First shawl done!

Here it is! Handspun BFL on my Little Gem in Amore from Flawful Fibers. The shawl is the Swallowtail from the fall '06 IK. I'm posting these pictures of it blocking, because my camera just broke so that's probably all I'll have for a while...sigh. I love it though and am very proud of it. Oh and the second pic is without flash to show off the beads which are instead of the nupps. :) There are also some you can barely see in the points on the edging, I added them there too in between the yarnovers.

Update on Luna Moth shawl!

Well, it's slow going on the Luna Moth Shawl that I started with my onion-skin dyed handspun leicester longwool fleece. I've been sidetracked by other projects. It's coming along nicely though. I have 2 more pattern repeats to do. I'm pretty pleased with how it looks.

Legends of the Shetland Seas Done and Done

To re-cap. Started June 2007. Spun a single in BFL and a single in merino from Lisa Souza in her "Petroglyph" colorway on my single treadle Schacht and then plied them using the lace flyer on our Majacraft Rose with the fat core bobbins. Got lace weight at approx 36 WPI and knit Hazel Carters "Legends of the Shetland Seas" on size 2.5 mm needles. I like how it came out :-) Happy Holidays to everyone!

Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl

Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl, by Susan Pierce Lawrence
Yarn: Handspun BFL, Antigua colorway, fingering wt, approx 375 yds, fiber from Sakina Needles
Needles: US5/3.75mm, KnitPicks Options circs
Finished Size: 56”w x 26”

Details on my BLOG.

Legends of the Shetland Seas Stole (It's Edging Time)

So now both ends are done and it's just the edging that needs to be completed. In my house it's know as "endless edging" since it feels like it takes forever. However, in this one instance, I promise that this sucker is going to be done before the end of December unless I break an arm or something. The picture where both sides are shown has the more accurate colors. I'm not much of a photographer and a lot of these shots are at night with a flash so often colors are not "true". The yarn I spun is not always consistent. Some sections are thicker than others but over-all, it's looking pretty. It will be interesting to wash it and block it. I hope the lace will show better once it's blocked. Good evening and Good Knitting/Spinning!

Woohoo! A shawl finally.

Almost. Here I am done with the first lace pattern for the Swallowtail shawl. I finally decided on that pattern because I wasn't sure if I would have enough for my first choice, Ene's Shawl. So I am knitting on 6's due to the thicker yarn and it's coming out gorgeous if I do say so myself.I really love the striping that is going on, and hope it continues in the border as well. I'm starting that now and am really exciting to finally meeting the goal of this spin/knit along after so long and several false starts. :)

Cleite Shawl in handspun alpaca

Yarn: Handspun alpaca from Wooly Wonka, 2-ply lace to fingering weight, 286+ yards, spun on the Lendrum DT, fast flyer
Needles: Addi Lace, US3/3.25mm
Pattern: Cleite Shawl, MimKnits
Started: November 23, 2007
Completed: November 30, 2007
Finished Size: 46” across, 22” deep

More details on my blog posts here, here, here, and here.

Oh spinning ADD

So I can't remember what I did in my last post, but I've started spinning two different lace yarns meaning to knit a shawl for this spin along/knit along. Neither of them are done because of beginner's mistakes. So I spun something new. It's 4 ounces of bfl, which is my new favorite fiber.

This was the original roving:
And this is how it spun up. 600 yards of a fingering weight yarn. Not sure of the WPI, probably from my estimates, 17 or 18? (I need to find a ruler...) I'm going to knit the swallowtail shawl from it. I have yet to knit one and I think this will work out great.Right now it's soaking and I'm about to go hang it to dry! I can't wait to knit it up.

ETA: Ok I went and looked back to see my last post. The merino silk is being spindle plied due to breakage and is taking forever... I have finished spinning the pink merino but it's under-plied and I need to fix it (ugh). AND I have a new wheel after all! Majacraft Little Gem. It's great for lace and I love it SO much.

