Look at all this yarn!  I made it!

I even learned to Navajo ply* for the roving I dyed.   It’s fun and I like the three-ply yarn it makes.  It’s tricky to manage how twisty it gets, though, but I’m learning.

I used the Lazy Kate to double-ply the gray, and that was really easy.   So much easier than when I would do odd things to shoeboxes to ply with my spindle.

I haven’t set the twist on any of this yet, and I still haven’t finished spinning  all the dyed roving yet.  After I ply this bobbin, I’ll probably get another 1/2-3/4 bobbin full.  It’s interesting that the colors’ saturation vary quite a bit, but I really like that.

One of my challenges has been getting the whorl speed ratio thingie through my head.  Finally, after much reiteration and B’s help, I can tentatively say that smaller whorls make the wheel twist more without my having to treadle like crazy.  Very helpful for the tiny yarn I keep spinning.  I can’t seem to make a larger yarn evenly, but that’s ok.  I like little yarns, and it keeps me out of trouble.

*I kind of learned.  I watched some videos on YouTube, was mystified, went through the steps very closely, and figured out how to do it in a way that made sense to me.  The idea is that you start with a loop of your yarn tied to itself, then pass the yarn through the loop, making a subsequent loop.  Over and over.  FAST.  And if you want to preserve your color changes, you can slow down the wheel and make the loop end where the color changes.  It’s very cool!

First, here’s a closeup shot of the infamous Etsy Yarn. It’s not really infamous in and of itself (the shipping debacle, however…), but I like the idea of yarn infamy.It is an amazing fiber combo. Really looks like silk to me.

The color is really subtle and pretty, too. I’d love to hear about any projects you’d recommend for it.

And here’s a nice big closeup of the Wisp. I was trying to get a good picture of how truly light and airy it is. It’s hard to capture motion and weight in photos, so hopefully this gets close.

You may ask yourself, what in Elizabeth Zimmerman‘s name is THAT?

Well, here’s the thing. I swatched with size 2 needles, and the cast on requires a size 1-2 sizes larger. And I only had a nice set of double pointed needles in size 4. My TWO interchangable sets, which are full of false promises of never needing to buy needles again, only go down to 5 or 6 I believe. Anyway, I grabbed one of the dpn’s, threw a rubber band on one end, and merrily cast on.

Those orange bands? They’re sport weight stitch markers, one every 10 stitches. The yarn I’m using is THAT tiny. And that needle is about 5 inches long. The picture is pretty close to life-sized.

Yes, I’m planning on seeing my eye doctor very soon.

Last weekend I finished the knitting of the Wisp! I blocked it very loosely, as I am really not well versed in lace blocking. Note to self: read up on blocking. I just washed it several times and pressed the water out by rolling it up in a towel, then I laid it out on a dry towel and sort of tugged it into shape. Part of why I think it’s a tad misshapen is that I started the very first lace repeat not knowing how to actually do a yarn over… *sigh* Sometimes I think I already know how to do a thing, then realize later, after knitting in an unfroggable mohair yarn, that I am just going to suck it up and keep going. So I think it actually came out a tiny bit narrower than the pattern called for. It’s ok, it’s really pretty anyway. Still need to get some buttons for it, then I can send it to my Mom!

I’m also chugging away on B’s second Cigar glove. For some reason, I fall asleep after a couple of rows whenever I try to knit on it. I think the small round-and-round motion is hypnotizing me! But I will finish it. You can’t stop me. Plus, I have an incentive now. I should really try to finish it before my new yarn arrives for my next project.

Next project: The Secret of the Stole ii. I’m really excited! I have never participated in a Knit A Long (KAL) before, nor have I tackled a lace stole other than Wisp. Yes, self, you really WILL need to study up on blocking. For serious.

So, the yarn is a gorgeous aqua shaded affair, merino and seacell laceweight. It’s got a bit of a sheen to it. The SotSii instructions mention it being suited for earthtones (meh… I prolly wouldn’t wear it) and a smooth, unfluffy yarn, with no beading. Works for me. The UK seller is sending it out today, so I’m not sure I’ll have it in time to swatch according to schedule – I may swatch using some other laceweight I got for Christmas from KnitPicks. That’ll at least give me a guess.

I really don’t mind swatching. Sometimes it is frustrating, but I guess I’m more of an obsessive knitter, and I really want to know what the fabric is going to look like when I’m done, rather than knit the whole thing, decide I don’t think the fabric is showing off the yarn to it’s fullest beauty, and then never look at the object again. I do tend to get erratic results from swatching, so that’s another reason. I often have to go down 2 or more needle sizes. A lot of people happily live in a swatch-free zone, and if that works for them, great! Doesn’t much work for me.