Just Can’t Get Enough

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Well, I certainly have been doing a lot of spinning lately. I bring to you more finished product!

This is the superwash merino from Enchanted Knoll in the Mesmerized colorway.

There is a fair bit of thick and thin in this because it just did not want to draft evenly for me. Of course, that is the fiber’s fault, not mine. Of course!

And this is the alpaca/merino/tussah silk blend from Spirit Trail. I spun it pretty thin (for me.)

BTW, none of the skeins that I have been showing you have been blocked or fulled. The reason for that is that I am planning on weaving with them; and weaving tends to undo the whole blocking thing, so I might as well just skip that part. If I was going to enter any of these in some kind of contest, then I would block them.

Other stuff is happening. More fiber is finding its way onto the wheel, and more socks are being knit, but that is for later.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Experiment IV

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This has been a pretty productive two weeks for me, even though I only have one thing to show you. I got a good bit of spinning done on the alpaca/merino/tussah silk blend, but there is really no need for a picture as it just looks like there is a little more on the bobbin. I maybe have about three hours left of spinning, and I will be done with the singles for it.

I am almost done the sock club pattern, but I may design up a second sock pattern, as a new idea popped into my head recently, and I think I might like that design better. In any case, I can’t show you that because that would ruin the surprise for the club.

But I can show you these:

Yes, the heel experiment is done. And, it is a success! Here are the socks lying flat in profile.

The top sock is the sock with the increases diverging as they approach the heel turn, while the bottom one is with all of increases along the center of the foot, causing a pointy heel. Even lying flat, I can tell that the top sock is going to fit my heel better because it is a bit more rounded there.

(Sorry that I couldn’t get a better photo. I am not a contortionist.) If you look really, really closely in the picture, you can see that the sock on my right foot conforms to my heel better, as expected. I think the moral here is not line the increases up next to each other. At least a few stitches of separation is needed by the time the increases meet the heel turn.

As for the Socks that Rock Lightweight that I used, I am still not that crazy about it. For one thing, there was a flaw in the skein, which is a major sock yarn no-no in my book. Yardage is usually at a premium with sock yarns, and flaws, especially in handpainted yarns, has a major impact on what is left to work with. Also, the yarn is just not elastic enough for me. I joked in knitting group that it was everything that you like about wool, and less. If only they didn’t have such wonderful colors….

And speaking of wonderful colors, look what arrived in the mail for my just before the Independence Day holiday!

It is my “first course” in my Fiber Feast subscription from Hungry for Handspun. I joined it on Opal‘s recommendation, as Opal is my sister in color. This fiber is merino and tussah silk in a colorway call Sea Kelp Salad. LOVE IT! Now, to finish up what is on the wheel at the moment so I can dive into it.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Margaritaville

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Sorry I have been away so long, but at least I am still keeping to the schedule I set out when I initially started this blog, once every two weeks. The reason why there haven’t been a lot of posts is because I have mostly been working on the winter sock for the sock club, and I can’t show you that. Sure, I could go expound on other topics in the meantime, but do you really want to hear about that stuff? As an aside, I have learned not to work on the sock while having our weekly cocktails on Friday night. It seems I lost the ability to count while doing the heel, and had to rip it out the next day. Oops!

I have been doing other things while working on the sock, though. I have been spinning! I managed to finish the blue Corriedale that I bought at Sheep and Wool.

And I managed to spin some superwash merino in the Silk Road colorway that I bought from Enchanted Knolls on Etsy.

That spun up super easy!

With all of the bobbins for my Lendrum full,

it was time to start doing some plying. The first completed is the Silk Road superwash merino.

Next up, merino from Mama E’s C-eye-ber Fiber in the Blackwatch colorway.

Then, the blue corriedale, which took forever, or so it seemed for plying.

The Woodland colorway merino from Gale’s Art is still in the process of being plied because it is being a bit cantankerous. It will eventually bend to my will!

Here is what I have done, all together.

