Another shawl done

Yes, it is starting to become ho-hum for me too. But I am using up my sock yarn stash and it is going a lot faster than socks. So I am happy. Also, shawls make great gifts, especially sock yarn shawls, because they are machine washable and quite durable.

This one is another Stripe Study shawl. I made one for my niece last year and enjoyed knitting the pattern. I thought it would break up the stripes and make it more interesting. And I was right. The navy is actually two colors. The top and all the stripes are a lighter navy and then there is a band of darker navy across the bottom. I had two partial skeins of navy and decided to use them up.
I am very excited about my next spinning project. I signed up for a Fleece of the Quarter club at my spinning guild. I got my first fleece on Friday. We get to wash, card/comb, spin and make something from it - keeping detailed records/samples in a journal. Then we meet and discuss our experiences and compare the results.

I think it will help me understand how to process a fleece without having to deal with a whole one. Also, I will get to understand differences in technique and differences in the actual wool of various breeds.

Here is the wool I got from a sheep called Mint. She is a Dorset-Hampshire cross.
This is a closer look at the locks with a 3x5" index card by the side for reference. I will be documenting my experiences here so you will all get to journey along with me.
I have started working on my Swedish Heart-warmer shawl again. It is slow going as I am weaving in the floats as I go. This means that I have to learn to weave in on the purl side and that is something new. My fingers are slowly learning the process. It will get faster as I progress on the shawl.

Color for a drab February

I am in the mood for color. I think it is because of the drab grey and brown landscape outside. So let's start with the brights. This is the color combination I have picked out for a Color Affection shawl. I love this designer's patterns. You'll see...I had a couple of skeins of Tosh Light Merino but decided I would rather put them towards this shawl. So I traded in Antique White for the two colors of Ella Rae on the left side. The right blue yarn is Lorna's Laces.

Next up is the current project. I had some self-striping sock yarn and combined it with some dark navy to make a Stripe Study shawl. This is by the same designer as the Color Affection Shawl. I am quite pleased with the way this is turning out. I am almost out of the self-striping yarn so it will be all blue from this point on.
Lastly, I have an FO to report. I finished this shawl - a Maluka shawl - that I made out of handspun BFL/silk (the darker red on top) and a Claudia's Handpaints in Paprika for the lace section. The handspun was from Corgi Hill, called Poppy.
The handspun was easy to knit. It was a 3 ply, spun worsted. I was pleased with how even it was. I was worried about it being thick and thin but there were only a few spots like that. Given that I am coming up on my first anniversary of spinning seriously, I can't complain.

Finally making progress

I am making Maluka with the yarns that I picked out. Maluka is much smaller than Kleio, which was my original choice. I ran out of the handspun far short of the garter st section and didn't want to re-size Kleio. So I went with Maluka even though I will have a lot of the yarn leftover, I think. My Maluka should be a good size since I am using thicker yarn and a bigger needle (4.5 mm vs 4 mm).

Kleio starts with the body and then adds the lace edging. Maluka starts with the lace edging and then adds the body. The lace edging of course is boring after the first few repeats. But I stuck with it for the requisite 33.Here is Maluka with part of the body done. I think I will be done in a day or two. I picked up 149 sts on each side of the center instead of the prescribed 100. I think this will make a deeper shawl. We shall see.

One step forward, two steps back

I thought I would have a WIP to show this week. But I failed to check the yarn quantities for the shawl I started to knit. So there was much frogging yesterday. I have a new pattern started, bit there is no enough to show off. So stay tuned for next week.

Quick FO

I started this on Friday night and it is done. Yes, it was a bit of a stretch to finish it in 2 days. But these were two football days. I knitted as I watched four games this weekend and it is done.

Closeup of the corrugated knitting which forms the cowl. This is a k2, p2 rib done in 2 colors. I had the advantage of using Noro Silk Garden for the second color so I didn't have to join yarns. That definitely sped up the process.Here is the finished cowl. It is bulky but will be warm and definitely cheery. Purple is my favorite color!
I will be taking a few days off knitting before I begin anything new. My hands can sure use the rest. Plus, it is back to work tomorrow so there are fewer hours to knit anyway.

I have  been spinning this week although I am starting a new knitting project today. I felt like color so I picked up some brightly colored Targhee. I love Targhee. It is soft and easy to spin. Here it is in fiber form. I think I have spun about a third of it.

This is a shot of the bobbin with the purple on it. The single is quite fine but you cannot see that as they are all the same color.

So I took this shot. It is part way through the pink after the purple so maybe you can see the single.

Here is another shot. I changed the angle slightly to see if it was clearer. I am going to chain ply it to keep the colors distinct.

 More after I start knitting again. Color feels good in these short days!

Kniting and Spinning FOs

The dancing cranes stole is done. I am very pleased with it. It softened up a lot with a good wash in the machine. Linen is very stiff when it is new but with use and washing it gets softer and softer and softer. I didn't want to give this to someone when it was stiff and rough so I washed it and it softened up considerably. It is nice and drapey now.
Another close up of this beautiful but easy pattern. I love lace patterns like this. They are so intricate looking but really easy to knit.
Here is an overall photo of the stole.
I was planning another project and found that 2 skeins of Claudia's fingering weight yarn is only 350 yds. That makes a pretty skimpy shawl! But I lucked out and one of my handspun skeins goes very well with the Claudia's. What do you think? I will make a shawl combining these. They are different weights but hey, I am sure I can make it work.

I also finished plying some singles I had spun a while ago. I chain-plied it so the color gradient is maintained. I am quite pleased with the results. It is a little over-plied so I have to run it through the spinning wheel again to remove some of the plying twist. But that is a minor detail.

This is the skein. Not very bright colors but quite attractive.