Category Archives: spinning

FO: new day (also, zucchini and chard).

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This is 150 yards of squishy, shiny, 2-ply made from 4 oz. of Spunky Club corriedale in the New Day colorway. The orange bits are my favorite part.

And here’s the zucchini ricotta galette I made for dinner last night. (I had company.) When Deb posted this recipe recently, I knew I had to make it. I think I’ve made every galette recipe she’s posted, and they’ve all been absolutely delicious!

I’m part of the way through plying the Pigeonroof Studios merino in the chard colorway, and I am absolutely loving the way the colors are combining. So pretty! In fact, pretty enough that I might put off the reading I must finish before my afternoon meeting to ply just a little bit more…

pedaling/treadling.

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Yesterday I finished plying the Spunky Club corriedale in New Day. This stuff is hanging to dry, and should be all done by the time I get back from morning yoga today.

And this stuff — well, it just called to me yesterday. This is the first bobbin of Pigeonroof Studios Merino in the Chard colorway.

And this is the second bobbin. This stuff really did spin itself, and I am excited for the squishy 2-ply it will become.

Remember that huge skein of Eco-wool I had on the swift the other day? It is destined to become a Hemlock Ring blanket. Jodi of A Caffeinated Yarn and I are doing a mini-KAL, and already I’m convinced that this project is building my lace confidence. So nice to knit lace on size 10.5 needles! I recognize that this picture doesn’t necessarily reveal ANYTHING about the pattern, but I’m a bit further along now, at row 30. I am just about ready to transfer this to circulars, and then it will be both faster to knit on, and easier to conceptualize. I’ll snap more pictures.

And then there’s this guy. He didn’t do much of anything yesterday…except demonstrate that he really is long enough to take up the entire couch. That’s my dog!

FO: garland.

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This is 268 yards of dk-weight navajo-plied Hello Yarn targhee in garland. This isn’t the whole four ounces — more like 3.25, I think. I filled a bobbin, let it rest, and started plying, and I’m not sure if I’ll make another mini-skein just like this, or save the fraction of an ounce for an all-mixed-up leftovers skein. I love this, and I’m starting to feel like I’m getting the hang of navajo-plying! Hooray! (Also, I’m still getting to know my camera, and these definitely don’t do the skein justice.)

Look! A reorganized spinning corner! I walked by this desk on Monday — it was about two blocks from my house. And then I backed up, picked it up, and carried it home. It fits perfectly into this little nook between the door and the heater, and now there is more storage space and work space in my apartment.

This is Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club corriedale in the New Day colorway. When I finished the garland, I just had to get something else started on the wheel…and suddenly I had two bobbins of this stuff. Planning to sit down and ply right after I finishing posting!

Yesterday was farm share pick-up day, and I gathered a whole bag of flowers in the fields. I love being able to fill my apartment with flowers I’ve picked myself.

And I’m knitting something new! More on this project next time.

red.

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Enter my new camera. The old one, which, for the record, I’ve had to alternately shake/smack to get it to turn on for the last two years, up and died yesterday. I thought maybe it was the heat, but I tried every trick last night and this morning, and still, nothing. We’ve had a good run. Unfortunately, my life has become a money pit lately, and this didn’t help. (I may have spent the first hour of my day at the Honda service center in order to determine if the check engine light refers to something that impacts the overall drive-ability of my car. It doesn’t, so my plans for a weekend road trip are still on, which is good. The not-so-good? I will have to replace an oxygen sensor before my car’s next inspection. Oh, and I have a strut that should be replaced eventually. Can I apply for a fellowship to help with that? Ha.)

Anyway, it wasn’t until I opened the box that I realized my new camera is red! And I like it! Basically, I was looking for something that has a solid lens, wasn’t super expensive, had macro-capabilities, and used as much of the stuff from my old camera as possible, so I stuck with Sony. I can use the same memory cards, which is nice, but the battery for this baby is about half the thickness of the old ones.

Here’s where I was on Day 5 of the tour with my garland targhee singles. I’m going to try to spin a bit more tonight before Boh and I hit the road in the morning.

My textured shawl. I’m taking this with me — we’re off to see the friend who gifted me this fiber!

And a gratuitous zinnia shot to kick off the weekend!

boh, asleep.

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First thing in the morning. I’ve already made the coffee. Boh is still in bed.

Late afternoon. I’m making progress on my garland singles. Boh is asleep on the floor.

Evening. Boh asleep on the couch. Doesn’t wake up when I sit down next to him and turn on the camera. In his defense, it has been incredibly hot — in the 90s. And humid. Today, Boh and I went swimming in the lake! A friend in my program has an adorable apartment right on the water, complete with a dock and a table with a big umbrella. There was wine, guacamole, iced tea, and swimming. (Well, I swam. Boh mostly stood in the water looking concerned about waves from passing motorboats. But I think he enjoyed it.) All that sun tired me out, too. I might have to curl up with Boh on the couch…

the tour.

