The Knitting Pirate

Drumroll, please.

And now, on center stage, the Knitting Pirate is pleased to present, in their debut appearance… HANDSPUN SOCKS!

410 yards of two-ply yarn, spun from 4.4 ounces of BFL from FreckleFaceFibers on Etsy, became this pair of toe-up, short-row-heel, socks for myself! I started them in the end of July, 2009, when Janis and I challenged each other not to just spin yarn, but to actually knit with it, too. We both decided on socks. I decided to go with toe-up, because I didn’t know how far the yarn would go, but I knew I wanted to get as much out of it as I could. I used Wendy’s Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern, substituting a figure-eight toe.

One of the neat things about toe-up socks is that there’s really no need for a gauge swatch; you can just use the toe as a swatch. The yarn seemed thinner than most commercial sock yarns I’ve knit with, so I decided to use size 0 needles. I started with my usual sixteen-loop toe, knit until I thought it fit my foot, realized that it was too large, and horrified my audience by nonchalantly ripping it out and starting over. “But you’ve knit so much already!” they said. “Isn’t it frustrating to have to begin again?” I explained that I’d rather lose an hour or so of knitting, than put in the time it takes to knit the entire pair and end up with socks that don’t fit. It’s possible that my horrified audience didn’t entirely understand.

(Lesson learned: When using a toe-up toe as a swatch, work the increases only to the point where the toe fits over your first four toes. You can leave the pinky out, it’s okay. She won’t mind, because in the end the socks will fit much, much more snugly around your foot.)

The socks do fit perfectly, thank goodness. They are a little tight to get on, but once I have them in place they fit me like, well, like socks. No bagging around the ankles, no sagging around the legs, and no extra material around the foot. I hope they wear as well as they fit!

On Sunday, I brought the second of the handspun socks to a community meeting. The meeting was a nightmare, which allowed me to crank away on the sock until I was afraid that I’d actually knit too far up the foot, and I had to put it away. At that point I actually started to participate in the meeting, which may have been a mistake – I can see now why so many people in my neighborhood just don’t get involved!

Back at home, I measured and was happy to conclude that the foot was still about an inch short. I worked on it while watching the Vikings/Saints game, and then on Monday evening I settled in to knit the short-row heel. Well, I got about eight or ten rows in and something went wrong. I couldn’t tell what – perhaps I forgot to wrap one of the stitches, or maybe I forgot how to count as I knit. Either way, I was tired so I decided not to stress over it; I put it down and went to bed. I’ll fix it up this evening.

On the spinning front, this lovely fiber from LakeHouse Loft was my birthday present to myself. It’s six ounces of Corriedale in randomly-patterned colors, and I’m not yet sure how I’m going to spin it. I could do a three-ply sock yarn, or a slightly heavier weight for a matching hat and fleep-top set. Most of my queue is hats and socks, with the occasional scarf or dishcloth in there as well. What can I say – I like socks!

2009 was a slow knitting year for me; I only completed three projects. (Of course, if I’d been able to keep to one sock at a time, I’d probably have three more pairs to show…)

Pomatomus are the most complex socks I’ve ever knitted. Although they’re rated as difficult, I found that the stitch pattern made a lot of sense and was actually quite easy to follow once I got the hang of it. On the other hand, they’re definitely not a mindless sock that I’d feel comfortable knitting on without the pattern in front of me, checking off rounds as I finish them. I love them, but unlike some other patterns (*cough*Jaywalker*cough*) I’m not tempted to knit another pair. Pomatomus were my introduction to Cookie A.’s designs; this free pattern came from the Winter 2005 Knitty.

I wear my Fleep-Tops more than any other piece of knitting I’ve finished, I think. They are amazingly warm and incredibly comfortable, and not quite like anything I’ve ever seen in a store. I used a combination of Knitty’s Cigar pattern and Sarkasmo’s Gnomittens, with added miniature fleep-top thumb caps. They were a good quick project, finished in only a month. It’s unfortunate that the yarn is discontinued; I would love to make a backup pair, or perhaps some as gifts for people I especially like. Perhaps some medium- or heavyweight Socks that Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts would be a good substitution.

