Hand spinning

Now that all the yarn I have is dyed for Cozy, it's time to concentrate on spinning. On Sunday I dug an old roving I dyed (and didn't sell) and started spinning. Instead of filling two bobbins and plying them together for a barber pole effect, I decided to Navajo ply to try and keep the variegated colors more consistent. Before spinning, I divided the roving in half (cross-wise) so one gauntlet will have more blue than the other, but this is a girl that likes to wear different color socks so I don't think we'll have an issue. I was so pleased with the results I didn't even wash the skein before using it!

Chicky has been "borrowing" my mohair gauntlets for two winters. (Maybe it's time she has some of her own?) The other mitt is 3/4 done. I'll post a picture with a Chicky inside them when they're finished!





I've spun two bobbins of blue/purple roving and am letting them rest before Navajo plying them as well. I know it's not a true ply, but it's more efficient then traditional plying for me since I only have a few bobbins. And I don't have to be as methodical about spinning the rovings in the same direction to get the results I'd like. Sometimes the easy way is just fine!

What do you mean, "it's not broken"?

Hmmm. As you can tell my orthopedist visit was annoying. All this pain is apparently a strained tendon. There's still swelling and bruising and now I have thereputic exercises (with pain) and the boot for another 13 DAYS. FUCK! Sigh. I am a horrible patient, this is during my "vacation" when two of my three children are home and expect something FUN to happen, and I would like a little fun myself. Also, about three weeks before this accident I had been very much into exercising again and I feel myself melting back into blobness.

Despite foot pain I have been dyeing... and dyeing... and dyeing. I'm doing some over-dyeing which takes longer, but the results seem worth it. I've used up all my merino/tencel roving and have moved on to superwash corriedale and merino. The merino/tencel is so soft and silky, but frustrating to photograph because of it's lovely sheen. My favorite of the batch is Plums.



The superwash corriedale (the only dry one) is called Wild Side.



I've been spinning from the stash and found some blue-faced leicester from funky carolina. Yep, more bulky! The first skein is 81 yards with nine wraps-per-inch. Skein two is on the Turkish spindle as I type.



Tonight I hope to finish the last twelve rows of the hemp skirt and begin weaving in the 300 ends. In addition to knitting, I'm cooking Jamie Oliver's Tomato and Sausage Bake. I got some beautiful heirloom tomatoes, local sausage, and crusty rustic bread. YUM!!

Finished homespun hat

I finished Cap Karma by S.M.Kahn Smariek Knits! The 4 oz. batt from Miss Babs worked wonderfully. I adore the colors, the texture, and the finished hat.

I wanted to take a picture of it on someone else, for a variety of reasons, but it's too big for all my children, so I had to suffice.



This would look so much better in daylight, but I really like the top. The crown decrease came from Jared at b r o o k l y n t w e e d



In other knitting news, I've frogged the Chameleon Colorworks version of the Anne Modesitt "backyard leaves" scarf. I think I just knit too damned loose and no matter what yarn I've tried it looks like crap. To rectify my loose knitting issue, I'm working on a lacy smoke ring by Kathy Hinkley (I found it at Spindlecity), but I'm using the cast-off Chameleon Colorworks Evolution for it, instead of the handspun it was designed for. So far, row 5, I like it. You never know how I'll feel about it in the morning, though. Heh.