Tag Archives: purple

Let’s Spin Some Targhee

Posted on by
2

My spinning mojo continues unabated! After finishing a bunch of smaller 4 ounce bats, I decided to try spinning from a braid again. I pulled some Targhee top from Fiber Love Diary from my stash to spin. I even took my wheel outside to take advantage of the cooler spring temperatures.

I undid the braid and split in half by length so I could spin on to two bobbins again for plying. This fiber is soft to the hand but not slippery. I don’t think this spinning will take very long I can feel the sirens call of this project.

Happy Spinning!!

FO Friday: Windowpanes

Posted on by
1

My Windowpanes is dry, seamed and ready for a cold wind!

Pattern: Windowpanes by Jill Ramos (Ravelry link)

Yarns: K-Zip Knits Waterfront Worsted in Sterling and Blacklight

Needles: US9s

This cowl turned out to be a decent size. It is on the smaller side and I didn’t gauge swatch so I’m not surprised. But its warm, soft and very serviceable. I am still deciding if this will be a keeper or a gift.

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!!

All The Purple Singles

Posted on by
4

Huzzah! I have been try to dedicate some of my precious free time to my spinning wheel. And that has paid off as I have finished the 4 ounces of merino blend that I was spinning.

All four ounces fit on one bobbin and I managed to get some fairly thin parts. Don’t get me wrong it has the normal newbie amount of thick and thin parts. I have big fluffy sections and some sections that could function as thread.

I’m going to let these rest and spin another bit of fiber before I decide what to do with them. They are inconsistent enough that they need plied either back with themselves or with another single. But I need time to ponder that!

Happy Spinning!!

Let’s Spin Some Purple

Posted on by
2

I couldn’t let my wheel sit with no fiber on it after my spinning lessons now could I? So I grabbed the purple roving I purchased and set off.

This roving is a merino, bamboo and nylon blend. My teacher told me that spinners should never be intimidated by any fiber. Anything can be spun by any spinner, it just may take some extra time and adjustments. So I am going to be fearless (maybe clueless) and take off!

Wish me luck! Happy Spinning!!

Ribbing Is Slow

Posted on by
1

I am still slowly working my way through my second attempt at my DK Ripple Bralet. I haven’t really been serious about this project and it’s only seeing progress on long Zoom meetings or family movie nights.

I’m learning lessons from my gauge errors on my first attempt. So therefore I know how much body I need to knit. And man….ribbing is slow. My default is 2×2 rib and this is not that so it “feels” weird to my fingers and I’m just naturally slower than I feel like should be.

I mean I know since my last post on these I have added a good three inches of ribbing. But it feels like I knit and it never grows. My rational brain knows that is not true but my pandemic brain is frustrated! I am pretty sure I need another three inches of ribbing before I start the strap portions.

I think this is my slow and steady “turtle” project so I am just going to breathe and keep knitting on this one. Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Mackenzie 5-Ply

Posted on by
7

Jellybean has a finished sweater!! The battle of the Mackenzie 5-ply sweater is over and I won! It has two sleeves and a matching hemline.

I even went so far as to install the buttons, sew in my tag, and wash and block this bad boy. Though it’s largely acrylic and doesn’t need blocking. But after my grubby hands…it definitely needed a bath!

I just ADORE the side seam treatment. The little garter panel just makes it looks so polished!

And it’s safe to say that Jellybean loves it! He ripped it out of my hands and put it on before I could even put buttons on it!

It makes him look so grown up….sniff sniff….

Pattern: Mackenzie 5-ply by Rebecca Newman 

Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Sport in Eggplant. I used 2.84 skeins or roughly 317 yards for a modified 7 year old version.

Needles: US 5s

Mods: See my Ravelry notes for my sleeves mods.

I’m sooo happy to have this off the needles. I was frantically knitting this on Super Bowl Sunday in order to finish one last WIP for the Down Cellar Studio’s Pigskin Party KAL. And I managed to weave in the ends by halftime! And this FO has seemed to kick off my “let’s finish all the WIPs mojo” so I’m hoping to ride that wave for a bit. I haven’t even touched by scrap blankets in over a week!

Happy knitting!!

Two Matching Sleeves

Posted on by
2

Finally after one false start and a lot floundering around on sleeve island. Jellybean’s Mackenzie 5-ply sweater has completed sleeves!

Thanks to my stitch markers and some row counting here and there I was able to knit the second sleeve with (roughly) the same amount of rows to match the first one. I was glad I chose to knit these before finishing the entire body. That’s a lot fabric to turn and turn and turn. Sleeves are definitely not my favorite but it was nice working on a nine inch circular and not DPNs. No ladders in these sleeves!!

I went ahead and knit the cuff according to the pattern. I toyed with the idea of knitting all ribbing but I think I’ll let Jellybean wear it like this. If need be I can always rip and re-knit the cuffs. I’m going to have more than enough yarn for this project!

Happy Knitting!!

A More Tapered Sleeve

Posted on by
4

I managed to rip out re-knit the sleeve to Jellybean’s Mackenzie 5-ply sweater. It’s still a little huge in the sleeve cap area because there were only so many ways to deal with the number of stitches I started with that helped make sure the chest circumference worked.

I took out 20 stitches in total over about 6 or 7 inches of work. I tried to help myself for sleeve number two by putting a locking stitch marker on each decrease. My hope is then to knit a row by row copy of the first sleeve when I do number two.

The garter section after the ribbed section creates a little bit of bell effect. I’m not sure I’m totally sold on it. So I didn’t weave in the ends in case I want to pull it out and just do ribbing. I REALLY need Jellybean to slip his arm in before I start the second sleeve. Because if it’s still comically large then I will probably rip it out again. But four year olds have their own agenda…so not sure when I will convince him. Sigh

P.S. If these mods work I plan to put them on my Ravelry project page in case they help others.

Happy Knitting!!

Mackenzie Sleeves

Posted on by
4

I am working PB’s Mackenzie 5-ply on US 5 needles. And I also need small circumference US 5 needles for my Northeasterly blanket. So I may have had to procure some nine inch circular in US 5. Luckily, Chia Goo has my back and my needles arrived toot suite.

I secured the body the best I could and started sleeve number one. There are *almost* too many stitches for the nine inch circ and I need to watch stitches falling off when I put this back in the bag. But I like the fact that I’m not getting the ladders I tend to have when I work on DPNs. I’ve completed the first decrease section and now it’s straight knitting for 10 inches of sleeves. So here’s hoping I don’t get slogged down on sleeve island!

Bonus feature? I can’t start my blanket until I finish the sleeves. So talk about motivating factors!

Happy Knitting!!