The Knitting Pirate

Both halves of the merino-silk are resting on the bobbins (I didn’t feel like plying just yet) and now I’m pondering what to spin next. Those Finn batts are interesting, but then I saw a picture of handspun with sparkle and was reminded that I have eight ounces of “Starry Night” roving with sparkle from Tintagel Farm, and now that’s tempting me too.

I feel as if I’ve been neglecting my knitting lately in favor of spinning and other things. Right now I’m neglecting everything in favor of being sick, not that I have much of a choice there, and drinking tea on the couch while using my laptop for warmth. Maybe I’ll try working on one of the simpler projects I have on the needles.

Apologies for the posting delay. Life became very busy, very suddenly, and left me very little time to knit and spin. I had a short deadline on a graphic design project that I hadn’t expected to be doing, and then spent last weekend at my parents’ for Rosh Hashanah (no knitting). But now I am back with a firm determination to catch up in my fibery pursuits!

Because it’s really unlikely that the second half of the merino-silk blend is so much more well-behaved than the first, I’m going to guess that I went up a level in Spinning Skill between bobbins. I fought with the first half; the second half seems to draft more easily, has fewer nepps and sticky bits, and is generally spinning up much more smoothly. The finished yarn should be interesting, with a very slight thick and thin texture to it. I am considering making a pair of gloves, armwarmers or mittens from it. It probably won’t be smooth enough for socks, but I can’t totally rule that out.

I think I want to spin something lively, next. Perhaps the Finn/Mohair batts that I carded should make a floofy textured yarn. There’s eight ounces of the stuff (probably more like 6.5 after discarding all the short bits and dirt) and I’m thinking that a light worsted weight would be perfect to show off the character of the fiber. I have a bunch of batts which were sorted out by color and progress from this pinky-orange through to the greens. Perhaps I will tear each of them in half and spin a two-ply where the colors will mostly match up. Except for one failed attempt at the alpaca batts, I haven’t spun from batts before. I’ve certainly never spun anything so textured. It will be a fun challenge!

Yesterday I told a non-fibery friend that my eventual goal is to sell handspun yarns on Etsy. I think I’m almost good enough to get started with that; now my problem might be that I get so attached to the yarn I spin, I don’t want to let it go! Maybe I should start spinning in colors I don’t like, in yarn sizes that I won’t use? Ahh, a sunny yellow three-ply worsted weight would be easy to put up in the shop.

Pirate-Husband laughed at me when I said “After this, I’m not going to buy any more yarn until MD Sheep and Wool in May.” Can I really go nine months without buying any yarn? We shall see – but that’s my plan!

But this was a special case (aren’t they all?) This is Opal Rainforest yarn in the discontinued and hard-to-find Tiger colorway, and I’ve been looking for two skeins of it for over a year so that I can make matching tiger paw socks for both of us. I finally found some through an Australian Raveler who was kind enough to ship overseas for me!

My favorite animal is the mountain lion, but Pirate-Husband likes tigers better, and so I thought it would be perfect to make him socks like these. Here is a link to the original project on Ravelry. I think they’re adorable!

I did tell Pirate-Husband that I have no idea when I’m going to actually get to knit these. But at least now I have the yarn, right?

I am working my way through spinning this merino-silk blend from Cloverleaf Farms. Gorgeous in the braid, it’s proving to be more difficult to spin than I had expected. Because it’s my first attempt at anything with silk in it, I’m not sure if it’s the silk or this particular piece of fiber that’s being so difficult.

The top is so compacted that it’s just not drafting smoothly. I have to really pull to tear a chunk off (and yes, my hands are more than a staple’s length apart) and then I have to split that lengthwise into eights before anything will slide easily. There are lots of little lumps, neps and bumps that I have to pick out. That may be normal for silk, but I don’t think so.

I’m ending up with a slightly thick and thin (with the occasional bump) singles that will become a two-ply of around fingering weight. I’m not trying to keep any sort of color progression. The sheen is beautiful, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it finishes – mostly because I just want to be done with it already!

So now I’m debating: Do I finish the first half of the fiber and then set the second half aside until I have more spinning experience? Pro, I can spin something I enjoy more. Con, the second half won’t match up with the first half. Do I just make myself finish the whole thing, ply it, and be done with it? Pro, it will be done! Con, I feel like it’s become a chore to get through.

I’m leaning towards just getting through it and chalking it up as a learning experience.

Never knit while you’re sick. Especially not when you’re taking any sort of medication that makes your head feel as if it’s about to float away (which, I must say, is better than the sloshy feeling of upset sinuses).

So I was knitting right along when I noticed that I’d knitted where I should have purled. And then I purled where I should have knitted. This wouldn’t have been so bad, except I’d gone twenty rounds past the mistake. And it wasn’t just in one column of stitches – it was in five separate ones.

I got out my new crochet hook and steeled myself to the inevitable. Five columns of stitches would have to be dropped down and picked back up. One hundred stitches would have to be replaced.

90 minutes and three cups of tea later, I had accomplished the task.

Then in the very next round I missed my cable and had to un-knit back to the spot where it belonged.

From now on, when I am sick, I am only allowed to work on stockinette, in the round, on circular needles.

In other news, I picked up copies of Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways for Sock Knitters and Debbie Stoller’s The Happy Hooker. I’m not starting any new projects until I finish some, but I’m really looking forward to trying this new stuff!

The first of the handspun socks is complete!

This yarn is not nearly as stretchy as some of the commercial yarns I’ve worked with. As a result, I almost had a heart attack when I tried to put the finished sock on… and could barely get it over my heel. After a lot of panicked tugging, everything slid into place. Whew! Once it was on, it fit all right. Two or four more stitches might not have been terrible in the heel and leg. I’m sure the socks will stretch out a bit as I wear them, just like the last pair that I thought was too tight.

I’m really glad that I put the extra four stitches into the heel, or it might not fit over my instep at all! This is something I’ll have to keep in mind when knitting socks in the future.

There’s 5 grams of yarn left over, which I’m going to hang on to in case I ever need to darn a hole. Not that I’ve ever darned a sock before, but there’s something pretty special about the first socks from my own handspun yarn.

Pictures soon!