musindigo

I’m sure you agree.

Too bad my youngest has some sort of aversion to them and refuses to wear them for more than a few seconds.   We’re working on him (bribing with doughnuts and other goodies).  He might come around.  Otherwise, they are cute all on their own, even if they’re not attached to a pair of five-year-old footsies.

And, I have a new hat for the holidays:

Knit in the aforementioned Kandinsky hand-spun.  It is a little wild.  But, I love it.  And the hat looks pretty good on, too (considering I’m not really a hat person, this is quite a compliment to myself ;)).

Pattern is a variation of the It All Comes Together beret.  Photos are pre-blocking.  It has smoothed out with blocking and the colours really seem to pop.

Wishing everyone a merry holiday!  Be safe and warm.

Tags: finished, knits, knitting, projects, spinning, wool, yarn

Yes.  This is how it came out:

I like it.  Nice bursts of colour.

Specs:  2-ply, spun worsted at 12.5:1; plied at 14:1; wheel:  Ladybug.  98g / 267 yds.

I’m planning to knit it up into a Woodland Trails Cowl. (It’s a little thin but if it doesn’t work for this pattern, it will work for another cowl, I’m sure).  Right after I knit up some of these.  (Go see, they are too cute for words).

By the way - new yarn available at Oceanwind Knits:  Superwash Bluefaced Leicester sockweight (among other things).  :)  It is super super soft, with a litte nylon for extra durability.

If you’re like me, you’re stuck in the middle of endless snow squalls.  Great knitting/spinning weather.  (It has to be good for something).  Drive safely!

Tags: finished, oceanwind knits, spinning, wool, yarn

… things happen.

Such was the case last evening when I found myself in a position to do ‘whatever’, with the youngest more or less asleep, and hubby & eldest out.  It was a stormy evening, with localized squalls (the first major snow of the season around here) and the 100th Anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens was on CBC.

This all combined well with a quiet evening of spinning.  And, so, this is what happened.

The last Oceanwind Fibre Club offering was a batt based on Kandinsky.  As mentioned previously, I’ve decided to become a member of the club myself, this time around, to push my personal spinning boundaries a little.

My apologies.  I realized partway into the first batt I’d (typcially) forgotten to take a photo during daylight so it could be a little better.

The batts are based on this piece (but also on Kandinsky’s work, in general), entitled Farbstudie Quadrate, 1913:

There are 12 colours in the batt, blended in such a way to emphasize gradations but also hiding little surprise ‘bursts’ throughout.  Fibres include corriedale, alpaca, silk and merino.

I have to admit, although I love making batts, I am still quite a novice when it comes to spinning them.

With this batt in particular, Anne has gone before me which boosted my confidence.  So part of my determination and approach was based on her beautifully spun example.  However, being a little bit of a chicken, I wasn’t sure I was quite ready to go the whole hog and spin a completely transitional yarn.  I debated about doing singles for a transitional shawl or something along those lines, but, in the end, I decided to leave that idea for another time.  So I modified her approach somewhat.

I split each batt into quarters (widthwise, across the grain).  Each quarter is then split into thirds lengthwise (with the grain).  I am spinning each quarter in particular order so I have two gradations from ‘reds to yellows’ and two from ‘yellows to reds’ (each repeated) in each batt, reversing the order for the second batt, planning a 2-ply light fingering yarn.

Here’s the first bobbin (first batt):

I’m hoping for gradual, subtle transitions throughout the yarn.  I’m hoping to spin quite a lot today - NHL hockey starts at 1:30.  ;)

We will see how it comes out, if my approach works (I hope I am not muddying up the colours too much).

One of the joys of spinning - there is usually a surprise included.  :)

Tags: Canada, hockey, roving, snow, spinning, wool, work in progress