It looks crooked in this pic, but it's not, it's just my ever-so-talented skills at picture taking.Oh large bobbins how I love thee...

A Mobius

No, it is not as refined as other recent posts but yes, it fits my style and lifestyle perfectly! The Mobius shawl sets on my shoulders just right and it is warm without being heavy. I am wearing it tonight to our local High School's Championship Football game.........it will be just right with my jeans and a light sweater under it!

I do have a 'finer' shawl in the works, but I keep ripping it out.......I will perservere.

My spinning on this project is still progressing (very slowly). But I finally took my original sample and swatched it up to see what it would look like. I'm pretty happy with the result (more photos on the blog):


It won't be Frost Flowers and Leaves, I think that I would prefer a rectangular shawl and I'm also sure I won't have the appropriate yardage for the original - but I have a 'thing' for this stitch pattern, so I'd love to use it somehow.

I think it's reasonable to assume that I'll finish the yarn by the end of the year; I've got a few more ounces of the merino/tencel to go, which is progressing very slowly; and then I think it will need to sit for a bit before I ply since I've been working on it for so long!

I'm loving the inspiration from all of your progress and FO shots :)

One End Done (Legends of the Shetland Seas Stole)

Well it has been a long time since I posted. The "Legends" stole went to the back burner while I finished other lace projects but I have resumed knitting on it. The Center has been done and now one end is also completed. See above. 2 ply BFL and Merino singles from fiber purchased from Lisa Souza . Now to do the other end.

It's dryyyying!!!!

It's so big that we had to fold it in half.

waiting to block

The Cap Shawl is all done. I finished yesterday but, it's waiting to be blocked. The only spot big enough in the house where it won't be stepped on is my parents bed and that won't be completely free for use tomorrow (my house is filled with people and dogs). So, I'll take picture on Tuesday if the weather is good. I would have pictures right now, but unblocked it looks like a giant mess. I know it'll all be straightened out when I block it. I'm already picking out my next handspun shawl but, before that I've got a little bit of Christmas knitting to do and I'm thinking I'll knit one out of commercial laceweight too.

Shetland Triangle Finished

Here is my Shetland Triangle shawl that I finished from my handspun.

More details can be found on the blog.

Indigo Dying

This is Corriedale dyed at the WWPHS guild retreat last year.



Spun to lace weight 1200 yds. I love the yarn. It is in the process of becoming a Wing of the Moth Shawl.
The wheel is a Louet S45 tiny, light weight and efficient a big ugly but I love it!
More details in my blog Yorksett Arts & Crafts.

Fast Forward a few hours, here are the pictures of the shawl. Just love the little bumps. Too bad they will be blocked out.....or do they have to?

Spiderweb Shawl is Complete!

Just in time for Halloween, I have finished my Spiderweb shawl!




The complete details can be found on my blog

Re-Intro

Hi All,

It's been awhile since I've last posted on this blog. Way back when, I was torn between spinning some natural colored punta roving I had in my stash or spinning a blend from Paradise Fibers. I ended up spinning both, but only have a picture of the Punta to show for my efforts. Sadly I've yet to knit with
either/or. Although I've been knitting more and more with my handspun, I still wanted a project that I can detail on this blog. Well, ask, and you shall receive. I found my project via the Mystic Waters KAL on yahoo. Mystic Waters is a mystery shawl knitalong. Clues are given out weekly. From there I took it a step further, and decided to spin to knit. Here are some pictures detailing my work thus far

8 oz Merino Top from Little Barn. I spun up a small portion, just to get started knitting in time for the first clue, which was released last WED I yielded around 293 y (2 ply) My plied yarn measures 16wpi in "most" places. Ha. And, finally the knitting. Here's clue 1 all done, patiently waiting for Clue 2 I'm having a blast so far. I think I have enough yarn to get me through 1 more clue, and to the spinning wheel I shall return. The pattern required about 1320y of yarn.


