Hola 2011!

Belated Happy New Year!

Ahem... I know... It's really embarrassing to say Happy New Year in the third week of the year. I wished I could have written my first blog earlier but I have many good excuses reasons for that.



We went to Egypt for 9 days. It was awesome! I was deeply impressed by inspired by the Egyptian Hieroglyphics. The trip was full of fun even Egyptians basically don't knit and I couldn't find any souvenir yarn to take home.

After I came back in early January, I started studying and working on my Computing assignments. I am taking 4 courses this year. Three of them have monthly assignments. They are not impossibly difficult but there are quite a lot to read, research and write. Anyway, after working quite hard for 10 days, I managed to finish and hand them in last weekend. Yeah!



We then went to buy some skiing apparels for our skiing trip. I did skied twice or thrice in Japan and indoor sites. But they were all half-day trips. This is going to be my first skiing holiday. We will arrive the French Alps on Sunday noon and stay there till Friday afternoon. Hope I am not going to break my legs or arms... fingers crossed.



I also went to see a GP for my thumb, which I hurt a month ago. It still hurts. Any attempt to straighten my right thumb only results in agony. No. I meant AGONY. The doc has written me a letter to refer me to a hospital clinic for further consultation. Haven't picked up my letter yet. So don't know how long I have to wait though.

At the moment, I try not to spin. Or not too spin too much. I had been a good girl and stayed away from my wheel for quite a while, until...



... a beautiful maple lace weight spindle from Wildcraft arrived. The shaft is made of maple timber. A piece of red maple leaf is embedded in the resin in the top whorl. Simply gorgeous. I couldn't spindle.



I took a few grams of Corriedale (or maybe Falkland?) scraps out and spun right away. The spindle is so feather light (about 24 grams) and spins like a breeze. Great balance. If it was my first spindle, I probably wouldn't have bought my wheel out of frustration.



Last but not the least, I finally cast on my first project in 2011. It's a Hedera in Wollmeise Twin WD Kornblume (it means Cornflower) for the Knit Love Sock knitalong on Ravelry. My green Marlene was almost done, but I wasn't too happy about the size so I will rip off the toes off to reknit and add one more pattern repeat. Will try to do it later though. Now I am feeling like to start a new project! :)

SPIN009 & SPIN010

I spun two skeins of standard 2-ply few weeks ago but didn't have the heart to wash and finish them till last week.

SPIN009: Wildcraft Superwash English Wool Blend. Colourway The Little Rainbow.



Originally I tried spinning directly without further division. I hope to reserve the distinct colour repeats and get a stripey yarn by Navajo chain plying. But then I noticed the colour repeats were quite short. Maybe 2 inches or less. After pre-drafting and spinning for about 5 grams, I found the colours blending in too much. All whites and  yellows were crowded out by reds. The single I got was predominantly pink, a muddied pink.



I then tried spinning from the fold. No luck. I simply couldn't get the hang of it. I then divided the top lengthwise into many thin strips. I spun a few grams and then chained plied it. The colours were indeed more crispy and distinct. Yet the colour repeats were very short.


After three failed attempts, I decided to return to my "usual practice": standard 2-ply. I intended to spin and plied tighter, hoping to get a sturdy yarn for my very first pair of handspun socks. All the yarn I previously plied tend to underplied, such as this monster, so I am quite happy about this one. Though it's still not very even, the plying looks tighter and relatively more balanced than my previous handspuns. I love the colours too. Pinks, yellows and greens. A very cheerful colour combo.

Unfortunately it only yields about 175m. Not enough for a pair of socks. Hum... maybe combining it with another skein of handspun or commercial yarn for a stripey sock or do contrasting toes and heels?

SPIN010: Scrap Yarn 2. Wow. It's the 10th handspun I made since October!



I almost wanted to name this colourway as Make It Or Break It because I spun it while watching the American TV drama series of the same name.



The fibre were scraps from Fibreholics Sample Bag which I got in summer. Last time I spun all the manly colours into Scrap Yarn 1 which has turned to be a Gherkin Hat. This time I spun all the remainig brights into two bobbins of singles.



