Sunday, January 18, 2009

Handspun Happenings

I've been doing a lot of spinning lately. I'm working on getting a batch of handspun ready for a large project. One more skein of yarn that will be part of this project is this skein of Dragonfiber handspun.

This was the roving before I spun it:


















And this is after:

Dragonfiber handspun

This is one of my favorite colors of handspun yet! I just love the deep gorgeous colors. I spun this into a heavy worsted weight 2 ply and have about 125 yards.

Dragonfiber handspun


I've also been practising a new technique. When I get to the end of my two bobbins when making 2-ply and I have some singles left on one bobbin, I have been practing Navajo Plying. I finally felt I was good enough at it to try an entire skein.

My first attempt was with this hank of Fat Cat Faukland Roving.

It went from this:



















To this:

Fat Cat Navajo 3 ply

This Navajo 3-ply is far from perfect, but I learned a lot from making it. One of the most important things I learned was that it's MUCH harder to do the Navajo ply when your singles have a lot of twist. The singles twist and kink and just make a general mess. I do tend to put a lot of twist in my singles when making two ply - because I like a tight twist. But I've learned that Navajo 3-ply does not need a lot of twist in the singles to still make nice and tightly twisted 3 ply.


Fat Cat Navajo 3 ply

So my second attempt at a Navajo 3-ply was much better. I used a lovely ball of Merino from Sunset Fibers:



The color repeats were nice and long and I didn't want to lose those, so I again spun this up with the intention of making a Navajo 3-ply. This time though - I paid attention to the amount of twist I was putting into my singles. The results were SO MUCH better!
















Sunset Fibers Hanspun

I am so in love with how it came out. The beautiful rainbow colors are still in full effect.

Sunset Fibers Hanspun

Remember how I said I was going to use my handspun more this year?

Well the completed handspun was immediately balled up and used!

All wound up and ready to go!

I crocheted the Queen Anne's Lace scarf:
Queen Anne's Lace Scarf

Stats:
Pattern
: Queen Anne's Lace Scarf
Yarn: Sunset Fiber Handspun
Hook: Size J
Alterations: I added some additional loops on the first and last "flower" so that the scarf would look more finished on the ends.

Queen Anne's Lace Scarf

This is the first time I've crocheted anything in LONG time! Thank God for online video tutorials! I had forgotten the difference between single, double and triple crochet!

Queen Anne's Lace Scarf

I love how this scarf came out!! By keeping the long repeats of color by using Navajo ply - let the wonderful bright colors of this roving really stand out.

33 comments:

Pheelya said...

What gorgeous colors!!!

Monika said...

WONDERFUL spinning! The first one is my favorit!

calicodaisy said...

Wow! The bright ones are so beautiful! You scarf looks great, especially in the variegated colors. Now that I can do!
-- Michele

Anonymous said...

Love the spinning, the colors are amazing. And your scarf is beautiful!

I remember reading somewhere regarding Navajo or 3 py that you spin your singles with 1/3 the twist of the final 3-ply yarn. Then when you make your yarn, they will have the perfect amount of twist. Something like that.

Anonymous said...

Yeah! it's amazing! really. I love the scarf and your navaho looks great!

j

turtlegirl76 said...

Wow! It looks absolutely gorgeous! Fabulous choice of pattern to showcase your handspun!

Kerry said...

Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. Both the spinning and the scarf!

Lynn said...

oooooh, that scarf is sooo pretty!!! I love the colors of the first one.

Anonymous said...

I love all of the yarn you spun up! And I love your scarf.

Anonymous said...

Lovely motivating post! I just love it when you blog about spinning as you always seem to have lovely fibre in amazing colour & are never afraid to just go for it!

Thanks for being an inspiration & for showing off your lovely end products!

Unknown said...

It is really inspiring to see your roving to handspun to knitted item photos. Makes me want to go spin!

Anonymous said...

I love the yarns you spun!

It is funny...I have no desire to learn to spin but I LOVE the look of handspun...especially when you have (OK, don't know the verbage here) a pretty color yarn with a complimentary color wrapped around it.

Great job!

Jane

maitai said...

all of your handspun is so beautiful. the colors are fantastic! and i love your scarf.

Dana S. Whitney said...

The transformation from roving to YARN is amazing and surprising. Keep showing us... maybe I'll "get it" some day. Must go look up Navaho plying.

Anonymous said...

Ughh, I'm really going to have to look into getting a wheel now. Those are all so gorgeous, including the scarf. I need to work on my crochet skills too now. Excellent work, as always: )

Trillian42 said...

Wow... that roving was gorgeous to start with, but it's even prettier spun up, and I LOVE the scarf!

Stacey said...

wow! that 3 ply is beautiful! I love how on one you barberpoled it and on the other you left the colors intact! So pretty!!!

Coleen said...

that scarf is awesome! I love it!

Ruth's Place said...

Awesome Navajo plying!! That scarf is so cute it *almost* makes me want to break out the crochet hook... I'd need online videos too :)

Anonymous said...

YUMMMM!!!

All of your spinning looks gorgeous AND your scarf is tempting me to knit one.

Bonnie said...

How perfectly that project shows off your beautiful handspun. Each petal is just the right size for a color. That model sure shows it off at it's best too. Did you let her keep th - wait! It's you!

Beautiful on both counts.

Knittymama said...

Look at all that beautiful yarn! Thanks for the tips of the Navajo plying.

Lisette M said...

Such beautiful colors! Your scarf looks like a bouquet. I love seeing how the roving turns into yarn, magical.

Jennie said...

such pretty works!!

Anonymous said...

Wow!! Fabulous yarn!! I love seeing the before and afters....and they all came out amazing. Navajo plying...gotta look into that. Thanks!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gnomegarden said...

JODY!!! This all is sooooooo lovely!!! Oh ma LORD!! I love the yarns, the fibers and that Queen Anne's lace-- WOW!!! Greatness abounds there!

Rachael Hutchings said...

WOW, absolutely gorgeous!

mrspao said...

You are so talented! That scarf looks wonderful on you and the yarn looks amazing.

Anna said...

Så wonderful colors and beautiful yarns you have done. Nice photos!

Jinann said...

That scarf is incredible! So cool that you spun the yarn for it!

Cozy Badger Fiber Arts said...

Oooo, LOVE the colors! Great job with the Navajo plying - I've used that technique a couple times & absolutely love it.

I've been meaning to make that scarf, too -- yours is the prettiest I've seen yet!

Heather said...

Jody - your navajo plying is so nice! I still want that coaching assistance - I'm not brave enough to try it on my own again!!

:O)