Survey Says...

My bulky handspun

Thank you for the hugs, I am slowly getting over my harrowing spinning tragedy. I have accepted that it was a learning experience and boy, have I learnt from it. In response to a few who have asked if I could just make a smaller size, I am reluctant to do this for a few reasons. First, and most importantly, I just don't want a bulky jacket. Although I am making it primarily for the winter trip home to Canada, it would be nice to be able to wear the finished product once or twice during our winter here in Brisbane and it just doesn't get cold enough for bulky jackets here. Second, I really like the hemmed facings in the pattern and they would be really unwieldy in a bulky yarn. Plus, since row gauge plays a bigger than usual part in the construction and finished size of this pattern, resizing could be more problematic than usual. Mostly, I just think it would alter the drape and character of the pattern too much. The difference in gauge is too drastic.

However, I really like the yarn, and I'm pleased with how nice and even I managed to get the 2 ply. I love the natural colour variations and I can't wait to use it in a project. Here's another closeup.

So, I'd like to request some help from you fine folks. I've been scouring Ravelry for pattern ideas and I've found a few that might work. The links are listed below, I'd love to hear which one you'd vote for. Please leave a comment and tell me which one you'd pick/why you think it would be the best choice. I'll be publishing results in an upcoming post. Feel free to pass the link along to anybody else you feel might be interested.

1.http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTemerald.html
2. http://shop.interweave.com/Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Pullover-P348C40.aspx
3. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/PATTboogie.html
4. http://shop.interweave.com/store/Streakers-Shrug-P272C48.aspx?AFID=12

5. None of the above... I have also thought about designing my own pattern for a men's vest with this yarn. Finished product would go to hubby but if the pattern turned out well I might submit it to Knitty as they take handspun projects. Of course, that would mean I couldn't blog about it...

As for the Sunrise Circle Jacket, it's still number one on my list of things to knit. Before the lovely Joey left for Canberra she most kindly gifted me with a bag full of dark fleece that had been washed and carded with purple and green mohair. It hadn't spun up the way she was envisioning, but I loved it. I've spun a sample which I Navajo plied and it works out perfectly to gauge. Aren't the little bits of purple and green delicious?

Here it is knit up. I've christened the colourway Deep Woods as it looks dark and mysterious. Now all that's left is to spin enough for a cardigan. Again. Sigh.

Tragic Spinning Accident...

...or sort of accident. I had a feeling this might happen, but I ignored it. I ignored it the whole time I was spinning my 1.2 kg of fleece in the most beautiful natural colours. I ignored it while my apprehensions started screaming " there's something terribly wrong!" during the plying process. I ignored it whilst washing my finished handspun yarn, all 975 grams of it. I ignored it until I sat down with my newly finished yarn, Sunrise Circle Jacket pattern and knitting needles and cast on a swatch...and after knitting 2 rows finally admitted that I'd spun the stuff too thickly to have any hope at all of making the pattern work with the yarn I'd created. Hangs head in shame for omitting to swatch again after the first attempt was too thin. What was I thinking saying "oh, I'll just spin the singles a little bit thicker, that'll work, I'm sure I won't overcompensate."

I'm going to go cry for a little while, then scour Ravelry for patterns in the gauge it's knitting up to (bulky- 14 sts/20 rows to 10 cms on 6 mm needles). I guess all is not lost, I now have 720m of beautiful bulky yarn. If anyone has ideas for a pattern let me know....

Spinning for a Sweater

I am newly in love with spinning (again). So soothing and mesmerizing to watch the fibre slip through your fingers. I love the fleece I'm working with. The natural colours range from silver to caramel to darker brown/grey. Isn't it lovely? Just a flick at either end and the staples are ready to spin. I love having a basket next to my chair, just waiting until I have a few moments to spin.



I am spinning this whole fleece to make the Sunrise Circle Jacket by Kate Gilbert. It's going to be a 2 ply. The sample which I plied and washed was a little too thin, so I'm aiming a for a bit more thickness in my singles which means I should be able to get gauge and a nice firm-ish jacket fabric without too much messing around. Optimistic, aren't I?

Here are my first 2 bobbins, numbered so I can remember to ply the first with the last. I get a ridiculous amount of satisfaction just looking at them. Another gratuitous close up of the singles.

Now, my only problem is I did not account for wastage when embarking on this project. I started with a 1.2 kg fleece. As someone who has never spun greasy fleece before, or spun for this large a project, I blithely thought that would be enough. Hmmmm, maybe not. Some of the weight is in the grease (duh!) which will be washed out and then you lose some fibre during preparation, short bits, matted locks, and swatching. I'm getting in the neighbourhood of 200 g spun fibre on each bobbin and originally thought I'd end up with 6 bobbins but as of today that estimate has come down to 5 bobbins. I'm starting to get a little feeling of panic. The yarn indicated in the pattern is put up in 50g balls, they have about 100 metres in each. The size I'll make calls for 10 balls. So, I need to end up with about 1000 metres of finished yarn, say 1200 to be safe. As the yarn in the pattern only comes out to 500g maybe I'll be okay, but it's very softly spun, and I think my yarn is going to be heavier per metre. Oh well, I guess I'll find out eventually. Stay tuned!