A Finished Shawl

I finished my shawl at last. It's all blocked and dry so here are pictures, links and details:

Pattern: Lilac Lace Shawl

Yarn: Handspun merino from commercially combed & dyed top

Fibre from Wingham Wool Work

Colour: Yorkshire Rainbow

Wheel: Ashford Traveller

Spun very fine singles for a lace weight 2 ply yarn

750 mtrs 123g. (shawl used 747 mtrs)

Finished shawl (blocked) measures 200 cm wide x 110 cm deep at centre point.

Here's my wee Dora peeking round the corner

















I'm very happy with both the spinning and the shawl pattern. I would knit this pattern again, it's ideal for hand spun yarn. I didn't have quite enough yarn and knew I would run out ~ so on the pattern charts I worked row 203 then moved onto row 211 and did the maths to re-align the pattern repeats, this gave me a seamless transition into the final pattern band (for the points).

I've started making sample cards for all of my hand spun yarns, I never used to bother keeping records but I really think it's quite important to do so. It enables me to refer back to how I spun a particular fibre, the finished yarn weight, meterage etc. I use large luggage tags and attach a sample of the single I'm spinning and a mini skein of the plied yarn along with the details of the fibre I have spun:

I also finished off my crochet sock yarn scrap blanket:

It weighs 880g and measures 170cm square, a labour of love considering I'm no crocheter. I used a 2.5 mm hook and tried to stick to brights and bolds:

So now I find myself left with all the neutral toned sock yarn leftovers~ I'm thinking there may be another blanket in due course!

Spinning Autumn Colours

My HyperNoro scarf is off the needles and I will post more photo's tomorrow when it's finally dry.

I don't know what to knit next ~ so while I think about what to make I thought I would do a little spinning. This fibre is New Zealand Half Bred and the colourway is 'Orchard' a beautiful combination of Autumnal gold/tan, greens and plum-purple, just right for this time of year.

I've lightly drafted the fibre out and as it's dyed in a gradient colourway I'm going to spin it from light to dark then 'N' ply to preserve the colour changes. I will be aiming for a fingering/4 ply weight finished yarn.

Here's a shot of my HyperNoro scarf on the blocking wires. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out, it's big ~ 210 cm long x 20 cm wide. The first fan section took 15g, so I kept knitting until I had 15g left then knit the second, final fan.