I think handspun yarns can lend themselves so well to simple textures like stockinette and garter stitch, so I thought I'd use some of my own and knit up Nikol Lohr’s Pebble baby vest.
Found in the local classifieds while on a trip north visiting my parents, she's in rather good condition for being well over 100 years old! Dad brought her home for me strapped to the bed of his truck and offered her as a birthday gift :)
This handspun yarn is my first attempt at Navajo ply (turning a one ply into three, a neat trick that even piqued the hubby’s interest!). I love how this technique preserves the colour changes in the variegated roving and leaves the self-striping effect intact. It also gives the yarn that bouncy, squishy feel I adore. There are many fluffy, uneven bits of yarn in there, but I'd like to think that they give the tiny vest a rustic appeal.
This was spun from a Lorna's Lace wool top – I wish I could remember the fibre content!
While this particular yarn was spun on my modern Lendrum folding wheel, I'm really excited to present two other new (to me) wheels.
This is my Canadian Production Wheel, Evelyn. She's French-Canadian like me, and while she'll eventually need some exta TLC for a gap in her drive wheel, we get along swimmingly!
Found in the local classifieds while on a trip north visiting my parents, she's in rather good condition for being well over 100 years old! Dad brought her home for me strapped to the bed of his truck and offered her as a birthday gift :)
I've also been refurbishing this lovely Norwegian- style wheel I found at a garage sale near Toronto. The owners had found it in a DUMPSTER.
It was in great need of cleaning, but the grime was anything oil soap couldn't handle, and it's just glowing now. Made of a number of different woods, my favorite being the birds eye maple of her uprights, and the burled mother-of-all, I think this is a really special wheel, which means I had to name it too. This is Jenny.
And just to bring this spinning post to close, I thought I'd share some of of the fluff that I just finished plying. The fibre is from Pigeonroof Studios.
This is about 4 oz of Blue Face Leicester in « Modolva », plied with a Superwash merino base in the same colourway. I have special plans for these two skeins (about 350 yards, unknown WPI, I really should get around to measuring it!)
Spinning. That is all.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
While it's finally spring here in Southwestern Ontario, you wouldn't know it judging from the flurries at night and the frost I have to scrape off the car every morning! I take this as a sign that I won't have to put the woolens in storage for a good while yet. Why not keep whittling down the stash while I'm at it?
The pattern: Mara by Madelinetosh
I alternated the Silk Garden and Cash Island every two rows to start, then every 6 rows, then finished off with the silk garden only in an effort to gradually dissolve the stripes. I had very little of the Cash Island left for the contrast-coloured border, so I swapped the ruffles with 2 rows of garter followed by a picot bind-off.
C'est le printemps ici en Ontario, quoiqu'il serait difficile pour moi de le prouver, avec la neige qui tombe sans cesse la nuit et la givre que je dois gratter du par brise à chaque matin! Heureusement que je suis complètement ensorcellé par les châles à l'instant – épais, délicats, textures, dentelles, je les aime tous!
J’ai alterné les laines Silk Garden et Cash Island à tous les deux rangs pour commencer, ensuite tous les six rangs, et finalement seulement le Silk Garden pour le reste du châle, jusqu’à la bordure. Puisqu’il ne me restait que quelques mètres de Cash Island pour la bordule, j’ai substitué les volants avec un rabattage des mailles en picots.
Springtime Mara
Saturday, April 2, 2011
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