Z-spun and s-plied, both at 10:1. 2-ply. 70g. 192m before finishing. 12-14 wpi after washing and drying. Fingering weight, sort of.



Again, there're pinks, greens and yellows. I guess I have told you enough about my colour preferences. :)

SPIN008

Look what I did on Saturday morning!



Two skeins of Cheviot from Wildcraft in colourway Shamrock. I am becoming more into greens in the past few months. Plus I was very interested to try out Cheviot so I grabbed this together with another braid in yellow immediately after I saw them on Wildcraft webshop.

I was planning to do a standard 2-ply so I divided the top into two halves in the middle, then further divided each lengthwise into thin strips of about 3-5 grams.

It's my first time to spin Cheviot. I loved it! It's softer than the English Wool Blend I usually got from Wildcraft. With a medium staple length of about 3-5 inches (according to Wikipedia), it is easy to draft and perfect for a beginning spinner like me.

The colours were lovely. I was amazed by the different shades and depths of greens remained upon spinning. I wasn't sure if the subtle changes in colour would stay after plying, so I changed my mind and decided to keep the two bobbins as singles. Hum... I still don't know if it's really a good idea. Because the two bobbins of single were still quite overspun and very kinky even after I ran them into opposite direction once.

It's also my first time to really "whack" my handspun. I usually finish my handspun yarn by a normal bath in lurk water. But recently I saw some discussions on Ravelry about whacking and fulling singles and understand single yarn needs some agitation to get the lovely "softened & smooth round" look. So I decided to give it a try. I gave the yarn hot-and-cold baths 2 times (Hot, cold, hot, cold). I was quite worried it would become some ugly felted ropes, but I think it managed to survive. The slightly felted look not only made the singles stronger but also gave it a cozy bouncy look which I am really happy with!



I now got two skeins of Cheviot. Both are 52 grams in weight. The pre-wash yardage were 157m and 163m. Pretty close right? Honestly I am quite proud of it. They are relatively even (relatively! to me!). However I noticed a significant shrinkage in the length of both skins. I tried to put it back on to the niddy noddy and found  both skein was about 3-4 inches too short to go back so I think the shrinkage is about 5%. Should still be enough to make a shawlette or a pair of mittens I guess?

SPIN006: Low-Twist Singles

I spun up 120grams of BFL/silk yesterday morning.

The fibre was the November installment of Wildcraft Fibre Club. I wanted to try out some BFL blends for a while. Karen from Wildcraft suggested that BFL/silk or BFL/mohair may be a good start (while BFL/nylon can be trickier).  So I was really delighted to find a braid of BFL/silk when I unwrapped the parcel.

The colour repeats were quite long. About 4 regular repeats over the whole braid. Potentially it could become some stripy yarn. But I finally decided to split the braids into 3 different colours: yellows, reds and the intersections between yellows and reds. Spinning at 5.5:1, which is the slowest ratio on my Ashford Traveller, I got a total yardage of about 448 metres, pre-bath.



It's my first attempt at a low-twist single, too. Lots of unintentional thicks and thins. But I guess I should be more forgiving to my first low-twist singles. I wasn't able to get the right twists neither. They were definitely not low-twist enough. Therefore I had all singles spun over once again in an opposite direction to offset some excessive twists. The result was... well, funny. It turned out that the yellow was just right. It didn't twist by itself when taking off from the niddy noddy. The orange (from the intersections between yellow and reds) was still over-twisted and coiled up. The red one became under-twisted. It broke several times when I reskeined it with a niddy noddy. What to do? I felt it immediately by rubbing the breaks on my palm with a few drops of water. Not sure if it'll survive when it's knit up though.

I find BFL/silk a bit difficult to draft and spin compared to BFL. But no doubt it is a very beautiful fibre. The saffron-like yellow becomes a luxurious gold after spun up. Pretty. And it's soooo soft.

Now I have 3 mini skeins of 58m, 160m and 230m respectively. This time I am very determined to knit something with them. But I am still thinking what to do... Mitts or cowls? Or shawls?

Geez I LOVE spinning. I really do. Knitting and dyeing are great. But spinning, and all sorts of preps involved, really brings the pleasure and enjoyment up to another level. Even though handspuns may not look perfect compared to millspuns lying on John Lewis shelves, it's the unique experience and the learning process making this craft meaningful and addictive.

