to rip them out 3 times due to missing the stitch count when I was increasing at the toe (I made them toe-up so I could get them nice and long like he wanted). They look great, in my opinion, and the Knit Picks Stroll is so delightful to work with. It's squishy and satiny and soft and warm. I want more of it... for myself.

They were knit in Navy, as you can see, and while I was making them I heard from a lot of people that Navy was their least favorite color to knit in. I can see why; it's nearly impossible to see the stitches in poor light.

They're sort of an early-father's-day, late-birthday gift. I can't wait a whole month to give them to him; I'll do it tonight or tomorrow.

That's pretty much all for now. Oh! To any knitters reading this, any suggestions about what to do with my handspun charcoal grey alpaca would be fantastic! It's going to end up being a heavy lace weight/light fingering weight once plied, I think. I am seriously thinking about putting the white and and the grey in the same project. But I really don't know what to make... It has to be something that will show it off, I don't have to worry about running out of yarn, and is special. I know a scarf is logical, but I don't know that I'll have enough... Anyway, suggestions are totally welcome!

Happy Knitting!

I am Dissapointed

...in myself. One year. Well, nearly... One year since I've posted here, when I had so many hopes and excited feelings about this blogging thing. Reminds me of a few knitting projects I've started, haha.

Well, it isn't too late for new beginnings, is it? Or continuations.

First things first : I've finally finished the first sock of a pair that my dad has been asking for for ages. I've been working on those for nearly a year, too, I think. Seriously, how many mistakes can you make with a simple, toe-up, knee-high sock? Apparently a lot, especially if they're made in navy blue.

I've recently discovered Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Okay, well, that's not completely true. I've heard of her, and looked into her blog once or twice, but never really... gave her a chance, I guess. Then a knitting friend of mine (part of my knitting group, yay! more on that later) gave me a book by her called At Knit's End. I read the whole thing (300 some odd pages) in 2 days. Admittedly, they're small pages, but the book was fantastic and funny and I want it... but I guess I'll have to give it back on Tuesday... sigh...

Now, about this knitting group... I only found out about it last summer, well, August, I think. I was quite nervous, but how can you not feel comfortable around people who love knitting as much as you do, despite the fact that the youngest person there is more than twice your own age?

Really, I don't mind. They're all lovely, amazing, surprising ladies. They are my knitting friends. They understand. That's one of the main things, isn't it? They're the ones that will get excited over Knit Pick's new Tonals in Wool of the Andes and Stroll. Other people will think "That's nice." Or even "How pretty!" but only a knitter will really get excited. Also, with other knitters, you don't have to explain why you're knitting your hundredth pair of socks (or hundredth sock without a mate) or why you've put down that sweater for over 6 months... or why you have to have that yarn in that color, even though you have no idea what you're going to do with it.

We meet on every week on Tuesdays - someone volunteers their house for us to invade and knit and drink tea or coffee. We knit and talk and help each other out from 1 to 3. It's a fantastic arrangement.

Now, let's hope I can get on with this blog and not leave it abandoned again.

Pictures and details about the socks when they are done. All 56 inches of them...

Also, really, anyone reading this should go check out Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's blog (http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/) she just finished a shawl out of hand-spun that will make you die to knit some lace!