SPIN013 & SPIN014

It had been 3 weeks since my last post. Was really busy for my Computing assignments and Diving exam. Not much knitting has been done. I did spin a bit while watching TV though.

First I've spun 200 grams of natural grey Shetland from World of Wool. Shetland wool is one of my favourite fibre to spin. It's not as soft as BFL but I find it easier to handle. Also there's a Cardigan SAL (Spin along) happening in Wildcraft's Ravelry group. I've got some Shetland custom-dyed by Karen of Wildcraft in Oak Leaves (a beautiful shade of greens, greys and purple). This grey Shetland is like a practice before I spin the "real thing".



I read from somewhere before that beginning spinners tend to spin something really chunky and uneven. But after they learn how to spin thinner, it becomes more difficult to spin chunky. I find it quite true. Undoubtedly I need  more practice until I can spin some consistent chunky yarn good enough to do a cardigan. Hum... maybe I should set my heart to some other patterns calling for DKish yarn for the SAL?

Another problem I got is the way I spun it. I don't know if it's true or not, but I got a feeling that Shetland is best spun woollen or at least semi-woollen. After all it's how Shetlanders spun their yarn for their super warm sweaters? Unfortunately I don't know how to do long draw. And I was too lazy to hand card 200grams into rolags. Therefore I only did a forward short draw directly from tops. I did try to keep my hands farther away than usual and not to press the single too hard after each draw, hoping to have more woollen-looking and airy singles. But I think my poor technique didn't do Shetland wool the justice it deserves.

On the left is about 170metres of 2-ply yarn. It's now sort of aran weight but will likely bloom to chunky after washing. The right was a bit of leftover chain-plied from one bobbin. Already chunky. But I get no idea what to do with 24 metres of chunky wool.

Apparently the 2-ply yarn is quite underplied. But I really want it to bloom and remain soft so I gave up doing another round of plying. I guess I quite like its rustic look though I can imagine people may hate it for its hairiness. Let's see how it looks after washing. Maybe it'll become a pair of mitts or a hat or maybe both?



Another braid I spun is the Superwash Merino from Alchemy Fibre Arts.



Navajo plying should be the best way to preserve the colour repeats. But I don't have confidence in spinning merino yet. I was afraid my single would have lots of thicks and thins - which turns out to be quite true. Chain-plying would amplify the unevenness and that's not what I want for sock yarn. Therefore I decided to do a fractal 2-ply.

I first split the roving into two long pieces across its width. For the first piece, I did a bit LOADS of pre-drafting before spinning up. It gave a bobbin of single with very long colour repeat, kinda like Noro, a lot softer though. The second piece was further divided into 4 pieces across its width to achieve a shorter colour repeat.



I got about 235 metres in 89grams after plying. Again, a bit underplied. Sigh... But I guess I can't say I am unhappy. After all it's merino! It is was my fear factor. Though I still can't spin it very well but I guess I no longer fear it. :)



The colours are very cheerful though I find it a bit too neon-y. Next time I think I may try to ply it with another strand of white or semi-solid merino. I am quite eager to knit it up as soon as I can. Really want to see the visual effect of fractal spinning. I am still debating if I should knit my very first pair of handspun socks, or to knit another One-Row Handspun Scarf using very big needles (but given its vibrant neon-y colours, I probably will overdye the scarf with coffee or tea to "sadden" the colours before daring to put it around my neck!)...

SPIN012: Merino

I got 50 grams of merino from Sara's Texture Crafts in early October -- in fact it arrived with the BFL I used in my SPIN001 project.

Twice blended from four different commercially dyed colours: Lawn Green, Citrus Green, Forest and Light Green, doesn't it give you a lively sense of primavera?



I tried spinning for about 6-7 grams in October but didn't get any luck. Nada. The yarn kept snapping for 20-30 times on my wheel. Seriously it meant snapping 5 times for every gram I spun! I knew something's wrong but I didn't know what, so I concluded I wasn't good enough to spin Merino yet. I tried spinning Merino again in November, but I still didn't get the hack of it. Therefore I turned my back to Shetland, BFL and Cheviot, leaving Merino behind with a big "fear factor" label.

Last night I decided to confront my fear factor once more. This time I was luckier. The yarn still snapped and broke for 4-5 times, but it felt a lot less discouraging and more manageable.



As I only got 44 grams, I didn't play in order to get a better yardage. There was about 270 metres with 40 wpi spun up before finishing.



It looked like a Christmas wreath before finishing!

I didn't wreck it that much, though still have given it a very hot water bath followed by a cold one. I bet it didn't shrink a lot but should be given enough treatment to make the single a bit stronger.



After leaving it on radiator for one whole night, it's totally dried. Haven't measured the wpi yet, but it feels like a lace weight to me. I think 270m of lace weight should be enough to make a small Ishbel (I made one in Kidsilk Haze with about 230m), but will this blended colour too fuzzy for Ishbel? Hum... I don't know, but I really really want to make something with it!

