Friday, May 30, 2008

ow

no knitting content for a while as I seem to have broken my elbow.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Cop out

I've been spinning almost constantly lately. (Except for short intervals of sock knitting in the car)

I just can't help it... the BLF roving from Squoosh is just delicious!

And it's going so quick.

From this:
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Plus this:
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To this:
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Then a quick chain ply plus a quick wash and I have this:
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You can really see how long the colour repeats are here:
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This skein is actually about two cops full.

It comes out to 2.5 oz, 232 yards, and 22 wpi after washing (it was 26 before)

It is so pretty and so soft, I'm really happy with how it's turning out, although It's a bit thinner than I was hoping for (I really wanted sock weight, but this is several wpi thinner than I'm used to knitting with) so I'm not sure what I'm going to make with it.

I still have a little under half the roving to work through, but it's coming along swimmingly.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Some finished spinning samples and delicious squoosh

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Bill just got a new camera and has been playing with it a lot recently, this is a picture he took of my Golding tsunami in action.

I've been spinning a lot lately, mostly samples, here's what I got:
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a three ply from the same crappy roving I was using in the beginning, this is what was on my old spindle when I got the new Golding, I wanted to practice Navajo/chain playing so I stopped where I was, wound if off and went to town. I really like the finished yarn. (Well, as much as I can, considering the crappy roving it was made from) I over spun while plying and then had to wash and set the twist. I think it may be a little to over spun, but it's still quite nice. And I finally found a good use for my old heavy spindle; its extra weight was perfect for keeping the kinks out of the singles during all the maneuvering required for the plying.


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this little gem is a small sample I spun up of Cayenne's fur.
It's sooo soft.
I had been trying on and off to spin her fur for a while now, but I had no way to card or process it, and nothing but a big heavy spindle to use, so the results were far from satisfactory. While out last week I finally picked up some dog brushes (how pithy!) to try carding the fur before spinning, and then using the new lighter spindle. The results were much more satisfactory, but if I want to do more, I will need a lit more practice, the fiber is very light and wispy and liked to drift apart and float away if you look at it wrong. I was thinking maybe blending it with some merino may help keep things together without sacrificing too much softness. Spun on the Golding 2" .8oz tsunami, then chain plied on my old heavy spindle.


And now for the yummiest part:
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my better roving finally arrived!

This is BFL roving in the "thicket" colorway from Squoosh it is sooo dreamy!

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Look at that! It's like spinning a cloud! I can't keep from cuddling it whenever I pick up my spindle, the colours are amazing, and the BFL drafts like buttah! I should have gotten good roving a long time ago, and Squoosh's colours are so pretty, I can't keep my self away! It's fascinating to sit there and look a the roving, pre draft it and watch the colours meld and then to spin it all up and watch as they transform into shiny happy beautifulness as I wind it on the cop. The last three days at work all I could think about was coming home and spinning. I think I'm addicted!

I got another roving from Squoosh (I just love that name!) too, it's a merino called "fun" and it does look fun! I can't wait to spin that up too.

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