Tag Archives: singles

Plying With The Tools At Hand

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I have the weekend booked at Casa Grandparents and I am without all my tools. But I wanted to finish spinning this handspun I brought on my Sparrow.

I found a cardboard box in the recyling and stole two wall hangers for thread from my mom’s sewing room and made do. It was not the smoothest plying but it is putting yarn on the bobbin.

I am still learning this e-wheel and it’s setting. I am struggling with the tension and take-up compared to the Kiwi 3 I have been spinning on. And at the end of the day, I am still making yarn. So as long as I am having fun, I am doing it right!

Happy Spinning!!

The Second Bobbin

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The second bobbin of my SSK spinning project is filling up nicely. I managed to give the grands to the grandparents for the evening and snag some spinning time and a cold beer.

I am still spinning with no plan and just grabbing whatever color feels good. All vibes, no plan. And I am still getting used to my Sparrow e-wheel. It takes a few tweaks now and again, especially after transporting to and fro. But I am learning as I go and I think it is going okay.

A few more minutes of alone time and I will have these singles done! Happy Spinning!!

Okay, But More Singles

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Happy Labor Day to those that observe.

I did some noodling and decided that I am going to combine my SSK 2024 fiber minis with my SSK2025 fiber minis. This would give me 12 ounces of fiber in total to work with. I am thinking considering a three ply or possibly a 2 ply that alternates which bobbing I am pulling from.

This second bag of eight ounces, I did a wee bit more planning. I laid the minis out and sorted them into basically warm and cool color families. It was not a perfect system as I did have to do some mixing to get the ounces to be two equal four ounce portions.

Now to get these started on my wheel! Happy Spinning!!

Four Ounces Of Singles

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I was stuck in a four hour public meeting on Zoom and I decided to focus on the SSK2024 singles that are on my Sparrow e-wheel.

I filled the bobbin without really managing the color thinking too hard. I didn’t put any of the same colors back to back was my only rule.

And I love these 3D printed bobbins bc I can see all the layers of the singles like a little cake all laid out. Safe to say that four ounces fits easily on one of these bobbins but not much more. I need to do some noodling what do next with these singles, I just kinda started spinning with no plan and now all of the singles are on one bobbin….

Happy Spinning!!

Spinning Progress: SSK 2024

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The fact that this wheel is compact and sits on my desk has definitely made it easier to spin more consistently.

I have managed to get through four or five little bumps of fiber so far. I need to pre-draft most of them as they have been smushed up in a bag for over a year. And I have been able to spin fairly thinly so far. I am still learning this wheel and it’s process. It may take us a while to get to know each other.

Happy Spinning!!

Spinning Clouds

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I have been lacking craft motivation lately. I haven’t felt like doing much now that we can be outside again. To break up my doldrums, I pulled some cashmere cloud from my spinning stash to put on the wheel.

This is the Cumulus fiber from Oink Pigments that I picked up at SSK 2024. It’s 80% merino and 20% cashmere so its BUTTER soft. I split the fiber in 1/2 and I will make a 2-ply. I want something drapey and soft to make a cowl of sorts?

The fiber is spinning quite lovely. Some parts are coming out solid colors and others are marled depending on how I draft the fiber. My muscles are out of shape so I am only spinning 20 minutes at a time to get back in shape and reduce the strain on my hands. I did my default short forward draw so my hands are getting a workout.

Happy Spinning!!

Spun Through Twelve

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I finally carved out time to work on my 2024 advent fiber. I am all the way through the first 12 fiber nubs.

These latest few days were a mix of pinks, whites and even some purples and teals. I am unsure how close my singles are to when they started. I should get a control card and take better notes. As opposed to just winging it like I do.

I am going to stop this bobbin here and then start the last 12 fiber nuggets on a second bobbin. I know all 24 will not fit on my standard bobbin.

I am currently torn. Do I chain ply these to make a hodge podge stripey yarn? Or do I spin the second bobbin and then ply them together to make a crazy barber pole? I can’t decide. I am tempted to do the chain ply. The barber pole might make a muddled yarn….

Happy Spinning!!

Dewberry Do-Over

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I ripped out the original start of my Dewberry Hat and started over again on DPNs.

I intend to work this hat on US 10s but I don’t have any DPNs in that size so I am using my US 8s and hoping for the best. I am working to be as loose as I can manage to make the change in needles less obvious.

I am going to increase up until I have 72 stiches total and then put the project on circulars to work the remainder. I am using the M1L and M1R increases at end of each DPN for a box like increase section. And after all the messing around with this yarn….this is going to be a vanilla hat body with ribbed brim. I am encouraged to get these couple of hats behind me and move on to less vexing choices.

Happy Knitting!!

Trying Again

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I got my Iris Hat up and going new needles!

I am on US 10s with 72 total stitches. I worked like a one inch folded brim and then the remainder of this yarn is going into the body of the hat. Trying to avoid yarn chicken. I have told myself to decide on the brim when I get to the end of the skein. That’s a future Rachelle problem…..

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Glazed Carrot Hat

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I am gearing up for some travel and I needed a “safe” project to travel with. Something easy, on wooden needles and a project I wouldn’t mind if TSA made me pull the needles out.

I grabbed the skein of Malabrigo Worsted that I bought on my lunch walk. It’s a singles yarn, so no plies. It won’t be the hardest wearing hat but the softness is out of this world. It’s called Glazed Orange but my midwestern brain just reads “Blaze Orange” for hunting safety.

I pushed myself NOT to do a stockinette brim and work 2×2 rib for some variety. It’s my standard 88 stitch hat on US 8s. I will fold that 2×2 brim for extra warmth and for sure this one will go into my gift pile. Which is quite large by now!

Happy Knitting!!