*SPOILER* January Sock Club parcels

I am so lucky to be in two sock clubs this year. Both my January sock club parcels arrived yesterday!



The first one was from Socktopus Knit Love Club. The yarn is Sokkusu-Xtra hand dyed by Alice Yu (Socktopus). The colourway is called Coralina. As a serious hard-core pink/purple sucker, I screamed when I wrapped off the parcel. Different shades of pink and purple. What more can I ask for?


(Sokkusu Xtra: 70% Merino, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon. 366m/113g)

However I probably won't knit it into the designated sock club pattern. The yarn is soft and squishy. But I have a bad record and memory of felting and wearing out socks. Guess my gauge is not tight enough or my handwashing is not gentle enough or both. I really don't want to knit any sock with cashmere content -- I'd be too scared to actually put them on. So there's no point for me to knit some socks that I won't wear right? Luckily this Sokkusu Xtra is only a special treat by Alice to celebrate the start of the year. The normal sock club yarn should be a high-twist 100% merino, which I should feel more comfortable to knit socks with.

I still want to attempt the sock club pattern though. The skewed construction of the club pattern looks really interesting. I will probably knit it up with a skein of variegated Wollmeise or Blue Moon Socks that Rock.



Another parcel I got yesterday was from Blue Moon Rockin' Sock Club. Two skeins of STR medium weight with two mini skeins of emergency yarn!



The colourway is called Pinkie Swear & Aubergenius. I think Pinkie Swear is the colourful variegated one while Aubergenius is the semi-solid one in aubergine brown?

Each skein has about 102g and 228 metres.

There are two printed patterns and dyer's notes in plastic sleeves.



The first pattern is called Social Network. An interesting pattern combining cable and colourwork. I love the cable part. And honestly I think this pattern shows the yarn better. But I am really not that into the cuffs, heels and toes knit in garter stitch. If I really make this, I'd love to make modifications on cuffs, heels and toes...



The second pattern is Distelfink. The colourwork looks very complicated but the birds, hearts and flowers are so cute. The variegated yarn is a bit busy but guess I will still try to give it a go!

Alright. Time to wind some yarn up!

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?

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!

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.