Thanks for letting me share!

Necia

Green Over-dyed Mobius

I have admired the works on this blog for months and am pleased to join up. I have been inspired by the work presented here and I purchased this blend of wool and mohair on-line just to be able to join in with your KAL!

The 8 oz of roving came as a blend in yellows but when finished, the yarn didn't thrill me-a bath in the crock pot with some green dye did the trick! I spun the yarn into a light, worsted weight yarn on my Ashford Joy wheel and am knitting it up quite quickly because the pattern is a cinch to memorize. (I am knitting up the mobius shawl from a pattern in the current copy of the Creative Knitting Mag p 46).

Returning to the old yarn

So after getting distracted and getting this:

I finally got to plying this:

Finally! A Project to Work On!

When I joined this group, I went thru my stash to see what I already had spun up. I came up with one skein, single ply between a lace and fingering weight. It was from BFL that I dyed and out of 4 oz, there are approx. 706 yards. I have been looking at this skein and also looking at patterns to see what I wanted to do with it. Then I read Stephanie's post mentioning the MysticWatersKAL and it was an "AHA" moment. I just loved the name of the shawl and the color of the skein seemed to fit. However, I need around 1200 meters. So...once again I dug in my boxes...( you have to realize, I made a recent move to a new state so a lot of my stash is still buried in boxes). I not only found beads which will match but another ball of roving that I dyed at the same time. Serendipity!!
This is my skein already wound and the roving I have yet to spin. If I spin to the same thickness as before, I should have a wee bit more than needed. Keep your fingers crossed! I am really looking forward to knitting this shawl! I'll keep updates here and on my blog. I am fortunate to have found this group. You all provide great inspiration! Thanks!

Happy spinning and knitting,

Lee aka BAAbins

That's a wrap!

When I bought some beautiful Optim from the ever helpful Mandie at Ewe Give Me the Knits (don't you love that name), she assured me it was soft - boy was she right.

I planned to dye it a specific way, with a deep dark teal going through to a light sea green, and it took the Ashford dye really well. Plopped long long long strands of the roving in the dye pot in Dark Teal and with the section on the top that didn't settle in I poured over some Teal/Yellow.




Spun carefully to keep the colour graduation, I did countless happy dances in the loungeroom and forced my Wool Widowed Husband to 'feel how soft this is'.

After much swatching and knitting - I wasn't too happy with the result as I had another 'vision' of what I wanted.

The end result, after a skein was used on my Ashford Knitters Loom, can be seen on my flickr page - but here is a teaser.


The set of flickr photos can be found here if you want to see all the photos.

Half Way

The first half of the Honeybee Stole is finished. I couldn't resist blocking it so I could really see what it looks like.



I'm very pleased with it. This is a symmetrical stole worked from the centre outward so, with the first half successfully completed, I anticipate no problems with the second half. Now I need to get busy and finish spinning that second package of Black Rainbow Glitter from Aurelia.

Here's a little close-up of a modification I am doing. I'm adding beads to the side and end edges. They are the "oil slick" colour, I think referred to as "dark aurora borealis", and they match the glitter in the handspun perfectly.

Also, instead of the "bind off loosely in knit" I'm using a great bind-off I learned when doing the Swallowtail Shawl. It makes for a very stretchy yet tidy edge.

K2, *transfer the 2 stitches on the right needle back to the left needle and then K2tog through the back loop. K1 and repeat from* around.

FO: Scarf with Striped Border from Weldon’s Vol 5

I’ve got a small FO to share, details on the knitting HERE.

This easy scarf was knit with Ashland Bay Merino/Tencel 70/30, spun to a 2-ply sport/DK weight, 16wpi, about 400yds and 3.5oz, on a Louet Victoria.

I used the smallest whorl on the regular flyer at 12:1, and low to medium tension to spin the singles with a fairly high twist. It's a standard 2-ply, with a bit lower twist than the singles for a soft drapey yarn.