Olive Handspun

Look!  New handspun!  It has been a little while since I have finished a skein that I really feel proud of, but here is a pretty example.

• Spun: June 2013
• Roving: merino/silk blend (Webs)
• Colors: Shiny olive green with specks of red
• Spindle: Schacht 3” Hi-Lo drop spindle (2.2 oz.)
• 3 ply, ~230 yards, ? Ounces, fingering weight

I had some of this fiber left over from my first spin-to-knit project, not enough to do much, but definitely worth spinning.  This is such a nice fiber to spin, it is slick and easy to coax into thin strands.  It is also very soft because of how fine the merino is and the silk content.  

You can also see one of my hairs sticking out in this photo, that frequently happens when I get distracted while spinning.  There is rarely a day when my long hair doesn't get in the way, I dread the inevitable day when one makes it into a lab experiment or a liver organoid starts developing hair follicles.

Spinning and new fiber

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A little over a year ago I spun yarn for a warm pair of socks for my mother.  I had some fiber left over that I had sitting in my "someday I'll get to this" craft box.

I needed something to start spinning this week, so I dug out the softest fiber I could find.

I'd say that a merino/tussah silk blend is pretty darn soft.  I'm spinning it as thin as I can with the ultimate plan of making it a lovely 3-ply yarn fit for a cowl.  I'm just in love with this color of green too, it is uncommon.

Speaking of lovely greens, want to see what came to me from Finland yesterday?

This gorgeousness is Polworth from indie dyer Lanitium ex Machina.  When I found this in my mailbox I was surprised to say the least.  First thing I did was text Lisa, my emergency fiber contact, because I had no idea where it came from.  Turns out she was the mystery fiber faerie!  I had a pretty crappy week last week and she went above and beyond to cheer me up.  Thanks again, Lisa!

I hope everyone has a wonderful fiber-filled weekend!

Spinning from a Silk Hankie

I've finished some more amazingly beautiful handspun this week!

As you may know, I have been working on learning how to spin from a silk hankie, which is one of my Fiber Goals for 2012.  It has been a really fun experience and I would certainly do it again just for the feel of the silk against my fingers (so soft!).  Pure silk really does have it's own special texture.

- Spun: April 2, 2012.

- Fiber: 100% silk

- Spindle: Schacht 3" Hi-Lo drop spindle (2.2 oz.)

- Other: single ply, 77 yards, thick and thin

I'm so excited to see how it knits up.  I'm not sure exactly what I will do with it yet, but I'm thinking about knitting it up as a square for my scrap blanket because it just seems to fit there.

*** Warning, personal rant up ahead, feel free to skip:

I'm not sure if this is the most appropriate place for such a rant; however, considering it is my personal blog and I have to get this off my chest, here goes.

I attend Smith College, a historically all women's college.  I would like to think that our college is known for being a very open and caring environment, as well as for producing strong, intelligent women.  However, today we were told that two anonymous notes containing strong racist and homophobic sentiments had been slipped under students doors.  Frankly I don't think that there is any reason to do such a horrible thing and it makes me deeply sad.

As a scientist, I'm well aware that as of now, there is no genetic basis for the existence of race.  I'm also a secular humanist, in this case meaning that I believe that we are all responsible for treating each other with respect and compassion simply because we are all human beings. 

Not everyone may agree with me on everything, but my question is: why can't we all just get along? 

I like how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights puts it best: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood".

Anyways, apologize for the rant, I'm just deeply shocked by the fact that such a thing happened within my community and I'm not sure what to do or what to think.  I suppose I'm glad that as a community on Ravelry, that we are for the most part (at least in my experience) very supportive and caring regardless of our differences. 

Work-in-progress Wednesday - #4

In the past I have mentioned that I have a knitting rule where I can only have up to three projects going at a time.  As of late, this rule has fallen helplessly by the wayside and now I'm a little overwhelmed by the number of projects I have to chose from.  It is like there are a whole bunch of little yarn children begging for my attention and I only have two hands to work with!

Keeping in mind that I have several projects filling up a corner of my room (don't ask...), I'm only posting about the two I've been working on lately (plus some spinning).

First we have my Beatnik, which I am really enjoying despite the fact that the cabling gets tiring after while.  I'm finished with the back and a sleeve, and now working on the front and the other sleeve.

My pretty summer Textured Cardigan is working up quickly despite the fact that there is a huge error in one section of the pattern (what would I do without the wisdom of Ravelry at my disposal?). 

I've also been having a lot of fun spinning the silk hanky, even though one strand of the silk often gets latched on to something and it is very difficult to get even strands.  Look at how vibrant the colors are!

Anyways, I have many projects and so little time, but at least I have a lot of knitting and some really attractive (hopefully!) new sweaters to look forward to!

Hope you all are having a great Wednesday and I hope that you also join in with WIP Wednesday with Tami's Amis.

Mohair Cloud Handspun

I decided pretty early on to name this skein of handspun "Mohair Cloud" because it was so soft and dreamy to spin with!  I'm glad that I decided to cheat a little bit and spin it up plain rather than as a part of a blend.

I was really excited by the sheen of the fiber, it is so bright and shiny!

- Finished: March 26, 2012

- Fiber: 100% undyed mohair from angora goats (Wicked Stitch) 

- Spindle: Schacht 3" Hi-Lo drop spindle (2.2 oz.)

- Other Information: 1 skein, 2-ply, ~180 yards, ? oz., fingering weight

I have now finished another item on my Fiber Goals for 2012 list: Spin a New Type of Fiber! 

I think that this lovely fiber should become a cute little scarf, what do you think?

Also, I'm having second thoughts about dyeing it because it is so pretty the way it is.

Soon after I spent a little time admiring my finished handspun, I started on another goal on the list of Fiber Goals for 2012: Master Spinning A Silk Hankie.

Turns out, silk is difficult to photograph, it is so shiny!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Here's to another week of exciting projects!

Finally Spinning with Silk Merino

I finally got my hands on a silk merino blend of fiber to spin with.  So far I am loving every second of it even though I only have time to spin about 10 minutes every other day.  I dyed the fiber myself with decent results, it isn't my favorite attempt at dyeing but it isn't bad either.  It is a little too light because I dyed with egg dye tablets.  I'm also a little suspicious of the brown...

 I also quickly mastered the two main methods of braiding fiber.  I'm on the go a lot and free fiber is often a recipe for disaster.  Regular braiding is nice, but doesn't work if you want to keep most of it in the braid.  The chain braiding method is way more practical for me and it still looks great.