Yarn intimidation

My local heritageweaversandspinners Guild received a huge donation of wonderful knitting yarns.

Not a great photo, is there a way to take a good picture though plastic bags,  should try the Museum setting on the camera.

There were about 50 bins of yarn from 2 donors.

We get donations quite often from members and non-members, yarn, fibre and equipment but this
was the biggest.

I bought more yarn than I thought I would, I already have stash beyond life expectancy.  But I could not resist.

 Who could resist Cashmere, I don't think I have ever knit with Cashmere before.

This is Casbah, a Merino, Cashmere, and nylon sock yarn.

Lovely colours, that's what attracts me first, and Noro always has the best colours.

I have two problems.  yes these are first world problems and it embarrasses me a bit to write about this.  But I can deal with these problems.  

First is choice,  I feel like all this yarn is surrounding me both mentally and on the bedroom floor and I can't decide what to do with it, starting with where will it go.  And it is getting pushy and demanding.  It's almost all in Raverly, with pictures.  So now I have to put it away and choose what I am going to start knitting.  there are a lot of hats, scarves and shawls in my future,  at least 3 sweaters.  I want a shawl/cowl/hat set for myself.

But I need to finish a plain black sweater,  I know I'll love this and wear it but it's a long dull slog. 

And the donor loved bright colours and multicoloured yarns.  Will I have to add neutral solids to the stash?  Fortunately I have kilograms of white and gray fibre to spin for neutrals.

This is an Alberta produced BFL from Rosebud River Fibremills

  

Olive, colour not tree

Last spring I took a wonderful course at Maiwa School of Textiles called Design Studio from Eleanor Hannan at which I learned all manners of interesting things.  Highly recommend and would take again.

But one of the things I learned, almost by accident, was how the mix Olive Green.  It's a mix of black and yellow, this greatly puzzles me,  I think it should be a dull yellow or an ugly brownish black.

Using several methods of dyeing and several types fibre I got all these different olive greens

The two rolled balls of roving were dyed in a crowded pot, a crock pot on the balcony.

The boucle on the left and the wool yarn in the middle were done in a jar, also on the balcony. Day one above, put black dye powder maybe 3 g. in the bottom, half filled with hot water, pushed 3 skeins, plain wool, wool boucle and some of world's ugliest mohair in, sprinkled yellow on to and added hot water to the top of the jar.

Day three of the jar dyeing, I thought it would all be quite dark but when it was pulled out, rinsed and dried, I had this.


I just left it in the sun on a south facing balcony until the dye was exhausted.  Never checked the water temperature, next time.

Then there is creating colour by blending on drumcarder, this is my favourite method

Dyeing for similar colour blends

Sorry, can't think of a better description

About 18 months ago, I dyed this at the Heritage Weavers (my guild) dye day.  Thanks Ruth

wool boucle, a sport weight yarn that had been mothproofed, and roving

Dye on skeins

The mothproofed yarn came out much paler than I thought it would, but the results are still good.

The scarf, woven on a rigid heddle

The bits where boucle was both warp and weft were particularly nice.

Socks, yarn and feelings about same

I want to knit a pair of socks with this yarn.  It's from Red Fox Fibres who came to a fibre festival last year and they are coming this year.  So I had to find the yarn which involved digging though 4 boxes of sock yarn.

Time and spinning

Spinning in public is very, very interesting, I have not yet screamed at a person who says "that's a dying art"  living, breathing, spinning person right in front of you.

Sometimes this remark is made to 3 or 4 spinners, members of Guild

But another question is quite valid and interesting, "how long does it take"  and I can not answer with a amount of time, except that I can 2/3 fill a Louet bobbin with a fine yarn during a football game.

If I measure out a small amount, 25 g each of the 3 fibres I am working on for Kadigan, spin them and ply, without stopping for instant replays I might learn something.

with apoligies to Robynn, Kadigan 2

I have just finished this commissioned piece, lovely yarn but fine, lovely man but big.

It's a relief to have done. Now I get to work seriously on Kadigan

I want to blog a lot about this work, this pattern because I know I will get a lot of questions and compliments as soon as I wear it.  And I want to track the alterations I make, something which I am terrible about,  make notes about knitting with a handspun and maybe take notes about how long something takes.

First thing is an apology to Robynn  one of the great things about this pattern is how changes are encouraged but I am not sure this many changes are what she had in mind.

the yarn is my handspun, heavier than the yarn she recommends and more uneven. Certainly not getting gauge

Unwashed gauge square, the stockinette is a good firm thickness, excellent for shoulders and sleeves.  first sample of garter is thicker than I want for the body of the sweater which needs to flow and drape. Used Addi clicks Olive Wood my favorite needles 4.5 mm. and changed in the sample above the white row to a 5.5 mm metal.

Measuring the changes in gauge washed and unwashed is an excellent idea, thanks Robynn  but since I wash yarn in the skein before knitting it didn't make a difference.  Commercial yarn would bloom and change more.

this is Romney, washed and dyed but not processed, I combed it with my hackle

It makes the yarn fuzzy and uneven

This is the fiber for one of the plies, BFL from aandb fiberworks where I work one day a week, for softness and shine

My gauge is 14 st to 4 inches, the pattern calls for 21 st.  So I am just going to do the smallest size instead of a large.  But I am making a huge change, I am going to start the yoke at the middle of the back with a tentative cast so it will easier ( think) to get both sides the same.  So it's 60 st for the cast on.

It's Sunday and I'm off to spin and watch football.

Kadigan pattern, first post

Just bought a pattern, kadigan  that I saw on Rav.  This is notable because I seldom, almost never buy patterns, I make up my own, I have tons of books and the library has more, but this pattern is so good and so interesting that I Paid for it.



It is something I can wear, comes in multiple sizes and is very adaptable.  And it will be excellent for handspun.  Takes buttons, I need projects that take buttons, there are no pockets but I think those can be added.

Why is it so good for handspun?  It's multi coloured, if one runs out of a color using another is easy, it is plain knitting mostly garter stich which shows off handspun well but it will be interesting to knit. Currently I am bogged down in a commissioned sweater that is slow and dull to knit.



And it has an interesting back, so many patterns have dull backs.