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WIP Wednesday – More Handspun Shawl Goodness

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I’ve been itching to get started on another handspun shawl and, after looking at dozens of patterns and handspun combos earlier this week, decided that I NEED to knit another daybreak.  And this one MUST be knit in Wensleydale.

I chose to use 4oz of  “Not So Seaworthy” colorway by Spunky Eclectic and paired it with Rosa’s amazing natural deep brown.  I really like how these two yarns play together and Wensleydale is just so dreamy to work with!  It is knitting up super fast and I’m looking forward to snuggling up in it on these still-cool spring evenings.

What’s on your needles, hook, spindle or wheel?

April Handspun

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Its that time again … time to share the previous month’s handspun booty :-) I can’t believe how quickly the time is flying already! And of course, I enjoyed this months spinning immensely. I’ve finally come to the conclusion that I am completely and hopelessly in love with wool. Each month is always my “new favorite” or a newly found and much loved new-to-me technique.

April was my first time ever spinning for a cabled yarn and can you guess how much I liked it? I loved it! I picked out 4oz of South African Fine in “Day Lily” colorway by Spunky Eclectic and paired it with 4oz of Merino/Mohair/Alpaca in “Good Morning Sunflower” colorway by Belfast Mini Mills. The end result is a wonderfully round and brightly colored yarn that just screams “CABLED COWL!” to me.

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My next spin is another of my absolute favorite fibers – Romney. This was the March club shipment from Spunky Eclectic and, during 20 Questions, when it was revealed to be Romney, I did a little happy dance. Long wools are so much fun to spin and they make amazing shawls. I decided that this 4oz bump should be fingering weight singles for exactly that reason … to make a shawl.

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My last spin for April was another favorite for me and many other spinners as well. The April club shipment from SE was oatmeal colored BFL overdyed in a rainbow of gorgeous hues. Amy’s inspiration for this colorway was seashells, hence, the name. I chose to spin this fiber as a fingering weight single as well because it NEEDS to be a shawl too.

So, my spinning total for April is 16oz bringing my 2013 total up to 5.5lbs of fiber spun. Trucking right along towards my spinning goal!

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And this last picture is just a fun shot from the yarn photo shoot. Apparently, I need a supervisor to oversee all things here and Bugsy was diligently keeping watch as I snapped some pics. He takes his job very seriously!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend and Happy Fiber Friday!

February Handspun

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Its that time again … time to share last month’s spinning … and I had an adventurous month!

I chose to start off 4oz of buttery soft alpaca that my dear fiber friend Tina gifted to me.  This was spun up as a fingering weight single which I think will be absolutely perfect for a shawl.  Probably a nice West Knits design :-D

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Next up was 4oz of some amazing Wensleydale from Rosa’s herd.  This was my first time spinning Wensleydale in carded form and I just loved it!  This was spun up as a fingering weight single as well because I though that it would pair up perfectly with the alpaca from Tina.  I can’t thank both of you enough for the wonderful fibers!

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This bump was another first for me … my first time spinning Cotswold sliver.  The feel of the fiber reminds me a bit of Shetland and the colors in this are AMAZING!  This was the January offering from Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club and is called “Eye of the Peacock” which I chose to spin as, surprise, surprise, a fingering weight single.  This handspun is going to make perfect socks!IMG_0631

And I tried another new fiber this month … Norwegian.  I fell completely in love with this fiber.  I find it similar to Falkland to spin up and it makes the most delightful singles!  This 4oz bump is from Northbound Knitting in the colorway is “Firewoman.”  This yarn has been telling me that it wants to be either a cowl or shawl.  I guess only time will tell but I how can it not be awesome in these great colors?

