consistency, consistency

For many of my projects I've had enough yarn to knit the whole thing, but some projects I've spin, knit, spin, knit. In fact sometimes I've done this deliberately to keep things interesting, and up till now it hasn't caused a problem.

Over the last week I've spun some more wheatfield yarn for my Swallowtail shawl. I've used a different batch of fibre (with more variation of colour) and a different wheel (single rather than double drive) and a faster ratio. The result is a much nicer yarn for my project - finer and smoother and more 'variegated'.


Having knit a couple of pattern repeats with it, I can't really see that it's different enough to matter. I can see that the lace pattern is a little more well-defined and I can see a little bit of striping starting to happen, but only if I look really hard for it.

The second kind of consistency is with the thickness of my yarn. I guess it has to do with having spun so much of the same yarn, and also starting to think about the best drafting technique for the job (short forward draw) and consciously sticking to it.

My swallowtail shawl is still growing quickly. I've now started the lily of the valley border and looking forward to knitting nups! Seeing it take shape is spurring me on, as is the thought of the Ravelympics starting within the next week (Go Team GB!) I would like to have entered this as a WIP project but there's a rule about not having touched a WIP since 12 Jan. That means that I can enter other projects such as Lolita Legs, but not this one. And I'd like to get it finished before casting on my main Ravelympics project. More late nights!