But I think I do love this skein. It's my first formal encounter with Merino. Not very even but not too wildly uneven neither. I think next time if I can get a bigger braid (100 or 200 grams), I will definitely ply it up and hopefully plying can smooth out the unevenness and give a rounder, nicer yarn.

SPIN011: Massam

For non-spinning readers, sorry to bore you with another spinning note. I promise it is the last one for a while. Will have more knitting related posts in the next few days -- I am hoping to have a FO so as a FO post by the end of next week. :)

In fact I think I hurt myself last night. After spinning about 600 yards continuously, my right thumb is in pain which extends to my forearm when I press my thumb down against my palm. Lesson learned. Shall never ever try spinning more than 400 yards in a day. I should be taking rest and staying away from my wheel for at least a week or so.

Anyway, let me show you what made me so obsessed last night. My November club fibre from Spunky Eclectic arrived on Thursday. The colourway is called Emerald City, inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Massam is a long wool with a very long staple (over 10 inches! wow. oh yes. I did measure it.). I heard lots of contrasting comments about Massam. Some said it spins like a dream or it just drafts by itself. Others said its long staple length makes it a bear to draft.



I divided the top lengthwise into two strips. Then I torn about 5 grams off to spin on my new Jumbo flyer. I used the slowest ratio which is 3.5:1. Couldn't handle it at all, so I switched my standard flyer back. My fault. I really should have tried the Jumbo flyer out with some scrap or undyed fibre first.



I then spun two bobbins of lace singles at 5.5:1. I have never spun any lace with such a low twist before! Guess it's the fun of long wools? Indeed it's a totally different experience to spin the long wool. As usual I did forward short draw (as I still don't have enough confidence to do long draw or properly prepare fibre for that). Usually my hands were only about 3-6 inches away (I am talking about the maximum distance between two hands, just immediately before my right drafting hand draw back to my left fibre hand). But to spin Massam, my hands were really far apart. It's about 12-15 inches. It really felt a bit strange at first, but other than that, Massam doesn't seem more difficult than other wool of medium length I've spun. True that it's not that soft. But the long staple makes spinning lace weight or low-twists easier. Even at a low ratio of 5.5:1, the single didn't really break as often as other fibre did during spinning. It's fairly relaxing and mindless to spin. And I'll definitely get some more Massam later.



Was tempted to ply them together to get a standard 2-ply. But I was curious to know if such a low-twist single can survive on their own without plying...



That's how I got two skeins of low-twist singles of Massam. They have 487m (533 yards) in total. In terms of yardage, they look like light fingering. But with a wpi of about 23-25, they should knit up as lace weight.

What to do with them? Maybe a Citron?

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. :)

Three Parcels

Before looking at the parcels, let's talk about weather. (People said Brits love to talk about weather. Though am not a Brit, do in Rome as the Romans do, right?)

We finally have had the first snow of the season here in London. It started at about 2am when I was binding off my Echo Flower Shawl. At first it was just flurry or very light snow. I took this photo at about 6am.



But it hasn't stopped snowing for the whole day. Became heavier too. It's another photo I took when I went out to PO at four. I haven't been in London for too long but I bet it's still a bit abnormal to have such a heavy snow in late November? I remember the first snow last winter was in mid Dec.



It was only a five-minute walk from the post office back to home. But I already got half buried by snow. Quite glad that I did put on enough layers before going out.



Okay. Have talked enough about weather. Time to talk about parcels!

(1) The first parcel is the one arrived this morning. Yay! Christmas comes early! It's a Sliding Jumbo Flyer for Ashford Traveller wheel. I also got 3 extra jumbo bobbins. They're from Sheila of Handspinner.co.uk. She not only has the best price (among 6 online shops I've checked) but also offers super fast FREE delivery. I placed my order on Monday morning, they're already with me on Tue at 9am. Very very impressed. I think I'll try them out tonight. Wait... or am I supposed to wait till Boxing Day before I can play with my pressie?



(2) The second parcel is... sorry to disappoint you, it's not a knittery one. They are the textbooks I need for my study. Usually I use Amazon.co.uk or Bookdepository for books. But I found them cheaper by two independent sellers sold via Amazon Market Place. The saving was quite significant. They cost £90 on Amazon but I only paid about £68 now.

However I found some light scuffs and bent corners on the front/back covers on both books. They look perfectly fine and brand new otherwise.Maybe that's why they were sold at discount? I don't really mind a few imperfections. I would still have bought them even if I knew it earlier. But I think it'd be a better business practice if the sellers have mentioned it earlier in the descriptions.