They are all going to be used for weaving, though plans are not definite for all of them yet. Right now, it is good to have something in the done column.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)

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While last weekend was my big weekend, this weekend is Mr. Penney’s big weekend. Star Trek opened this weekend, and we are going to see it tonight. Lucky for me, I finished socks for just such an occasion.

Yes, I finished the socks I was knitting with Dragon Sock in the Starry Night colorway from Dragonfly Fibers. The base superwash yarn that she uses is great, and this shade of blue is one of my favorites. It also helps that this colorways also happens to be my alma mater’s colors.

In other news, the sock that I am working on for the sock club design has been ripped out, rewound into a ball, and I am starting over. It turns out that the foot was too wide on me, so I am making a few minor adjustments to take up the slack. Not a big deal, really; but it is a set back.

As for spinning?

The blue corriedale is spinning up well, though I am probably spinning finer that I really should for this fiber. There is a bit of a coarseness to it. To spin it, I just peel a strip off of the batt and spin from the one end, with no predrafting whatsoever. The photo is of about an ounce and a half (I guess) that took me about four hours to spin. Wish me luck.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

It Wasn’t Me

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Well, I got some good news last week. The investigations into the accident are over, and everything came out in my favor. While I never doubted that I was not at fault in the accident, things don’t always come out the way they are supposed to. Fortunately, they did in this case.

In more good news, I got the Monkey’s Wrench socks done!

They were Mr. Penney’s Easter gift, and they were actually all washed and ready for him on Easter morning. I was a little scared that the sea silk might be kind of rough, but a trip through the wash softened the socks up a fair bit, and they seem like they will be comfortable while still wearing well. I am sure Mr. Penney will give me a report soon.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

(It’s Not Easy) Bein’ Green

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I am finishing things!

The other weekend, I finished the singles I was spinning.

I have no idea where I am going to go with it from here. Maybe two ply, maybe a Navajo ply. I am not sure right at this moment.

And this weekend, I finished these!

Yeah! The Christmas socks are done. I am in the process of writing up the instructions. Hopefully, they will be my next post.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

You’ve Got a Friend

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Thank you all for your concern over the accident. It is much appreciated. The biggest thing that I want right now is for life to get back to normal, as I must admit that having to deal with some aspect of the accident everyday has been kind of stressful. That is why it was so especially nice of Roseann to send me these books that I have been wishing for to cheer me up!

Ain’t that sweet of her! Thank you Roseann. I have already made a muffin recipe from the cookbook and they turned out great.

The baby sweater is completely done and ready for shipping.

With any luck, it will arrive before the baby does.

And, I have one of the Sea Silk socks done.

I do love the coloring that Mr. Penney picked, though the fabric itself seems a little on the stiff side. It may soften up after a wash. Also, I thought the same thing of the Trekking Pro Natura, and they turned out to be a favorite pair of socks.

More soon.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

The Rubberband Man

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The rubberband on my spinning wheel was suffering from dry rot, so it broke all on its own when I only had a little over 8 ounces done of the Tide Pool roving. I figured my tension was going to change after replacing the rubberband (that is part of the brake band,) so it was as good of a time as any to start plying the singles I had already spun!

The color here isn’t exactly true. It seems a bit harsh here, when it isn’t in the actual yarn.

I will figure out the yardage and the wpi later when I actually use it to weave, but it is nice for a squeeze every now and then. When I spin up the other half of the roving, I will use one session’s yarn for the warp and the other’s for the weft. By doing this, I remove any problem that I may have with consistency between the two spin sessions.

Copyright 2009 by G. P. Donohue for textillian.com

Mr. Brightside

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If there was a bright side to me being sick, it is that it clears my schedule. Going to my company holiday party? Not anymore. Meeting friends out for lunch? I don’t think so. Going to get a couple extra hours of work in at the office? Not so much.

Now, I wasn’t major league sick; but sick enough that I felt it was best to stay away from other people and fill myself up with as much over the counter medication as I could get a hold of. (God bless Tylenol. Takes away pain and fever for close to four hours!)

The cleared schedule meant that I got to finish these: Continue reading