Socks!

Thinking about my 5 mm needles, and how hopefully soon they will be busy, I finished off some socks! Edward has another pair, and I almost have a pair too!!

His are in natural brown merino, and mine are in the finnish wool I spun up from spinning group.

I love the way the colour variations have come through. Next time I think I'll do some navajo plying to make it even more pronounced. Now I have one warm foot watching TV! This is the first sock for me that I've ever made, and it feels so wonderful - soft, warm and a perfect fit. Just what I love about the whole knitting thing!

Our youngest has been saying how he wants a lamb this year. He is four, and on the way to school to drop off the older ones he always talks about the sheep we drive past. Our little ones might still be on the hill too.

So far he has said he wants a lamb who's name is Punkin (pumpkin), and this has been the case for many weeks, but yesterday he decided he wants a little boy lamb called Piglet. How can one not chuckle? Love them so much!

Rethinking

Here is about 800 - 900 g of white merino I decided to spin up instead of spending ages picking bits out of the alpaca. It was bought from the same people who carded the alpaca for me, and it is also quite bitty and there are noils all the way through it. We live and learn!

So anyway, a few years ago I knitted my daughter a cardigan using the Tekapo yarn, and I think it needed 4.5mm needles, and was a fast knit. So I've tried to make this yarn similar, but a bit thicker to hopefully knit on 5mm needles, so the extra big jumper goes fast too!

I was going to use the Elizabeth Zimmerman method to make a raglan jumper using my own calculations, but having spent some time looking at jumpers made for big guys that way, I don't think the formula works as well as I'd like. They look a bit tight around the shoulders, and the neck seems wrong. If I was a good knitter I'm sure I could alter it somehow, but I'm not, so I've just bought the man raglan pattern from knitting pure and simple, and am waiting for it to arrive...Exciting stuff!!

Spinning group

Today I went to a spinning group fairly near where I live.

I really enjoyed it and the people were very nice and helpful. I took my wheel and bits and bobs that go with it, and I was hoping to buy some fibre from some rare breeds if they had any for a pair of socks for myself.

They had so much fibre in so many bags! Some dyed, some naturals, all types of sheep, and even some raw fleeces stashed away. I hope to learn how to spin straight from a raw fleece, and also to fully prepare a sheep's fleece from scratch some time... Maybe after the jumper....

Anyway, I chose some Finnish sheep wool, carded up, but I think it still has a lot of lanolin in it as it was quite sticky in areas.

I found pre drafting it worked a treat.

So here it is, darker brown with some grey/white too.

Its quite soft, I'd say softer than a romney, and spins up so nicely....

...and here's my first bobbin of it. I was looking for an interesting colour, and I think this variegated brown will be just what I'd like for my socks.

Back to it!

Washing some wool, and a little knitting..

I couldn't resist washing the skeins I've spun up so far for the big jumper. I had planned to do the whole lot at the end, but it was too tempting, and I could always start a swatch...

So here is the wool in the hot soapy water, and I then squeezed it and shocked it into a sink of cold water, and repeated. I also like to smash it onto a towel on the floor before hanging it to dry.

Drying in the airing cupboard above.
I also had a little knit today - it feels so relaxing to me, plus I can watch the telly at the same time, which I can't do while picking millions of little bits out of roving while I spin.

This was supposed to be a luxurious pair of socks for me made of the finest 19 micron merino, spun to knit on 5mm needles. I wanted a thicker sock than regular sock yarn gives (to wear with my sandals - I know, I know).

So I cast on about 52 stitches and started off, then realised that I would be knitting a larger sock than I wanted, so pulled it apart and did 40 stitches instead.

However this is still too many stitches so my super man will now be having another pair of socks soon!

I am trying to knit for myself, really!

Those needles are a lovely warm wood, and luckily they came in a pack of five as I have already managed to lose one. Just as well I like to knit socks with four needles.

New hand carders!!

I just can't work out why the photos are in the wrong order, but anyway, here is a bit of my own washed alpaca which now I have some brilliant hand carders I can do myself!

Its all jumbled up in the bag and just a few sweeps of those huge carders and its all straight and fluffy.

I've rolled it up into a rolag for spinning later. Such a shame I didn't have the hand carders earlier - there's not a bit in this wool! I think I'll use these clean and soft bits for the collar and sleeve ends of the big jumper so he doesn't get prickled.

What else are exercycles for?
So here is some of what I've spun so far, being modeled by my daughter. Its very soft.

My Spin story

Firstly I must explain that I came to spinning because the price of knitting wool was just so high for good quality. So I decided to make my own.

I started with a drop spindle and instructions from youtube and away I went.

I loved it!

So I purchased some romney wool, and a bit of merino, and still I was really enjoying the whole process.

I knitted up a hat and some slippers, and then my husband said he'd really appreciate a jumper.

I decided my drop spindle just wasn't up to the job, so bought an old Ashford Traditional wheel after much searching.

We took it apart, and sanded the whole thing down, and then oiled it with beeswax and olive oil. We put it together and I still use a bit of string for the drive band. It is brilliant!

Anyhow, by now I had bought a little bit of carded alpaca, and the colours were just lovely, but sadly I didn't have enough for a jumper of such size!

So began the long search for the right shade of alpaca fleece.

The carded alpaca on offer was still too expensive, so I decided I would just have to learn to wash and card the fleece myself.

So I sent off for a fleece, and I bought a (rubbish) pair of old carders, and I just couldn't do it. The carders are very small, and the teeth are far too coarse, so I sent the fleece off to a mill to be carded.

When I asked about whether I needed to wash or sort the fleece, they said, no, the machine would sort it out!

So can you believe my dismay when the big bag of fibre returned all mashed up with bits of twig and dirt etc. Terrible.

Anyhow, my super husband says he wants it as his jumper anyway, and he doesn't care about the bits.

I'm not so sure about this, but I'll give it a go all the same. I have a feeling his jumper will be worn into the garage, under cars and other such jobs, so perhaps its just as well.

Anyway the top photos show the arrival of the alpaca fluff, and spinning underway, and a skein of brown alpaca awaiting a wash.

I hope to try some new types of fibre over time. I think I need a pair of socks.

So this is just a little journal to document my progress and mistakes along the way in the world of fibre craft.

First day

I like leaves, blossoms, the sun and our family.

I've recently found the world of the blog, and am so glad about it! I feel the bloggers I've read are like friends, and how amazing to connect to people all over the world.

So here goes...

What have we done today?

Made teepees for our peas