The Knitting Pirate

I did not go to Rhinebeck this past weekend, and it’s probably just as well. I heard that it was cold and rainy. Perhaps next year!

Instead, I spent the weekend in Boston with a couple of friends who indulged my strange hobby and waited patiently while I visited Newbury Yarns and Windsor Button, petted all the yarns, and purchased nothing. There were a couple of sock yarns at Windsor Button that almost came home with me, but in the end I decided that nothing really had to.

I did get to work on my handspun sock for a while in the airport. A woman across from me at the gate watched curiously for a minute or two, then asked, “Excuse me, but… what is that called, that you’re doing?”

“Knitting,” I said. “I am knitting a sock, even if it doesn’t look like much yet. This will be the toe.” I showed her the barest beginnings of sock.

She nodded. “Nih-ting,” she said, trying the word on for size as if she’d never encountered it before. “Nih-ting. You don’t see too many people doing that anymore!”

“No,” I agreed, and went back to it.

The “Starry Night” yarn is plied, but not yet washed (and I’ve no picture yet, either). Of course one bobbin ran out sooner than the other; I looked up a tutorial on Andean plying and gave it a try. What a neat trick that is! I ended up with 138 yards of worsted-to-bulkyish weight yarn from four ounces of fiber, and nothing left over! As soon as I’d skeined the yarn, I ran to show Pirate-Husband. “Look,” I laughed, “I’ve spun Chanukah yarn!” Blue and blue, bits of white and yellow and silver sparkle, it really does remind me quite a bit of Chanukah. Pirate-Husband agreed and asked me if this was going to be the first yarn listed in the Etsy shop.

I keep saying I want to sell handspun yarns, but now that it’s come down to it, I find that I’m a little more hesitant than I’d planned to be. I get attached to the yarns I spin! And will people really want to buy them? Can I spin enough yarn well and fast enough to stock an Etsy shop? Will spinning start to feel like a chore instead of a favored hobby?

I thought about all of those things last night as I cast on for the second of the handspun socks. I made it through the toe increases before I went to bed, and now it’s boring ol’ stockinette from here to the heel. This is going to accompany me on the airplane tomorrow; stockinette in the round is perfect airport and airplane knitting.

Well, now I have four bobbins of singles that need to be plied – the merino-silk and the Starry Night. I decided to spin only four of the eight ounces of the Starry Night, but by the end I was really enjoying it. The reason I left half of it for another time is because I want to do a comparison of how my spinning skills are advancing. In a year or so I’ll revisit it and look at the first skein next to the second. I bet it will be impressive!

So before I spin anything else, I’m going to ply what I have. And then what’s next? Either the blues and greens Falkland, or the Autumn colored Rambouillet. I have not spun with either of these fibers yet, but both of them seem like they would be great for sock yarn! Soft, but crisp at the same time, which will hold up well to being walked upon.

…why yes, I do think I’m addicted to sock yarn. But I don’t think I have a problem with that. What else would I make with only four ounces of fiber that doesn’t match anything else I have? And I do love handknit socks. On the other hand, I am already thinking of a higher-yardage spinning project for some reason. The funny thing is that I’ve never knit a sweater or anything bigger than a scarf. Nothing more than about 500 yards of worsted weight. I’d sort of like to spin the yarn for a sweater, but that seems sort of monumental at the moment – both the spinning and then the knitting. Maybe I should knit a first sweater out of commercial yarn, yeah, just to get the hang of it.

So I got started on spinning the “Starry Night” roving, and I’m really not sure what I think of it yet. It’s very soft, and doesn’t draft the way I’m used to with combed top, and I’m getting fuzzles and bits of glitz all over my clothing. I thought I’d aim for a heavy fingering to DK weight yarn, but the fiber might not really want to do that. It might want to be a lower-twist, thicker yarn in the end.

This might end up being the first yarn to be listed in my Etsy shop. It’s pretty, but I’m not in love with it. Of course, I might completely change my mind a few ounces in the future. One never knows! If I do want to sell handspun, I’m going to have to spin with production in mind, rather than “what can I knit with this?” It’s just a matter of changing my mindset.