Spring Chicken Goes for a Spin

Well, I spun up that Spring Chicken. It is gorgeous. It has beautiful delicate tones and the color changes look very gradual. I love my Spring Chicken handspun.. now what to make...

Knitting your Handspun

I have been attempting to write some patterns for Knitty these days, including my sock pattern, which I must finish by tonight to get it in under the deadline. I am also working on a pattern with my own handspun for KnittySpin. It is going to be awesome. It is a simple hat pattern, that I think will highlight the unique qualities of your handspun yarn. I cannot post a picture thus far, in case Knitty likes it, but I can post a close-up of my handspun knit up. Very exciting stuff.

Are there any aspiring pattern designers reading this? If you are, I would like to start a sock club on etsy and I am interested in unique sock patterns for the club, so, send me an e-mail. I am also getting business cards for the Phat Fiber box in July, if anyone knows a good site for that.

Round and Round

Spinning my own roving has been awesome. I am almost done. Then, I will need to decide whether or not I want to ply it. The colors are gorgeous and I am so pleased. I hadn't really seen how my own roving would spin up. I like seeing how the colors will play off eachother, and seeing it happen will help me dye better in the future. Part of the problem with hand-painting roving can be the whites, but sometimes that can create an effect that you desire, and there are ways around it if you do not wish to have any white.

My wheel is a Travelling Lendrum(recommended via e-mail by Pluckyfluff), and I love it. The orifice hook is stuck though, and I don't know how it happened (possibly kid-related). It spins a variety of yarns very well. I have never spun on a spindle, though. And I wish to learn how.

If I ply this one, it may lose some of its charm, and the colors which are so subtle already may lose their effect, but I prefer to knit with plied yarns. So we will see..