27/11/2009

Very useful cowl.



This may well turn out to be one of the most useful things I have made.
I have been busy doing alot of reskeining today and found my hair fell in my face. Without thinking I pushed the darkside cowl up to hold it back. The cowl has stayed atop my head all day while I have been busy in the studio and doing housework.

Does anybody else do this?

26/11/2009

Guy next door cowl.



This is the ' guy next door cowl ' made from my handdyed, handspun.
I am torn on this. I loved doing the pattern and recommend it completely but I don't like finished. I think it's my yarn choice. I did 5 rows of rib at the start and end of this cowl as I could see it could curl and it still is doing.
I think it will be frogged and maybe a plain 3 x 1 rib cowl will suit the yarn better with fingerless mitts to match.

Surprise...



The scarf I dyed the wool for in a previous post is now complete. I am really pleased with how the colours look now it's woven.
This measures 58" x 7.25" not including fringe.
I don't know why it's finished so much shorter than other scarves as I did it exactly the same as usual, it lost just .25" in width with washing.
I hope she likes it. My son keeps nagging me to start it, I daren't tell him it's finished as he'd want to take it now.

25/11/2009

Darkside cowl.



The pink / lilac in the last post was too short in yardage for socks and for the first time since I started spinning I wanted to knit something pretty that would show off the colours.
I made DARKSIDE COWL ( link to my ravelry project ). I think it is quite ironic that something so light and pretty with these colours is called the darkside cowl.
This pattern had been in my queue for ages and I think it is perfect for this yarn.
I wanted a textured pattern that would show the colour changes off the best.
Even better, I have enough left to make a pair of fingerless mitts too.

18/11/2009

Different....







This is the Merino Top which is very similar to MT 9 I have in the shop. I have never spun anything like this Merino Top before which leads me to beleive I have only spun Roving and that they are different. I have checked my paperwork and this was definately bought as Merino top whereas anything labelled MR in the shop was bought as just Merino.
This Top is just so soft, it is gorgeous.

I have 248 yards and the colours have just blended fantastically. As I spin and then ply from a centre pull ball the colours blend and I have portions of white / white and pink / lilac etc. I am hoping when this is dry it will become a lovely cowl. As it is so soft and white for the first time ever I don't want to knit it into socks.
I am pleased with it as it's my first spinning of pastel colours also, I tend to spin brights but there could be more pastels in my future.

16/11/2009

WOW.








This is now soaking. I have managed an incredible, for me 338 yards. I am so pleased, my spinning and plying is just getting better and better, something has definately 'clicked'.
I have no idea of the wpi yet as it needs to soak and have a good whack but I think it will be light DK / sport. Good enough for socks anyway which is exactly what I wanted.

13/11/2009

Love it....



This is the merino from the last post, look how lovely it is spinning up.
This is a 23 mic, 64's merino top. I think I have only spun roving before and in my ignorance I don't know the difference but this is definately different to what I have spun before.
This is so light and fluffy and because of that my spinning hasn't been as consistent as I had been getting it before but I am still very pleased with this. I love the way the colours have interacted with each other. There are some long strips of white but when I ply it back on itself to see the twist I am getting it is not a pure white. Once plyed this should look gorgeous.

I am so pleased that I have spun this as I now have some idea of what is in the shop. Go and grab some now.

12/11/2009

All for me.



This is some merino I dyed which is very similar to one in the post below. Although they are all dyed at seperate times and I cannot recreate the colours yet, I decided to do this colourway twice. I don't do anything technical with the dyeing, it's just heaps of fun but I liked this colourway and wanted one for myself. Luckily or unluckily, whichever way I look at it, this one slightly felt felted so i got to keep it. Once I have pulled it apart for spinning though it feels fine and I don't think it was felted at all.

I have just started spinning this....there is alot of white but I think that will look gorgeous when plyed and think of the term ' spinning a cloud ' that is what this feels like. I have never spun anything that feels so soft, light and fluffy. Hopefully it will make a gorgeous cowl or something as it deserves to be on show.

I really do love dyeing.







This dyeing is so much fun, I love playing with colours.
Here are 3 more that are in the shop now. I am trying to stay away from the colours I tend to use alot and be abit more adventurous.