Spa Knitting

Posted on by
1

As a belated birthday present myself I booked myself a spa night. I saved up all my birthday pennies and indulged in a 60 minute soak and 60 minute massage. IT WAS GLORIOUS.

I had solo access to the outdoor hot tub and sauna in a beautiful Japanese style garden. The air was cool and I could hear the wind rustling the trees. I basically melted into a puddle.

And guess what? You can totally knit in the sauna!! Of course your needs and stitch markers do get a little warm, lol. My Baby Blend Basic Hat did grow another inch before I dissolved into complete sweaty relaxation. That and I had to stop because I a now ready for the crown decreases.

Happy Knitting!!

Could Use A Little More Twist

Posted on by
3

My Purple and Teal plied yarns are washed, whacked and dry. I was chuffed to see how “big” of skeins I created!

I love these yarns and all their uniqueness. But if I was being honest (and a little critical) I think they each could have used a little more twist in the plying. They are spun very loosely but do hold together.

Next up I need to wind and measure these beauties. I think these might be closer to a heavy worsted than my previous bulky/super bulky. But I still haven’t located my yardage counters or wraps per inch tool. My craft supplies might be a bit chaotic right now!

Happy Spinning!!

Cast On: Musselburgh

Posted on by
4

I decided I could no longer resist seeing all the beautiful Musselburgh hats all over Raverly, social media and podcasts and I needed one of my own! I wound up the skein of Yak Sock from Moonstone Dyeworks and cast on my first Musselburgh.

I must admit I had put this project off for awhile because I HATE fiddly cast-ons with DPNs. I am totally capable of doing them but I have a mental block with them. And my needles definitely slipped out of my first try because it is slick yarn on metal needles.

But now I am off to the races and knitting the prescribed amount so I can determine my gauge and stitch count. Happy Knitting!!

A Plying Spree

Posted on by
3

My wheel was empty after finishing my Fusion BFL skeins so I decided to ply up my first couple of set of singles. My purple singles and teal singles were WELL rested and ready for plying.

I used my ball winder to wind both singles into center pull cakes to ply end to end. My spinning teacher recommended this for me based on the twist/singles she saw me making. So I just decided to give it a whirl and I learned a lot.

First up, I could really tell I spun the purple singles first. They had much more thick and thin spots with plenty of unspun bits. That is compared to my teal singles that got more consistent thanks to practice. And both skeins had some overspun spots where it made plying extra hard because the yarn kinked back up on itself.

At the end of the day I have two filled bobbins with almost finished yarn. Next up for those yarn babies is bath and whack! Happy Spinning!!

Look At That Balance

Posted on by
4

I took some time in between pie and napping yesterday to wash and dry what I’m calling my Fusion 2 py and Fusion 3 ply handspun.

I am super super super happy with these skeins. I have lots of issues but I managed two pretty well balance skeins that hang straight and stayed together through washing! Considering I have about 20 hours of total spinning under my belt I am super happy with my results. I am taking all of this with a growth mindset and looking forward to improving from here.

My chain ply is a little ropey and tight in places but still a super useful yarn! Next up is to dig out my yardage counter and get these measured up. Still betting on these both come out to a bulky weight. And I have absolutely no idea what I will knit with these. I might need to hoard them in the stash for a bit, lol.

Happy Spinning!!

Plying BFL Singles

Posted on by
2

With the short holiday week I snuck in some extra spinning time, tee hee hee. My Jakira Farms BFL singles flew through my fingers. I had about 3.5 ounces of fiber left for this go around. I had split the fiber braid in half so I spun half on one bobbin and the second half on a different to aid with plying.

I managed to get a decent sized bobbing of a two ply (left) and then I had some singles remaining because I obviously didn’t split precisely or more likely my spinning varied quite a bit from beginning to end. So followed some more YouTube tutorials and managed to chain ply what I had left (right).

I am just pleased as punch to have some finished yarn that I made on purpose! Next up for these guys is a wash and whack to set the finished yarn. I am pretty sure both of these will come out to a bulky weight but we shall see!

Happy Spinning!!

A Hat Is Forming Quickly

Posted on by
3

I blinked and a hat seems to be falling off of my needles! My Baby Blend Basic Hat it cruising towards completion.

I finished the brim in snap. I did end up working a turned brim and attached the cast on end to my live stitches after six inches of stockinette. Thus by the power of math I have a three inch brim!

I did go down a needle size to a US 7 to work the body of the hat. I felt like I wanted a denser and warmer fabric for the remainder of the hat. At this rate I should be ready for decreases in two more blinks!

Happy Knitting!!

Spinning BFL Singles

Posted on by
3

Since my wheel was empty after finishing my teal singles I decided to put some more singles on before plying, just to keep my hands and feet practicing going in the same direction. This time I grabbed the Jakira Farms BFL I had tried to spin over a year ago to absolutely no success.

Safe to say I am making better progress this time! I am starting to notice that I can maintain a more even single with fewer thick and thin spots. Don’t get me wrong there are a ton of them in there! There are just fewer than last time, lol.

Happy Spinning!!

FO Friday: Garter Rainbow Wrap

Posted on by
2

My Garter Rainbow Wrap is done, washed, blocked and photographed!

Pattern: None really but I did take some notes on my Ravelry project page.

Yarn: Cloudborn Fibers Superwash Merino Fingering in Antique white held double with my Teal Torch Knits 2020 Christmas advent calendar

Needles: US 9s

This was my LAST project to use up all my lingering advent calendar yarns before my 2021 calendar shows up. It feels really super good to get this yarn used up and into beautiful project. I think this shawl/wrap will go to work as my “work blanket” when winter really starts to hit. The two end triangles are not perfectly matched but they are close enough for me and anyone who looks too close will get a bop on the nose!

This project was a marled one holding two fingering weight yarns double. I used up an amazing 2,201 yards of yarn! And it wrap nicely around my whole upper torso. I forgot to measure the finished dimensions but I’m guessing its roughly 7 feet long about about 2.5 feet wide. Super cozy! And you can’t even hardly tell where I grafted the last part!

Happy Knitting!!