Tag Archives: singles

FO: half the grey alpaca.

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So this is the first half of the grey alpaca I’m spinning for my friend N., after setting the twist and hanging it to dry. While neither of these mini-skeins is next-to-skin soft, I’m really happy with the halo and the sheen of this yarn. What you’re looking at is about 160 yards. I delivered the first half of the alpaca to N. yesterday afternoon, and decided to work on the second half after dinner last night. One of the remaining bumps of fiber felt softer, so I spun that first. Here’s the bobbin:

I think you can see the difference in the quality. N. told me that she paid five bucks for almost eight ounces of this stuff, which makes sense to me. I think some of this fiber is the “good stuff” from the animal, but I think a lot of it might be the hair from the less prize parts of an alpaca’s coat — like the underbelly, maybe? That would explain the amount of veggie matter in the first two bumps. Here’s the final (larger) bump after separating the fibers a bit with my hands:

I love the depth of color in this picture — such a complex grey. This was coarser, more like the first two skeins. I think singles were the right choice for this yarn — and hey, I’m no longer afraid of alpaca! Maybe I’ll dig out what I’ve got from my very first fiber purchase and try again.

I’m pretty sure that this expression has something to do with the fact that Boh finally understands that there is not an alpaca in the kitchen. Just some yarn hanging to dry.

A few glimpses of the weekend:

Deb’s scalloped tomatoes, made with the last of the season’s farm tomatoes.

After dinner hot chocolate made with dutch cocoa, organic sugar, and milk.

And this morning, I pulled on my down booties when I climbed out of bed in the darkness to make my coffee. I’m ready for daylight savings — I’d rather get up with the sun than rise before her.

 

an alpaca experiment.

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Remember that deep brown alpaca I spun for a trade with a friend? (If you’re reading in real time, or close to it, it’s that luscious stuff in the header photo on my blog.) Well, that was only half the bag of fiber N. gave me to work with! I picked the deep brown alpaca first because it was softer and “felt” like it would be a more familiar spin. The grey stuff felt a bit more like the alpaca I tried to spin right when I got my wheel. Last night, I was feeling like  I wanted to get something done (and I needed a break from prepping for this week’s sections), so I dug out the grey alpaca. I have four mostly even bumps, almost 2 oz. each, so I decided to put the first quarter on the wheel and just see what it wanted to be. This stuff is pretty compressed, so I spread out the fibers the best I could, and then tried to work with the super long staple length and short guard hairs. I haven’t spun much alpaca, so I’m not sure my take on this particular fiber is accurate, but to me it seems like some of this is “seconds” — not the softest fiber the animal has to offer. Also, this was on the dirtier side of the spectrum of fiber I’ve encountered — veggie matter, burrs, even some dried bug parts, I think.

I settled on a low twist, thick/thin single, and once I pulled it off the bobbin and wound it onto the niddy noddy, I liked it. Because some of this is pretty coarse, I worry that plying it will make it too rope-like. Leaving it as a single seems to encourage the halo, which I think is a good thing. So I put the second 2 oz. chunk on the wheel and did the same thing. These small skeins are hanging to dry right now, and I’m anxious to get a sense for how the feel of this yarn has changed with washing. I think I’m going to spin the other two chunks the same way, as I’m getting into a rhythm, and I love the sheen on these singles. More pictures soon!

And then there’s this guy, patiently waiting for a belly rub. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

question: what’s missing?

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Answer: My hemlock ring blanket. I’ve finished the knitting, and all I need to do is knit the incredible long bind-off row. I was waiting to put up a new post because I wanted to be able to share a picture of it off the needles, but let’s face it. That might not happen for a few more days. So here’s what else has been going on at Casa Rooster:

Much pouting.

A fried egg sandwich with barbecue sauce for breakfast.

Frequent belly scratching. Boh pretty much maintained this position on the couch for much of last night.

And a little bit of spinning. I’m into the second three oz. bump of the brown alpaca. Also, lots of small but necessary campus tasks, and a fair bit of reading. There’s granola in the oven, laundry in the washer, and today is farm day.

Time to settle in with a coffee refill and today’s pile of reading. And maybe that bind-off row…

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!

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!

FO: parritch. (Also, peonies.)

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It was humid this weekend, which meant that Parritch took forever to dry. Just before heading out to dinner on Saturday, I considered wearing the still slightly damp skein as a necklace. Awesome, no?

The colors are tough to photograph, but boy, are they lovely. This is 155 yards of sproingy, squishy 3-ply, in the Parritch colorway of some Hello Yarn Fiber Club targhee. I’m tempted to just turn it into a simple cowl, but I might also dig through my handspun pile to see if it might pair nicely with another skein or two so that I can make a bigger, floppier, cozier cowl – or a big comfy shawl. I’ve been inspired by some feather and fan shawls with lots of handspun colorways — and I do have a pile of handspun leftovers to throw into the mix. Just an idea. Also — I am toying with a big handspun pinwheel. Cosy over at cosymakes just finished one and I adore it. Also, I have some wedding gifts to knit this summer, and I’m thinking pinwheel lap blankets. I’ve given three as wedding gifts so far, and my friends seem to really like them. So, onto the eventual to-knit list: pinwheels for weddings, and a pinwheel for me!

Also, I said there were peonies. And there are. I clipped most of the blossoms that were starting to droop down over the driveway, which means there are small jars and vases of peonies in every room. I’ve had a rather exciting twenty-four hours in tenant land, as there is a new/substantial leak that has repeatedly filled my stock pot and prompted a ceiling tile or two to crumble to the ground in the middle of the night (hello, howling dog). I’m hoping the plumber will be here tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m going to keep spinning and enjoy my peonies. Want to see more of those Corriedale Seasick singles?

Be still my heart. This will definitely be a shawl. But which one?

FO: wurm.

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Swoon. This might be my favorite hat ever: just the right amount of slouchiness, so soft, and of course, handspun that seems as though it was made for this pattern. I cannot stop drooling over these color repeats. I know I say it all the time, but Adrian over at Hello Yarn works magic. Seriously. Magic. I had 201 yards in the first skein of this stuff, and I managed to use what looks like about 195 of those yards.

I knit the pattern’s size M on US 5 needles. The pattern called for 10 sections of knit/purl ridges, but I did seven and it seemed deep enough, so I began the decreases. In order to get to the final bit of yellow in my skein, I stretched out the decrease rounds by throwing in a few extra knit rows between them, and when I had enough yellow (if there is such a thing), I bound off.

Also, I’m making progress on the Hello Yarn corriedale in Seasick that I showed you yesterday. I’m almost done spinning all 4 oz, and I’m starting to lean towards leaving this as singles and making a shawl. What do you think?