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Do you guys ever get sick of me telling you how much I love each and every fiber that I spin?   I guess that I just really enjoy wool and this fiber was no exception.  “Aurora Borealis” was the December club color way on Falkland from Spunky Eclectic.  It sat for a whole month in my stash because it was one of those “special” bumps of fiber that I would take out and admire and then gently tuck back to save for another time.  I love the blues, green, and purples that blend throughout this colorway and I think that it will make gorgeous fingerless gloves, a cowl, or shawl.  IMG_0635

And nope, I never get sick of Falkland.  I love how it spins up, especially in the “Reese’s” colorway by Northbound Knitting.  This fiber practically BEGGED to be spun up nice and fine and then navajo plied. This, I have secret knitting plans for!

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And last, but certainly not least, is 4oz of “Peacock” in mixed BFL by Northbound Knitting.  This was another fiber that wanted desperately to be navajo plied.  It also told me that it wanted to be pre-drated too.  I generally don’t pre-draft my fiber anymore, and almost never with BFL because it drafts so well, but the effect that it makes on the color is hard to pass up sometimes.  I like how it stretches out the color changes and gives even more subtle transitions through the colorway.   Combine that with navajo plying and I think the effect is quite striking.  These two skeins are already designated to the “special” yarn section because they are almost too pretty to knit.  Notice that I did say “almost.” :-D

So February really was a productive and adventurous month, with trying new fibers, and fibers in new preparations.  My total amount spun was 28oz bringing my 2013 total up to 44oz … just shy of 3 lbs.  Not too shabby!

So how are your 2013 crafting goals going?  Are you trucking right along or have you revised your goals?  I’d love to hear!

 

 

FO Friday – Handspun Pogona

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In this week’s FO Friday post, I’m happy to share with you my finished Pogona!

Pogona is a fun, geometrically shaped shawl by Stephen West, that is perfect for showing off handpainted fiber.  I chose to knit this from my handspun Wensleydale in “Scarecrow” colorway by Spunky Eclectic.   I love the warm and inviting colors and my friend W. says that the colors and stripey-ness of the shawl remind her of some of the beautiful mushrooms growing in the woods. I only ended up using 6 out of my 8oz of this yarn so I still have another 2oz of this yummy fiber to play with.  Yay!

I used the recommended 4.0 mm needles for my Pogona and it yielded a nice sized and beautifully drapey shawl that just begs to be snuggled in.  I am gifting this shawl to a fellow spinner with an obsession with longwools (just like me!) and I really hope that she enjoys wrapping up in it.

What’s on your needles?  Finish up anything new?  I’d love to hear all about it!

WIP Wednesday – February Spin Progress

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Today’s work-in-progress Wednesday post is all about spinning!

February may be the shortest month of the year, but my wheel is getting a pretty good work out.  Yesterday, in particular.  I’ve been spinning up the lovely fiber from Rosa and Tina and two never before spun fibres from Spunky Eclectic and Northbound Knitting.  It is a fun month with what is looking to be lots of really great new yarns to add to my stash.   This photo is just a little teaser and I will let you know more in my February Hanspun post a little later on :-D

I’m enjoying the 13 Lbs In 2013 challenge just as much as I did the 12 Lbs in 2012.  Some people have asked if I get bored of all the spinning and my answer is always a huge, resounding “Nope!”  There are so many different kinds of wool to try and  so many amazing indie dyers to tempt me that there is always fresh challenge and inspiration.

Are you working toward any goals in 2013?  How are they going?  I’d love to hear all about it!

January Handspun

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I enjoyed last year’s spinning challenge of 12 lbs in 2012 so much that I decided to join up with the 13 lbs in 2013.  And I’ve got a bangin’ start to this year’s spinning.

My first spin for January was 4oz of rambouillet in “Posturing” colorway by Hello Yarn.  It was my first time spinning both rambouillet and Hello Yarn fiber and it was such a treat!  The fiber is soft and fluffy and very much like merino and polwarth and the colors are bright and cheery.  I chose to spin this as an navajo plied fingering weight yarn as I plan to knit some really awesome socks!