Hum... what to spin next? Maybe the Targhee from Spunky Eclectic or the natural-coloured BFL from WoW?

Oct/Nov Club Fibre *SPOILER*

I decided to join several fibre clubs in early October. Finally they are all here. I am so glad that all parcels arrived safely!

Ok! Ready for some eye candies?

These two braids arrived last weekend from Spunky Eclectic. They are Targhee, which I think is a native American sheep breed. I heard that Targhee is mushy and rough, not an enjoyable spin. But other club members said on Ravelry that Amy's one is definitely a good prep and is really wonderful. I haven't started spinning yet but did draft out about 3 grams at one end. It is not as soft as BFL but definitely softer than the English 56s. Maybe similar to Shetland? I'll try to spin a few grams to see if I can do a low-twist single. Sounds a bit too ambitious for a beginner like me huh?



Then yesterday came the Thylacine November club fibre. It's a very interesting blend of English 56s, Alpaca and Black Bamboo. Honestly the fibre content looks a bit challenging for me so it probably will stay in my stash for a while. But I love its humbug look. As usual, Megan's dye work is greatly inspired by Australian landscapes and cultures (as she's from Tasmania). This colourway is called Coolibah Tree. Megan's inspiration was from a poem/song called Waltzing Coolibah Tree which mentioned rivers and shades.



The postie brought me two parcels this morning. One of them was the November club fibre from Wildcraft. It's a BFL/Silk blend dyed in reds and yellows.I think the BFL is mixed BFL as it has a cute humbug look. I absolutely love it! I meant to try spinning BFL/Silk for a while so this braid just came at a perfect time. I also love the relatively longer repeats of each colour. Hope it will get some crispy and distinct colour changes when spun up. Maybe for a stripey scarf?



Another parcel is not a club fibre but an order with WoW. Alright. I cheated. I am not supposed to buy any yarn until 2011. But wait, it's fibre, so it doesn't count right? Anyway I think I deserve some credit for being able to resist the Wollmeise wave heating Loop. Plus the 500 grams of tops I got from WoW worth less than half a skein of Wollmeise in Loop. Not a bad deal right? :D

WoW does sell commercially dyed fibre but all I got are in natural colours. From top left-hand corner: White Superwash English 56, Grey Shetland, Shetland blended with bleached Tussah Silk, Oatmeal BFL, Humbug BFL blended with white, oatmeal and brown.

Among them, the two packs of BFL are definitely my favourites. So soft! The natural colours look sweet too. I am really looking forward to spinning with them.

I am currently on a very very very tight schedule for my Holiday Challenge. Ok. Totally my fault. Who would start holiday knitting in November? Especially those with in-laws living on another side of the earth. I can't afford do anything spinning until early January unless I can finish my Holiday Challenge ahead of schedule. Well. These parcels are wonderful motivators. I'll try to finish my Xmas knitting asap in order to spin!

SPIN004

My 4th spinning practice. I finished it last week but my laptop went dead so I couldnt upload any photo. I am now using our super old Asus Eeepc netbook. It's a bit slow and the wee keyboard is a bit difficult to use. But at least I can upload photos and blog. Shouldn't complain too much about it.

It is Superwash English Wool Blend top from Wildcraft Fibre in colourway Neptune. Finally I got more yardage and more consistent yarn. :)

This is my first time to obrain more than 350 yards/330 metres. The yarn is quite even (for a beginner like me)! Yay! :D

There is about 364 yards before washing and fixing. Some shrinkage after wash is expected but it should still be enough for a pair of socks in terms of yardage. However I think I underplied it. The yarn won't be strong enough for socks. Or maybe a pair of bed socks?

Interestingly I found some sparkle (sparkling trilobal nylon I guess?) in the roving! Maybe it’s some leftover from the carder? Love the positive surprise though. Very pretty! I guess I may try to challenge myself with some Sparkling BFL next time. :D

Had difficulty in using the fastest whorl. The tension was too great that I often found it hard to treadle. For the singles, as usual, the first quarter was way too overpun while the last quarter was underspun that the single broke for a few times . Need to learn more about control of tension.

