Sunday Morning Knit Wit ~ Fairy Dust Lace Weight Yarn

With summer approaching, my weekends have been busy with spring cleaning and yard work, so there has been little time left over for knitting.  I have been knitting some summer projects (mainly lace weight shawls and wraps), but as I mentioned last week, it seems that I have been spending more time ripping them out than knitting them together! 

One stitch forward, Three back ... 

So, I have been focusing on spinning project.  There is nothing more relaxing than spinning ~  especially when you are working with some dream merino and silk blend.  This stuff just seems to spin itself! 

My friend, April purchased an entire pound of the is lucious fiber. Yes, that is 16 oz of pure softness.  My job is to spin it into a lace weight two ply yarn.  We are then going to split it and each knit a shawl.  I think it will be so interesting to see how different each of our knit projects will turn out using the exact same yarn.

So far, I have 317 yards ready for the needles, which is just under 3 oz.  So if my math doesn't fail me, we should get about 1,600 yards of this dreamy fairy dust yarn! 

Hoping to have my green shawl completed for next week.. 
Until then, keep your needles clicking and HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Fresh From the Wheel - Merino in Lovely Teals

My lastest spinning project is a beautiful teal combination in merino.  I purchased this roving from slimchicken on etsy and I have to say that slimchicken is becoming one of my favorite shops!  This roving spun smoothly and was a pleasure to work with.

I put these two colors together during the plying process.

 

And the result:  250 yards of beautiful handspun wool in teal blend:

I'm very pleased with the way this one turned out.  I see a neckwarmer here....

What's on your wheel? 

Fresh From the Wheel ~ Alpaca Merino Silk Blend

I had such a fun time spinning this alpaca merino silk blend.  It was exceptional during the spinning process and just flowed through my fingers. 

The roving was purchased from Corgi Hill Farm on etsy and was one of my most pleasant spinnings yet! 



Here is a little about my process: 

After spinning 2 spools,  I respun them together in the opposite direction.  (Called plying) 

 Once that was done, the yarn is wound on a Niddy Noddy to keep it all straight and managable

 I then soak it in conditioner for about 20 minutes and let it hang dry for 2 days.

The end result ~  3.5 oz of gorgeous soft yarn,  just waiting to be made into something special

This is yarn is listed for sale in my etsy shop, but if it isn't sold by the time I finish my current projects, I may just pull it out of the shop and use it myself.  It's just lucious!

Fresh From the Wheel ~ Samoyed Dog

Yes - you read that right!  I have spun some fabulous yarn from dog hair.

When my co-worker, Don, showed me a picture of his dog Blue, my first questions were,  Does he shed? How soft is his hair?  Can I have some?  When he brought me a small bag of it I was elated!

 Blue is a breed known as a Samoyed that originated in Russia. Taken from the web: Samoyeds have a dense, double layer coat. The topcoat contains long, coarse, and straight guard hairs, which appear white but have a hint of silver coloring. This top layer keeps the undercoat relatively clean and free of debris. The under layer, or undercoat, consists of a dense, soft, and short fur that keeps the dog warm. The undercoat is typically shed heavily once or twice a year, and this seasonal process is sometimes referred to as "blowing coat". This does not mean the Samoyed will only shed during that time however; fine hairs (versus the dense clumps shed during seasonal shedding) will be shed all year round, and have a tendency to stick to cloth and float in the air. The standard Samoyed may come in a mixture of biscuit and white coloring, although pure white and all biscuit dogs are common. Males typically have larger ruffs than females.


Because I don't have a drum carder, I spun the yarn straight from the wads of hair from the bag, so mine came out a bit 'lumpy bumpy', but I actually love the texture. I did not separate the outer coat from the under coat, so it is mixed with softness and some wirey hair.

I wasn't sure how dog hair would stand up in a traditional knitted garment, so I decided to make a keepsake felted bowl for Don and his family. This yarn actually felted nicely and has a softness that does not even compare to merino wool. I had a bit left over and made Mrs. Don a crocheted flower pin as well.

Don says that in the spring, Blue will shed an entire garbage bag full of hair. I'm hoping he will share that with me and at that time I will pick through it and just spin the under coat, which is almost as soft as my Angora bunny's hair! And, it will be a nice summer time project (spinning on the porch so my house isn't full of dog hair!)

I guess you can say that I've joined the hopelessly addicted group of people known as spinners. I no longer look at a dog and say, "What a cute dog".... I know say, "Humm.... could I give that hair a spin?"

Fresh From the Wheel ~ 3 Ply Natural Romney and Shetland Blend

I just finished spinning a fantastic natural blend of Romney and Shetland wool.  This roving was purchased from smokeymountainfibers on etsy and it was a joy to work with! 

I found that it drafted so easily and I was able to keep it pretty consistent, although almost thread-like.  Because it was so fine, I decided to try doing 3 ply for the first time.  And even with 3 ply, it is closest to a fingering weight that worsted.  

It is a bit coarse so I'm sure this will make a great outer scarf filled with cables that pop. I'm thinking something along the line of an Irish design for this! 

What's on your wheel?