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Next up was 4oz of BFL/Silk in “Le Tigre” colorway by Northbound Knitting.  I LOVE the drapey hand to singles spun from this fiber, and the colorway is to die for!  I chose to spin up this bump as fingering weight singles as I think it will look really wonderful knit up into a shawl … probably another Stephen West shawl :-D

 

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Next was my second bump of October Club … 4oz of superwash merino in “Summer’s End” by Spunky Eclectic.  This was a progression dye I chose to spin it as another navajo plied fingering weight yarn as it will make really awesome socks.  I mean, look at Spinnydread’s Summer’s End Socks … they’re freaking beautiful!

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My last spin for the month was 4oz of border leicester locks which I carded up into rolags and spun woolen as a bulky weight 2 ply.  The more that I play with carded fiber and long draw, the more I’m loving the whole woolen process.  I’m not really sure what this yarn will be but I’ve got a few ideas percolating.

January’s total was 16oz or 1lb of fiber spun and I’m already working on some really lovely spins for February.

What have you been working on lately?  Do you have spinning, knitting, or crochet goals you are working toward?  I’d love to hear all about them!

WIP Wedsesday – Handspun Pogona

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Had a little false start with this blog post earlier today … accidentally hit “Publish” while trying to explain a feature of WordPress to my husband.  Whoops!  Sorry about that!

In this weeks work-in-progress post I’m sharing a project, my continuing obsession with handspun shawls, AND with Stephen West’s patterns … a handspun Pogona.  I’m often curious as about the names of projects and, as a little side note, according to both the pattern pages and google, Pogona is a genus of lizard which are commonly known as “bearded dragon.”  Cool huh?  Learn something new every day :-D

The fiber I chose for this project is 8oz of wensleydale in “Scarecrow” colorway by Spunky Eclectic.  I love the bright, vibrant, end-of-summer-ish colors in this fiber and as for wensleydale, I just can’t get enough of it!  Scarecrow was the October colorway of the month and I chose to spin up mine as fingering weight singles with the intention of using it to knit a shawl.  I wanted something that would really show off the great colors of this fiber without muddying the design, so enter in Pogona.  A really quick knit (I’m half finished already!) with lots of texture and a unique shape.  Can’t wait to work blocking magic on this baby!

So what have you been working on this week?  Is there a designer’s patterns that you just can’t get enough of?  I’d love to hear all about it!

November Handspun

I’m happy to share with you all another month’s worth of spinning.  I busted out my dye pot, tried a new technique, and practiced my hand carding and woolen spinning.  November was another fantastic spinning month.

My first spin is 4oz of superwash merino in  “Summer’s End” colorway by Spunky Eclectic.  This bump is spun as a worsted weight 2 ply but I do have another 4oz in my stash that wants to be fingering or sport weight for an Inspira Cowl.

Next up was 6oz of BFL that I hand painted in a colorway I like to call “Dappled Shade.”  I went really crazy with my dye pot in November and created some really beautiful hand paints that I will share with you at a later date.

The Dappled Shade BFL was spun up as fingering weight singles for a handspun Daybreak shawl for one of my kettlebell friends.  The finished shawl turned out so well that I was a little sad to see it going out the door but B. really loves it.  And lucky for me, I still have 3oz of it left in my stash. :-D

The next two spins were a lot of fun for me.  The first is 6oz of a wonderful brown shetland wool and the second is 4oz of romney/corrie locks in “Golden Dragon” colorway by Spunky Eclectic.

November felt like a good month to get out my hand carders and practice making rolags. I’m really coming to love hand carding.   I found that I like to card one or two rolags and then spin them before going back to carding.  The rhythm of the whole process is quite enjoyable.  Plus, the carding makes me feel even more involved in the whole process from sheep to finished object.

My last spin for November was crazy, wild, and a total blast.  I used a 3oz batt of merino/bamboo/angelina in “Jane” colorway by Butterfly Girl Designs to spin SUPER COILS!  Having both “Sit and Spin” and “Spin Art” by Jacey Boggs in my resource collection and the aforementioned amazing batt just waiting to be spun, I decided that the fiber really wanted to be something really different from my usual spins.  The finished object should be as well … I’m planning on making this funky yarn into unique textured yarn necklace.  After this spin, I’m eager to try out more in the world of textured yarns.