Wednesday

I have had a pretty busy day.

After finishing up my application form this morning, I headed to C Wharf to lunch with DH. We had Birley's salt beef brisket sandwiches again. For some unknown reason, it didn't taste as good as it was. But still yum I guess.

At around half one, I went to Russell Square to submit my app. Geez the admission office was so crowded. Lots of people were doing last-minute app like I do. :P The lady said they should notify me the admission decision in 4-6 weeks. Fingers crossed.

I then took a bus to Waterloo as I always prefer going home by Jubilee line than Central -- the long walk in Bank to DLR platform isn't usually pleasant. Also I wanna go to iKnit to see if I can grab a needle gauger. My old one miserably disappeared. Plus I am interested to get a copy of Spin Off. Unfortunately none of them could be found there. I was so well behaved and just left empty-handed. (honestly I was tempted to get an Easyknits Sushi Roll but didn't find the right colour I loved there)

I arrived home at around half four. I was supposed to work on my Crow Waltz Shawl but my heart and hands had another idea... I finally got half braid of a Wildcraft Superwash English Wool Blend top spun up. Havnt decided if I should do two-ply or Navajo chain-ply yet. Let's see how I feel like tomorrow! But I think I should really do some more knitting tomorrow. I am far behind my Christmas pressie schedule!

SPIN003: My First Navajo Plying

Okay, I promise, this one should be the last spinning post for... at least the next few days. I should really get back to my knitting needles and work for christmas pressies. My Crow Waltz Shawl has been in semi-hibernation now. Feeling a bit guilty about it. Plus I knocked out this 109grams of monster in ONE single day. Really need to let my knees rest a bit.

Again, it's from Wildcraft. A Shetland top. Colourway: Wild Rose. I LOVE the colours. But wasn't sure how I should divide or pre draft it so it won't turn muddied...



Finally, I did some crazy thing. I tried to divide the top lengthwise into 5 portions, each of different weights: 4g, 10g, 19g, 28g, 34g. I spun from the lightest one first, hoping to get an effect that the stripes would run longer later.



As I wanted to have more solid colours and less fuzzy changes, I did a navajo plying to ply the single with itself. It turned out to be a big URG. My Navajo plying is simply UGLY.

I was hoping to get enough yardage to make a triangular shawl. But not even close. I only got 260 yards after navajo plying -- I should have planned a simpler 2-plying instead! Then I could have got about 390 yards! :(

260 yards. Maybe it's still enough to do a small shawlette like Ishbel or Multnomah?

In the clubs

May I announce that... I am now a proud member of the following THREE FOUR clubs:

- Wildcraft bi-monthly fibre club (will start in November)

- Thylacine monthly fibre club (will start in November too!)

- Knit Love Club 2011 by Alice Yu (Socktopus) (It's a sock club with her hand dyed yarn and matching sock patterns. Will start in January!)

- (Edited on 19 October 2010) Spunky Eclectic monthly fiber club (will ship in late Oct from US)

I know I know... I am just a beginning spinner, so the club fibre can be too challenging to me -- Indeed before paying for my subscription, I did contacted Megan of Thylacine to get some hints about what fibre she will offer in the next three months. The November fibre will be something quite challenging to beginner... But, I guess I'll still go for it. If I really can't handle it, I can always leave it in stash. Use it later when I become a better spinner. Or sell it later. It's still great to get inspired by other club members to see what they will spin up from the same fibre.

SPIN002

Here comes my pinning exercise number 2!

I used a hand painted top from Wildcraft. It was an English Wool Blend, the cheapest hand painted top available on the shop. And it's only £5! A real bargain, isn't it?



The colourway is called Hopeful. A white top painted with red, pink and blue.



I divided the top into two fairly equal parts using the method called Fractal Spinning. People said it will have quick colour changes along with long colour repeats. I don't know it yet. Still can't find the right project to use it.



Before washing and fixing the twist, It is about 100 gram with 140 metres. Guess it's close to heavy worsted?

Honestly I love the colours! All sorts of pinks and purples. My favourites colours!



What can I make with it? Any suggestion?