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:



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.




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:



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.




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!


















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



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

Well the completed handspun was immediately balled up and used!



I crocheted the 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.



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!



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.

Exploring the Dark Side

As you may have noticed - I have indeed decided to try some crochet. I know I know... What about the knitting! I'm still knitting!! See? One finished Monkey sock!



I used Socks that Rock Mediumweight in the Metamorphosis colorway. I got this at Stitches East last year. I still need to knit the second one - but it may be a while. I seems to be having SSS on my last THREE socks!! I will get around to it eventually though. I do love the colors - even if they may not be the best for this pattern....





But - back to the Crochet - I found this cool site:
Crochetme.com

It has some free crochet patterns - including crocheted socks! Some of the articles are interesting too. Give it a read!

They also a link to a crocheted yoda and princess leia! How can you beat that!

I finished a square for my Larger than life bag from Interweave crochet.
I am using Tahki Donegal Tweed. I am not yet sure if all the blocks will be the same or not. I may even add a forth color.






I really enjoyed crocheting this and I have learned that reading crochet instructions is hard! Too many sk, sc, and dc's! I prefer the charts - I am a visual learner - so that is no big surprise to me. I always prefer reading knitting charts too rather than reading the directions.

I also really like one of the other patterns in the Spring 07 Interweave Crochet issue (the same one that has the Larger than Life bag.)

I love this beach comber tunic from interweave crochet.




The top is knit and the bottom is crochet. I think it's a great combo - the best of both worlds!!

One more crochet reference - I also purchased this cute pattern from Roxycraft. It's a crocheted turtle!! I love turtles... so I had to get him.




There are lots of other cute patterns on her site too - go check them out!

Eye Candy Friday....

Happy Friday everyone! I wanted share the latest blooms from my garden...

I just love the colors:






Also - I have officially gone over to the dark side... I was crocheting!
I decided I needed that Larger than Life bag from Interweave Crochet.



I started making just the centers - and soon I will add more colors.

Sorry for the dark photo - but here's the first layer of color - a beautiful aubergine.



Here are the other colors I am going to pare with it... a light tan, a green and a dark brown. All are Tahki Donegal Tweed.





To get some crochet practise before I really start the hard part of the sqaures - I crocheted a bowl and then felted it - to hide all my mistakes!