So how was November for you?  Did you get into lots of crafty things?  I’d love to hear all about it!

October Handspun

October was another big spinning month for me.  I finished spinning my 12 lbs!  And I also got to try out some new dyers and fibers that I haven’t worked with before or that I haven’t worked MUCH with.

The first yarns pictured are fingering weight singles spun from 8oz of Shetland in “Jazzy” colorway from Southern Cross Fibre.  I am in love with the deep, rich, semi-solid magenta of this fiber.  I had originally planned to knit an Orchid Thief shawl but after starting the project, I felt that the yarn was calling for garter stitch.  It really sparkles when knit into garter stitch so I frogged my shawl and started on Stonecrop which is absolutely perfect for this yarn.   I’m still knitting Orchid Thief but I’ chosen a lovely bamboo yarn from my stash that it working out great.

My next spin was 4oz of Finn in “Feast Of Kings” colorway by Two If By Hand.  It was my first time spinning Finn and it was very fun.  It yields a bouncy, light, springy single which I put some extra twist into because this fun fiber had socks written all over it.  And it is shaping up into fantastic socks indeed!  You can see my WIP shot here.

Next was 4oz of Polwarth in “Going Bush” colorway by Southern Cross Fibre.    I love the bright autumn-y hues in in this colorway.  It makes me think of falling leaves, pumpkins, and crisp fall air.  This yarn is also destined to become some awesome socks.

These skeins above were my first of two spins for October of BFL/silk and let me tell ya, if you haven’t spun this yet … do it, do it, DO IT!  This 4oz was spun up as fingering weight singles with a bit of extra twist in the colorway “Medieval” by Southern Cross Fibre and you guessed it, this yarn will someday soon be transformed into socks.  I might have a serious sock spinning/knitting addiction. lol

This yarn above was spin #2 of BFL/silk for October.  It is 6oz of the Spunky Eclectic Club Fiber colorway “Pheasant” spun up as a light fingering weight.   This yarn has shawl or stole written all over it!  It is drapey and delightful.  I haven’t picked out a pattern for it yet but it will tell me what it wants to be eventually.

And the last skein for October was 4oz of light fingering weight singles spun from a natural, creamy BFL.  This baby has shawl plans as well and it might even hit the dye pot too!  I’m thinking something Stephen West-ish for this yarn …

So October was a very productive spinning month for me.  Lots of fun new yarns and fibery daydreams … a big goal achieved … and more yummy sock yarn for my sock-yarn-deficient stash.  Even though I reach my 12 lb fiber goal, I’m not stopping yet.  Stay tuned for my November handspun post next month to see all the goodies I’ve been working on.  I’m might be working on my hand carding and woolen spinning, playing with some sparkley fiber batts, and dying up some fun in my kitchen …

So what kinds of projects do you have on the go now?  Are you knitting, crocheting, spinning or dying up anything extra special?  I’d love to hear all about it!

 

FO Friday – Handspun Daybreak

I have a fun new shawl to show off to you all today … my handspun Daybreak.

I chose to knit the medium sized shawl from some really lovely handspun.  The main color was spun up as singles from 4oz of Falkland wool in “Saffron” colorway by NorthboundKnitting and the cream color is a two ply in BFL from Spunky Eclectic.

The shawl is a wonderful combo of soft and fuzzy and silky and drapey all at once.  I love how the center portion looks like growth rings on a tree!

Amazingly enough, this was the last WIP that I had sitting and waiting for me to finish.  How crazy is that!  So naturally, I’ve started working on a new project but you’ll need to check back later next week for the dirt on that one!  lol

I’m off outside now because we’ve been blessed with a gorgeous, sunny Autumn day.  Hope you all have a beautiful weekend and happy crafting!