Round and Round...

In July 2006 I briefly mentioned that I had bought a drop spindle and was desperate to try spinning, but then I never mentioned it again. Mainly because my tries were an absolute disaster (mainly because I only had a small instruction leaflet and it didn't occur to me to look online). I quickly stuffed the spindle and roving into a bag in the attic in my parent's house and tried not to think about it again.

Being part of the knitting community (however, peripherally) makes that very difficult. It's impossible to not hear about handspun yarn or spinning on the various blogs I read and podcasts I listen to.

Then last summer I went to a small craft's fair an tried out spinning at a wheel. I couldn't do it, of course, but it was still such fun. And the spinner who owned the wheel actually said I wasn't doing too bad for my first time (despite the completely overtwisted mess I produced), so the idea has been sitting in my mind for a while. I started researching courses to learn spinning. And realised they are absolutely impossible to find where I live.

Today I had an epiphany. I taught myself how to knit from a book, why not teach myself how to spin from one? With a handspindle. I don't have room (or money) for a spinning wheel anyway. Yeah, I know big revelation that I could've already had three years ago. ;)

I just ordered Start Spinning by Maggie Casey from Amazon and some different rovings from Das Wollschaf, as well as a top-whorl spindle. The one I bought years ago is bottom-whorl and I didn't even understand the concept of how that is supposed to work and the roving that came with it was pretty rough, so now I have two different spindles and several different rovings to try this again. All of this is getting delivered to my parents' house where I'll be spending Easter, so I should have will have time to try it then. :)

Spotlight: Elann Incense

I've been contributing swatches to the Walker Treasury Project for a couple of months now and in my first enthusiasm even ordered a few single skeins from Elann that I'd been meaning to try for a long time, but never really had any idea what to make out of them. The WTP gave me the perfect excuse to go and buy those in colours I wouldn't normally buy and simply swatch.

If you haven't heard of the WTP yet; it's basically a project to swatch all the stitch patterns from Barabara Walker's Treasuries in modern yarn and post colour pictures of them. The pictures in the books are all black and white and pretty small, so it's fascinating to see them in bigger pictures. There are pretty detailed rules about how to post the pictures, so that the blog is an easy to use and useful resource for knitters, but everybody is welcome to contribute.

Anyway, since I'm now trying out all these new-to-me yarns, I thought it'd be a good idea to keep a log of what knitting with them was like, so I'd also have a resource to go back to when I go searching for a yarn.


09 - Persian Violet

Specs
Yarn: Elann Incense
Fibre Content: 50% Wool/ 25% Silk/ 25% Bamboo
Gauge: 19 st/4 inches 4.5 mm (US 7)
Weight: Worsted
Yardage: 105 m (114 yards)
Size: 50g (1.75 oz) ball
Price: $3.98 USD

First Impression
Doesn't look or feel that much different to normal wool. Slightly shinier. Very crisp. Next to skin soft.

Knitting
This is were the beauty of the yarn really comes out. Great stitch definition. The wool mixed in with the silk and bamboo makes this very easy to knit with and I had no problems at all with hurting hands as I sometimes have with the less elastic yarns.

In my second swatch (German Herringbone Rib), the limits of this elasticity became aparent, however. I had some problems with the make ones since the running thread didn't have enough give to make this an easy stitch. On the other hand, it made sure that the make ones before the knits were completely invisble, and even those before the purls disappeared in the reverse stockinette. So maybe not the right yarn for patterns with lots of stitch manipulations beyond the basic increases and decreases.

At the same time the yarn is very strong. I tried pulling it apart at the end of the swatch and couldn't; I had to cut it. My first impression of it seeming just like regular wool is reflected in the way it behaves while knitting. But at the same time it has something more. The resulting fabric (before blocking) is slightly slinky, with very even stitches and a slight sheen that gives the yarn a lot of depth.

One small negative point is that I had several instances where bits of unspun yarn (sometimes of different colours) clung to the yarn. But they could be removed pretty easily and without damaging the yarn at all.