(3) The third parcel is the one I sent out this afternoon. It's for Socktopods Secret Santa Sock Swap. So if you're participating in the swap and haven't received your parcel yet, it can be yours! Please don't click into the following spoiler link to ruin the surprise. For those who aren't in the swap, feel free to have a peek... :)

I am quite nervous about the swap. It's my first time to do a Secret Santa Swap, I honestly don't know what to expect or what people are expecting. After seeing the photos of other parcels on Ravelry, I feel mine doesn't have enough non-knitting festive goodies. Have to admit I was a bit upset about it. Hum... Fingers crossed. I hope she'll love what I picked.

By the way, I really love the yarn I gave away. Almost can't part with it. I'll need to restash it as soon as I have chance.

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?

SPIN007

Few months ago, not long after I started learning to spin with a spindle, I got a fibre bag from Fibreholics. It contained fibre samples from ten different dyers in the UK. I didn't really spin much as I was really bad at spindling -- I still am.

Last Thursday night, we were watching The Simpsons after dinner. I didn't feel like to knit. Nor did I want to leave my fingers idle. Hence I took all the scraps out and was planning some practice. I left all the bright and feminine colours behind, only picking about 60 grams of darker shades from three dyers. Too bad that I lost all the labels so couldn't tell where they were from. Sigh. A note to myself: Should keep a better record next time if I order any sample bag again.

The three samples I used were:

(1) Royal blue - Only used a teeny bit as it was a bit felted and was difficult to draft. :(

(2) Grey/blue - probably an overdyed grey Shetland. Got a hunch that it's from The Thylacine. Good stuff!

(3) Dark green

I split all the above samples into 4-5 short strips so each was about 4-5 grams in weight. I also found 50 grams of natural brown Corriedale which came with my spindle. It was also split into 5-gram segments. Then I mixed them up and spun all up randomly into two bobbins of single at 10:1 on Ashford Traveller.After plying there was about 86grams with 90 metres pre-wash.

It's generally chunky, but there are some places of thins as fingering. Maybe I should have done more pre-drafting for a better control. Although this attempt at thicker yarn wasn't very successful, I think it's an  enjoyable spin. It's so quick, too. What an instant gratification.

Surprisingly it's not as rough as I thought, though not soft enough to be a cowl. I think I will make a hat or a pair of mitts out of it. :)

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!

SPIN005: Am I ready to spin Merino?

After resting for two weeks, today I started spinning again!

This is my 5th spinning practice. Well. I guess it's not quite a complete practice as I only spun up about 22 grams.

I wanted to get a roving from Alchemy Fibre Arts for a while. Her colours are very catchy, very bold and very vibrant. Funny enough I am never into bright colours. I don't usually knit nor wear any shocking colours. But I am very curious to know how those colours blend in and how it looks after spun up. However the tops sold on Alchemy are mainly BFL, Merino, Superwash Merino and Merino/Silk blend. BFL seems to be the only beginner-friendly option. I love FL but I don't quite want to get non-superwash ones. So I waited till I felt ready to spin Merino.



No no. Honestly I don't really feel READY for merino yet. But my hands are itching to try something else. Maybe Falkland? Or some BFL blends. So I mooched around Etsy and typed in "UK Roving" as search keywords. Alchemy came up as the first search result. That's how I finally ended up placing an order yesterday morning.

One thing I love about Alchemy Fibre Arts is the rovings are priced according to its breed as well as weight. That's perfect for me as all I need was just a taster. I don't want to pay a few quid more to get a 155-gram top. Finally I picked two braids of Superwash Merino which were among the lightest in weight. This one was only about 84 grams in weight. It may not be enough for most projects. But it's just right for practice and experiment.



The colours are very shocking. Yes. You may find the colours hurt your eyes. But that's what makes Alchemy rovings very energetic and distinct.

This roving was handpainted with random colours. I couldn't find any repeating pattern. Each colour part is quite short, with an exception of green/yellow. Therefore I decided to spin straight off the roving, hoping to get bigger blocks of colours.



While the colours in roving looked very distinct, it blended in a lot and became a little bit muddied when spinning up. Have to admit it's very much related to my poor drafting skills. The staple length is shorter than most colour repeats, so I am sure better spinners should be able to get crispier colour changes. But apparently spinning straight off doesn't work for me.



Therefore I decided to stop spinning and start chain plying. I got 22 grams and about 42 metres spun before washing.

So... am I ready to spin Merino yet?

Hum.. Not quite, given the fact that the single broke dozen times while spinning. But it's a good start. Because I liked it! Spinning merino is soooooo different from other fibres I've previously spun (English Wool Blend, Shetland, Corriedale and BFL). Merino is sooooo soft and smooth. And they do have limbs because they simply drafted themselves and fled into the whorl! In order to have better grip, I changed to use a lower ratio (10:1) with an increased tension. I think it helped.

I still have about 61 grams left unspun. I plan to divide it lengthwise into 4-5 thinner stripes later. Hope it will help retain the colours.

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.