knitting with single-ply handspun?

This is the whole 100g of corriedale that I dyed with cammomile. I think I've spun it too thick for the socks that I had in mind (it wasn't very easy to spin - being a bit felted is my excuse!!)



It looks so good unplied that I'm going to try knitting it as it is. It's exactly 20wpi in its single form, so perhaps perfect weight.

I've read a little bit about knitting singles before, and by coincidence, I've been reading Amy King's new book 'Spin Control' in which she has a whole chapter on the subject, called 'Spectacular singles'. That's given me enough confidence that I'm not doing anything too radical.

It won't be as strong as plied yarn, but the Hungry Bees socks that I have in mind won't be everyday heavy-duty socks. It might have a bias, but I've set the twist on the first skein and it doesn't seem too charged with twist now. If there is a bias, perhaps blocking will sort it out.

If anyone knows about these issues - use the comment link and let me know! I'm all fired up and keen to start knitting it, so I'll pour myself a glass of something nice and start casting on later on!

Decorated drop spindle

One of my other loves is stained glass and particularly Tiffany Lamps. The idea of decorating my spindles and wheels has been floating around in my head for a while, and this week something jogged the right synapses together in my head and I could see some of my favourite Tiffany designs spinning around on spindle whorls or spinning wheels.

Armed with an Ashford Classic spindle, my copy of 'The Lamps of Tiffany' and some patience, and this is the result! (The flowers are from Tiffany's 'Clematis' design.)

I've lots of design ideas, and I'm wondering whether I have the courage to start making permanent marks on the wheel of a new Ashford Traditional....?!

Making sheep soup

I've been in white coat and goggles this evening. OK, not really, but I have been trying my best to test Unicorn Power Scour as fairly as I can against my old standby, washing-up liquid (Ecover in my case). Power Scour claims to wash out dirt and grease more effectively, without yellowing and leaves the fibre with a clean, fresh aroma. OK....



I weighed two lots of 200g of nice greasy raw fleece as accurately as I could (one of Power Scour's claims is about yield on the grounds of reduced tangles). Each batch is to be washed in exactly the same way, the way that I normally do it:

1. Gently lower the fleece into the hot soapy water. I've followed Power Scour's instructions to the letter, that is 5% of the weight of the fleece. That's 10g of product, which sounded a lot, but is really just a couple of squirts. (I weighed this carefully too, and used exactly the same amount of dish-washing liquid.) Leave to soak for 20mins.
2. Carefully drain. lower into the first rinse water, which is the same temperature as the soapy water was when it was drained off.
3. Repeat the rinse until clear. In the case of the Power Scour this was three times.
4. Put into a pillow-case and use the washing machine's spin cycle.
   
5. Allow to dry naturally.
   

When both are dry I plan to compare them, run both batches through the drum carder, compare them again, then spin into yarn and compare again.

The only comment I can make so far is that the Power Scour water smelled gorgeous!

The first batch (Power Scour) is done, and the second (washing-up-liquid) is brewing in the soapy water:

calming cammomile and a smooooth wheel

I really need to get a better camera. I've been spinning the corriedale that I dyed using gathered leaves and cammomile a while ago. I can't get any closer and the picture really doesn't show off that lovely colour very well.



The colour is wonderful, a pale lemon. It's proving a bit awkward to spin because I think I've felted it a little bit. With a bit of teasing and 'snapping' to separate the fibres it's working, but I'm having to be a bit heavy-handed with it to persuade those fibres to draft properly.

I'm not 100% sure what to do with it, but I have had it in mind to use this fibre to make the hungry bees socks. The colour will be perfect, but I think I'm probably spinning it a little bit thick. (Has anyone knitted with singles?)

I'm lovin' the wheel! It's a second-hand Traditional that I've bought to re-sell. It's a real joy to use - it's spinning so beautifully compared to my old 'trundler', I might keep it!

Headfirst

I don't know why I sometimes get so excited about a work-in-progress, really love the finished item, but then don't have the courage to wear it.

It's with some delight that I've just set the Ravelry status for my grey fluffy peaked hat to 'Finshed' and put a big smiley face beside it. Yes, it has joined the very select group 'FPs that I'm really pleased with'. It's taken less than two weeks, including spinning the yarn (alpaca - blended natural white and natural black - see an earlier post).

My friend Jenni was kind enough to model it for me today. She generously said that it looked OK on me, but it certainly does look far better on her.

not peaking too early

Nearly on the decreases now. This must be one of the quickest projects I've made so far. I guess it's partly thanks to the 6mm needles, but mostly thanks to a real burst of stitching activity. I'm not sure where it's come from, I don't think the hat will really suit me.

I took this a little earlier today (when the sun shone briefly). I really like the variation in the colour.

Going on ahead

Is casting on the most exciting part of any project? I love casting on, and it keeps me going through the fibre preparation and spinning.

I've got myself fired up about making a fluffy grey hat. Alpaca will be perfect, and I know from making some grey yarn before (which I called Carrara) that I can mix natural black and white to get varying shades of grey. It's amazing how a creamy white and a chocolatey dark brown make a beautiful slightly bluey-grey. I wasn't sure how to get the same effect with a drum carder that I'd achieved with hand carders, but I found that making several passes and blending the colour well still gave me enough variation in the spun singles.

At first pass it looks as if I'm carding a badger...





I'm not happy with the alpaca I have. It's allegedly been carded, but has lots of VM and has a high proportion of very short fibres. After a good carding (and throwing away the resulting fluff) it's much better.



You can see how there are dark and light areas in the singles - perfect.



I've gone for two-ply. I've managed to make quite an even 12 wpi.




I couldn't find exactly the right pattern. I've written my own pattern by 'hybridising' a few that were nearly right.

Having cast on and knitted the peak, it's the long mile now through the increases and then downhill through the decreases until finishing with a bit of stitching up. (When we have some sun I'll take a better picture!)