KnitMe

Yarn and Stuff

While Sam was busy getting acquainted with her brand new wheel last weekend, I was plying.

The two bobbins of singles looked pretty even:

but somehow they weren't:

so I had to grit my teeth and find a way to ply up what was left. I decided to wind a center pull ball on my trusty medicine bottle and do the best I could.

In the end, it worked out ok - I got about 40 yards of yarn out of that little ball, with only this left over when it disintegrated into a useless tangle:

It didn't even come up to a gram on my postal scale. So, not bad.

I ended up with a 1.9 ounce hank, and at least 420 yards. (According to my niddynoddy it is 420 meters, but I usually find that with springback in elastic yarns I end up closer to a yardage count than meters.)

I love this color - I don't know exactly what to call it but I love the blend of mauve and blue.

I'm really delighted with this yarn and it was not as difficult to spin as I expected. I am going to wait for the fall issue of Interweave Knits because there is another Evelyn Clark shawl in there that looks to be following in the footsteps of Flower Basket and will be perfect for this yarn.

I haven't started anything new on the big wheel yet. This is partly because it was so hot here this weekend that I couldn't sit for long in the room with the wheel, and partly because I'm not sure what to spin next, and partly because I'm concentrating on finishing up a hank of my combed dyed rambouillet. I should have a hank of that done next weekend.

During the week, before the temperature went crazy, I hurried to finish up my Highland Triangle. Shedding mohair on oneself when it's 100 degrees is not a pleasant prospect.

It is HUGE - well over 6 feet across the top and about 40 inches deep. I didn't block it with wires and pins because I didn't want it to get any bigger - I just laid it out and let its own weight hold it in place.

Hm, I guess that is not a very good Cheryl Oberle imitation...

I liked this pattern a lot - it's a little tedious because the patterns are simple, but the effect is very nice and it goes together quickly. I started it on June 8th, frogged and restarted on June 12, and finished on July 12th. I have about 1 1/2 ounces of yarn left, I'll have to figure out what to do with it.

I'm plugging away on my Eleanora sock #2, but it looks just like sock #1 did...

As the temperature climbed I decided it was time for my annual cotton project.

It's Tilia from the last Elsebeth Lavold book. The yarn is Knitpicks Shine sport weight and what a nice yarn this is. Smooth and silky, doesn't split all over the place, great stitch definition - a big improvement over plain cotton. I am going to love wearing this come fall. I'm also using my new Knitpicks double pointed needles and they are perfect for this pattern with its K3tog motif - very sharp points and smooth, well engineered cables and joins.

I started this project just in time, it's going to be 100 degrees for several days here. We were fortunate to spend two hours yesterday in a pool. Until our next pool day, I'll knit cotton.

Posted by Prudence at July 17, 2006 07:44 AM