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!

A Finished Sweater at Last!

I'm feeling very pleased with myself today as finally the lace weight sweater is finished:

Yarn: Malbrigo lace
Colour: Azul Profundo
Pattern: Inspired by ZickZack tunic
Finished sweater weighs 130g (just over 2.5 skeins)
If I were to knit this again I would make the armholes deeper instead of using the measurement on the pattern, it will block a bit larger in that area but I think to be more visually in proportion I should have made the armholes 8" instead of 7" otherwise I'm happy with it ~ it fits perfectly and is beautifully light and warm. It was a lovely easy knit and I did just a regular round neck instead of the cowl neck.




I've also finished all the knitting on my Bean cotton sweater, but just need to seam it together and finish off the neck edging:

Hoping to get this completed over the weekend.














I started knitting another pair of Simple Skyp socks for my hubby:

Yarn is John Q Designer Earth Wear (85% recycled Possum Merino blends & 15% nylon.
Colour is Silver Grey.
Haven't used this particular yarn before, I try to stay away from possum blends as you end up covered in dog like hair when knitting with it. This isn't too bad though.







Then there's this bit of spinning I squeezed in, possibly the best I've ever done:

Corriedale.
'N' ply
white/natural
270mtrs
88 grams

More Hand Spun Sock Yarn

I have been busy spinning another batch of the Corriedale/Nylon sock yarn:

I spun 100g of fibre into fine singles then Navajo plied it for a 3 ply strong sock yarn.












I dyed it my favourite colour, a variegated purple!

320 metres. I think this may become a pair of Simple Skyp Socks for myself.













I've also been spinning some Perendale fleece. The locks were washed with wool scour in a mesh bag, after drying I quickly flick carded them and spun up 2 bobbins of singles. I did a 2 ply yarn this time:

250 metres of yarn, it still needs soaking and drying but I'm hoping that it's going to be a sport weight yarn.











Perendale sheep were developed in Palmerston North, New Zealand by crossing hardy Cheviot rams over Romney ewes. Perendale clip is low lustre and crisp to the touch.
Fibre diameter: 30 - 37 microns
Staple length: 100 - 150 mm
Fleece weight: 3 - 4.5 kg

A good fleece looks bouncy and will feel crisp. The higher bulk fleece has better shape retention and higher insulation properties. If you add a little more twist than normal you will get a rounded and hard wearing yarn, it's also excellent for Navajo plying.

You won't be able to produce a typically smooth and dense true worsted yarn with this fleece as it tends to poof up, capturing the air within the yarn. If you use the worsted technique you will produce a different type of yarn with all the worsted strength and durability, but with reduced weight and added warmth.

Perendale also makes an excellent woollen yarn which will produce a light yet bulky yarn.

Finished Hand Spun Socks!

Finished these last night and I was going to block them, but to be honest I really don't think they need it:

See the teeny tiny ball of leftover yarn? That's 6 grams ~ I was cutting it fine but I weighed the yarn before starting (93g) and after knitting the first sock so I knew I had enough - although as I got to the toe on the second sock I did start to doubt my calculations. All came right in the end though!

More Hand Spun Socks!

So, do you remember this skein of sock blend yarn that I spun and dyed a while back?

I over dyed it to make it darker so I could knit it into socks for my Husband - he wouldn't wear a lighter colour:

I'm really happy how this dye job turned out, a nice semi solid deep blue.
The pattern is Simple Skyp Socks. It's a simple 2 row pattern that looks more complicated than it is.

I have seed potatoes to plant today, as much as I would love to sit here knitting socks, sadly I can't!