Swatches

Flame Chevron


German Herringbone Rib

Knitted Up
Stitch definition stays crsip after blocking. Also blocks well, no pilling so far. Very drapey, but doesn't seem like it would stretch over time. Light. Works for lace and textured patterns. I bet cables would look great in this yarn.
Potential pattern for me in this yarn: Bonsai Tunic

Knitability Factor

Et Voilà!

No, don't worry, I won't start writing in French (that would turn into a massacre of the language...), just need to impart my sense of accomplishment. :) The Crochet Flower Scarf is done! And it's preeeetty!







Crochet out of three skeins of Schachenmayr Catania (a mecerized cotton), just over 400 yards of yarn. I'm very happy to have another crochet project to add to my FOs. I don't really find as many crochet patterns I like as I find knitting patterns, but I do like to crochet, so a successful project is extra special to me.

But now that spring is here, my prediction from last time happened, of course, and I feel absolutely no desire to knit my two other scarves. That didn't keep me from starting a new one, of course. :) And two more pairs of socks.



Those are the Swirl Socks by Sulala and I'm knitting them in some Shelridge Farm Ultra. This is my first time knitting with Sheldrige and I'm enjoying knitting with it. It's a great, soft yarn and goes very quickly since I can knit these on 2.75mm needles. :)

Actually, I went a bit crazy when I bought the Shelridge since it was 30% off. My first order was only 4 skeins (for 2 pairs of socks), and when it arrived I immediately ordered 4 more skeins because it was so soft and the sale was only going on for a few more days. Can't go wrong with the kind of discount, even though I had never knit with the yarn at that point. And I don't regret the purchases in the slightest.

The second new pair is from a yarn I've had in my stash for a long time; my Unique Sheep Verve. I'm usually not big on semi-solids (though I am starting to like them more and more), but this pattern needed something a little tamer than my usualy sock yarn. :)


Magic Mirror Socks by Jeannie Cartmel. The first one is done, but I still need to find the motivation to start the second. The charts are really great because they are given for three different sizes, but the socks do require a bit more attention, since they are asymmetrical and involve lots of twisted ribbing.

Outrunning Spring

After years of not being a scarf-person at all, I suddenly started wearing a lot of scarves at the beginning of winter. It mostly has to do with the fact that I don't have a car and public transport to the grocery store is shitty, so I've been cycling there. You need a scarf then. And now I'm suddenly working on five at the same time.

Then today I noticed the next scary thing: spring is just around the corner. Birds are chirping, the ice from the lake in the park I live next to melted, there are buds on a bush I walked by and today I saw the first crocuses. I'm guessing as soon as it gets warmer, my desire to knit scarves will drop to zero, so I plan on finishing 3 of them this month.

The other two either don't have to be finished for a long time (my best friend's birthday in December) or are on hiatus (didn't like the pattern/yarn/needle combo and need to rethink things), so three it is. Two of them are warm scarves, so they definitely need to be finished, the other one is crochet, so that one isn't quite as urgent.



The top two are actually the same pattern, the Berlin Scarf by The Purl Bee, a basic brioche pattern, just in very different yarns. On the right it's in Rowan Tapestry and on the left in a mix of Austermann Defilè and a novelty yarn I received as a gift. I absolutely adore the brioche pattern, don't know why I always thought it'd be too difficult. It's just the same simple row repeated over and over again, but without getting boring for me. This incredibly stretchy pattern just emerges and I can imagine so well how fluffy and cozy the scarves are going to be. Which is why they need to be finished before it gets warmer.

The one on the bottom is a flower crochet scarf by Drops Design. From time to time I just get the urge to crochet and this pattern goes incredibly fast. The neatness of the clover leaves (even though you couldn't tell from the picture where they are all scrunched up) just make me want to block this now, right now, so it will be easier to appreciate it. Since it is a cotton yarn and is crochet, it won't be a scarf for warmth and speed is not as essential as with the other two, but what is the only thing I feel like making, of course? Right. :)