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I’m actually planning to be near my wheel for most of the Tour de Fleece this year, so I’m in. Not that I was able to decide ahead of time what to spin — my options felt sort of overwhelming. After doing most of my cleaning and unpacking, I sat down to catch up on Ravelry, and was so inspired by the prettiness in all of the tour threads that I put a new bobbin on the wheel and started spinning.

This is Hello Yarn targhee in the garland colorway. I’m spinning thinnish singles that I’m planning to navajo-ply. This first picture is what I had last night. (I may have stayed up slightly past my bedtime to post this in the TdF threads before midnight.)

This is my bobbin around mid-morning.

And here it is after a bit more spinning this afternoon. I love watching each bright color appear!

Here’s one more shot of the bobbin — note what appears to be an enormous bug at the upper left. After uploading these photos, I went back to the wheel, and the bug was still there. Nowhere near as large in real life, but I encouraged him to find a new perch all the same.

I finally cast on for my textured shawl recipe shawl, and made some serious progress while catching up on the final episodes of The Good Wife and hiding from the heat! I’m using a handspun 2-ply made out of this gorgeous green wool from Friends’ Folly Farm. I only have about 257 yards, so we’ll see how big it gets. I might think about a contrasting border, a la some of brokeknits’ most recent projects.

Plus, blackberry muffins were made (with last season’s berries). Along with a bunch of pesto-minus-the-parmesan that went straight into the freezer.

Whew! We are going to sleep well tonight! (Who am I kidding? Boh is already asleep.)

FO: manka’s thicket.

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This is 298 yards of singles from 3 oz. of black bfl in the Manka’s Thicket colorway from AVFKW. (Again, this fiber is gorgeous, with hints of reddish purple throughout the naturally dark wool. My photography skills are seriously lacking when it comes to capturing colors like these.) Using this as the main color for a daybreak shawl, I could make the medium size. I don’t quite have enough of the Sadia bfl for this size, but I have enough similarly colored fiber that I could spin an extra 4o yards of that if and when I run out. I am excited about this project — this might be the first time I’ve spun with a specific pattern in mind. I’m also really pleased about the relative consistency of my singles — I got 203 yards of singles out of 2 oz. of the Sadia bfl, and 298 yards out of 3 oz. of the Manka’s Thicket black bfl, which says to me that on the whole, these skeins are relatively similar in weight/thickness. Hooray! Grey and rainy here today, which is good for my farm share, right?

thickets.

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This wonderfully subtle colorway from AVFKW is called Manka’s Thicket. (Thicket: what a great word.) The fiber is black bfl, and then there are these subtle hints of reddish purples throughout. I’m imagining that this will be the main color of a daybreak shawl, with the Sadia bfl I just finished as the contrasting color…so long as I am able to get enough yardage out of the pair. This stuff spins like a dream, and is practically flying through my fingers. Here are my singles on the bobbin so far:

Hoping to spend some more time at the wheel today. Also, I just emailed myself a few photos from my (too smart) phone:

Boh’s best friend, Coltrane, after a long frolic that ended in a pond and a thicket. I love the way he leans his head against the side of the couch.

And Boh on my lap, mid-belly rub. Happy weekend!

FO: sadia.

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This is  2 oz. of BFL from A Verb For Keeping Warm in the Sadia colorway — my very first purchase from Verb. I wrestled with these singles a bit, but I’m quite pleased with the way these turned out, and I now have 203 yards of this stuff! (Also, singles dry so quickly! Thank you, warm weather.) I think I’m going to spin up 3 oz. of black bfl from Verb and then see if I will have enough yardage for a handspun daybreak shawl. My singles might not be plump enough to sub for fingering weight, as the pattern calls for, so I’m going to have to wait and see how my gauge compares.

It feels great to be back at the wheel. Also, I photographed this skein on top of an open cookbook in the kitchen. Yesterday I baked some banana bread, but failed to actually look at how hot an oven the recipe called for…which means the loaf was slightly charred around the edges. Still good, but man! I think my brain is officially on vacation. I’ll allow it for today, but soon it will be time to get into a summer mode of productivity.

Happy Wednesday!

FO: seasick.

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405 yards of corriedale singles in the Hello Yarn Fiber Club colorway Seasick. More swooning over here, folks. These colors are so vibrant! I might have spent a good hour on ravelry yesterday drooling over handspun shawls. So many I want to make! (Also, this is way more fun than compiling a draft reading list for my comprehensive exams.)

I might have started spinning more singles. This is BFL from A Verb For Keeping Warm in Sadia. I’m thinking this might become the contrast color in a handspun daybreak shawl? Happy June!