Friday, August 31, 2007

and for Spun Stitches

or more. I actually spin a lot now that I think back a bit. The woven throw is handspun (minus the weft) and then all this new stuff. I spin while I read and I read a lot. I knit while I listen to audio books and I love audio books.



The only one that is a sole skein is the green silk. The rest have companion skeins.
Specs to follow:



Fiber content:
Kid Mohair, Baby alpaca and wool. I don't know the percentages for sure. It was one full kid mohair fleece. I bought it from some website in Australia, it came in the mail and sat for years. I kept waiting it to tell me what it wanted to be. It would not speak up, I tried spinning it from the lock and it was horrible. Blended with 1 lb of baby alpaca I had and all the odds and ends white wool I found and off to Spinderella it went. It came back as a beautiful roving. I wanted it about DK weight or sports. It had to go on Roberta otherwise it would become lace weight. I think I spun a bit over a pound and I have 1464 yards. There is more roving in the tub, maybe a pound more or so. The total weight for the roving was 3 lbs.
It has a nice halo. It will be brushed once the garment is finished. I will probably have to be a cardigan with lots of mindless stockinette.
This one will be knit by a spinning guild friend for this year's team exchange. So far it looks like her and I will be the only participants.
I have not seen her yarn yet but she said she wants the Icelandic Shawl or any shawl knit by me.



This one is the product of a large bag of "stuff" that Kristine from Angora Cottage gave to me. It was a huge bag of left overs from her beaded yarn. I separated it by like colors, the white went to the mohair/alpaca wool blend and the reds, pinks and likes went to this one. It has wool, rayon, silk, Angelina and who knows what else!
Roving weight: 1 lb.
Yardage: 1394.
That puts it into the Sports weight range.
I want to knit Culdesac by Elsebeth Lavold from Knitters Fall 2003.




Then the silk. It was textured silk roving carded and dyed by Spinderella. She gave me 2 oz to test spin back here.
Yardage: 356
Weight 2 ounces
Yarn weight 2850 yds/lb or lace weight.
Its partner the pink one is OTN and will become a self designed mindless scarf. Soft and warm for the winter months.

On the wheel(s) now I have 4 oz of Corriedale that I bought at the Spinner's Guild Retreat last year and went into the Indigo dye pot. It is intended for the Peacock's Feathers Shawl from Fibertrends. It all depends if I get the yardage needed. Also I am test spinning Shetland roving. There is about 9 lbs of it. I want to knit Fulmar by AS for starters. I spun it to match her Scottish Fleet yarn in Navajo three ply. I could not get gauge so I plied it double, this time getting gauge but it might be a bit too loose. I am going to show it to Tan next time I see her. Tan is the only expert AS that I know and she knows a lot about knitting and things. It will not knit up into a bullet proof guernsey sweater but it might be just right. After all I am not going fishing out in the North Seas any time soon and size is more important than texture.

Speaking of audio books I have been listening to the Tudor Roses history written as novels by Philippa Gregory. I haver "read" 4 of her books and they are excellent. So far I have listened to:

The Boleyn Inheritance
The Queen's Fool
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Constant Princess

and currently part way into The Virgin's Lover

Sadly it is the last one available through the library. I do not know if they do have more on audio book format, if they do I will rent them or something.

5 comments:

Colette said...

You spinning is just amazing. It takes my breath away. Your ROE is gorgeous and the linen seems to have blocked very well. It looks beautiful on your table.

Anonymous said...

Laritza, How in the world do you read while you spin????

Leigh said...

That's what I want to know! How do you read while you spin? I can watch a movie while I spin, but I have to keep an eye on what's going on with the wheel. Your ROE is absolutely breathtaking. I'm very envious of your lace knitting talent! Also, I love your mohair, baby alpaca, and wool blend yarn. Yummy!

Romi said...

Lovely yarn!

Lorette said...

Lovely yarn, indeed. I've read The Other Boleyn girl and enjoyed it, but none of the others. I'll have to look them up. Every one of her books has about 20 holds in our library, so it might be awhile.