The thoroughly misnamed Quick Toe Up Socks weren’t quick at all, not after I found a knot in the first skein of yarn and had to do some serious futzing to make the stripes line up from one sock to the other. I used Wendy Johnson’s Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern, substituting a figure-eight toe, and made the sock 64 stitches around. It pleases me that they match so perfectly, even if I had to be ridiculously perfectionist about getting them that way! I like when my striped socks match up, especially wide stripes.

While it wasn’t knitting, I did do an overhaul of this site in 2009 to change the look and feel, and I added a Twitter account. I bought a new spinning wheel, a Kromski Sonata in walnut, on which I spun several skeins of yarn, including this BFL two-ply which is rapidly becoming my first pair of handspun socks. I’m considering selling the Ashford Traditional; while I love the way it looks, it doesn’t fit me quite right and I don’t spin on it. Perhaps I’ll give it one last try before I make a decision. Pirate-Husband says that it matches the house, and if I want to keep it around as a decoration, he’d be fine with that… but I think it’s sad to have a working wheel that isn’t ever used.

Also in 2009: I read 26 books, which took up some knitting time, and I finally learned to drive a car with a manual transmission so that I could trade in my old beat-up Cutlass for a new shiny Mazda3.

I am excited about 2010! I have plans to finish up the projects on my needles and start some new ones, to publish a design or two, and to improve my spinning skills. My parents bought a KitchenAid stand mixer for Pirate-Husband and me for our combined birthday and Chanukah gifts, so there will be fresh bread to go along with the yarn. Things just keep getting better and better!

Ten observations about plying yarn:

1. It takes forever.
2. It is a heck of a leg workout.
3. I can totally see why people get jumbo flyers and bobbins for it.
4. I love watching the colors of the two singles come together.
5. The floodlight over my spinning wheel sure does put off a lot of heat.
6. It sure would be nice if I could farm this job out.
7. I think this yarn is going to be lovely when it’s finished.
8. If it’s ever finished.
9. No matter how carefully I split the fiber, the bobbins will never play out evenly.
10. Andean plying is a really neat trick.

Plying is certainly easier with the brake switched to the opposite side, but… it’s still a lot less fun than spinning singles. I’m working on the merino-silk stuff, and it’s frustrating – partly because it seems that I have to treadle with much more force to go counter-clockwise, partly because I didn’t spin the singles as evenly as I wanted to and so the plied yarn is lumpier than I want it to be, partly because it feels as though I’ve been plying for hours, the bobbin is getting full, and it looks like the bobbins of singles have just as much on them as when I began!

I’ll take pictures when it’s done and washed. Now that it gets dark so early (silly time change!) I don’t always have the chance to take pictures after work. Maybe one of my winter projects will be putting together a cheap and easy lightbox setup so that I can take good pictures even without natural sunlight.

I haven’t knit much in the past couple of weeks. There always seems to be something else to do, people visiting, places to go.

Half of the blues and greens Falkland is spun into singles that should ply into a striping heavy fingering weight yarn, and I’ve split the other half to be the same. I took a pair of pliers to my spinning wheel to open up the eyehooks just enough to let me switch the brake band around so that it will work better for plying. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before watching the New Voyager video that recommended it – of course a spring-tensioned brake won’t work if the bobbin is turning towards the spring!

My friend for whom I’m making Napramach asked me again about it last night. I haven’t touched it in weeks, but now I’m reminded that I need to get back to it. It takes a lot of concentration and unbroken blocks of time, which seem to be in short supply lately.

I cast on for the second handspun BFL sock, and am through the toe increases and into the foot. It will probably be my Thanksgiving knitting, as it’s stockinette all the way up. That makes it perfect for knitting while talking.

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.

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.