March 23, 2009
Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf
From Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia. Knit with handspun yarn from organic merino/silk/firestar Abby batts, spun on a 0.4oz Greensleeves Ethan Jacob spindle. Still a lot left over from my two ounces.
The organic merino makes for a fabulously soft and squishy yarn. Plus, it's a happy, happy orange. :)
As usual, I've been doing lots of knitting and spinning, and not nearly enough photo-taking. But I shall leave you with some shots of my most recent spindle, a Bosworth Moosie whose whorl is made from moose antler.
Mouse nibbles!
Posted by missalicefaye at 10:45 AM
| Comments (28)
Posted to Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf
February 16, 2009
Yarn making
Laceweight. Fiber: 50/50 merino silk in Jade from A Verb for Keeping Warm. Spindle: 0.4oz Greensleeves Ethan Jakob
This month marks the first anniversary of my spinning endeavors.
Laceweight. Fiber: Merino/bamboo batts in Walnut from Juliespins. Spindles: 0.5oz Bosworth featherweight for spinning, 0.6oz Tracy Eichheim ultralite for plying.
I spin pretty much every day on my spindles--I prefer them for spinning laceweight, which is (surprise!) my favorite yarn to knit with. The wheel is often neglected for long stretches of time, but I do like using it for heavier weight yarns, like this sport-ish weight 3 ply:
Fiber: Finn in Acadia, the September '08 Spunky Club offering.
Come to think of it, I think February 2008 was also the last time I bought commercial yarn (gasp!). I have more than made up for that in fiber purchases, though. (My Enchanted Knoll Farm collection is becoming epic....)
Pattern: Peacock Tail and Leaf scarf from Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia. Yarn: handspun laceweight from Orange Blossom organic merino/silk/firestar Abby Batts.
Because when there's handspun (possibly sparkly) around to be knit, nothing else feels quite so nice and special....
Posted by missalicefaye at 10:30 AM
| Comments (20)
Posted to Spinning
January 26, 2009
Gibbie Shawl
Hello, again!
The camera, sunlight, and I reconnected yesterday, so I have something to show. As noted in my last long-ago post, this is the Gibbie Shawl by Gladys Amedro. Yarn spun from 8 ounces of Enchanted Knoll Farm batts in the Fern colorway on my little Bosworth featherweight spindle--though I used less than 6 ounces for this project. Meaning I have lots of lovely Fern laceweight yarn left over. :)
In other news, I can't blame schoolwork for my blogging absences anymore:
!!!
Posted by missalicefaye at 11:48 AM
| Comments (56)
Posted to Gibbie Shawl
| Spinning
November 06, 2008
Ode to Fern
See? I actually haven't disappeared off the face of the earth. :)
I have been pretty wrapped up in these Fern batts from Enchanted Knoll Farm, though. They're a blend of superwash merino, tussah silk, and angelina dyed up in a fabulous array of greens.
Since I'm spinning these into a laceweight yarn on a featherweight spindle (Bosworth birdseye maple, approximately 0.5 oz), I've been spending a lot of quality time with this fiber. I started out with 8 ounces and am now down to less than 1. I'll miss it when it's gone, though....
My goal with this fiber was to spin enough yarn to knit a square Shetland shawl. I'll probably end up with about 2100 yards, which should be enough for the Gibbie Shawl from Gladys Amedro's Shetland Lace.
My photography hasn't quite caught up with my progress, as I've already finished the edging and have started the center portion of the shawl. I love the way that the color variations in the fiber are working up in the fabric--interesting, but still subtle enough not to overwhelm the lace patterning. Even with the sparkly gold angelina popping up all over the place. :)
Posted by missalicefaye at 10:05 AM
| Comments (20)
Posted to Gibbie Shawl
| Spinning
September 03, 2008
Icarus
And so I finally get around to posting photos of my completed Icarus shawl.
To recap, the yarn for this project was spun on my Bosworth midi spindle from the incredibly gorgeous Lady Starlight batts from Enchanted Knoll Farm. Four ounces of this fiber yielded about 1,000 yards of two-ply laceweight, so I still have a bit left over. Perhaps more Orchid Lace Mitts are in order?
This is one of my favorite projects to date. Fun to spin, fun to knit, and the finished shawl turned out just as I had hoped. I've also found that I really like spinning laceweight on my spindles (and have recently acquired a few more for that very purpose). Soon I will have to spin some crazy amount for a nice square Shetland shawl of some sort.... :)
Posted by missalicefaye at 01:16 PM
| Comments (42)
Posted to Icarus
| Spinning
