handspun – Page 2 – Sheetar.com

All Things Crafty

By Sheetar 15 February 2012 15 February 2012 0

Spinning and spinning and knitting. Spinning up clay on the wheel, spinning up yarn on a different wheel, and as always, knitting.

Not too long ago, I started going to Cara’s open studio Wednesdays at the Cobb Studio. She’s a wonderful teacher and it’s been an incredible amount of fun getting my hands dirty. I got a quick lesson in throwing clay on a wheel one day when the studio was a little emptier than usual, and I’ve slowly been working on getting better. Just wanted to share a few pieces I’ve made that I’m super happy with so far. The first is a little tea cup. It’s a bit heavy and thick on the bottom, but I absolutely love how the handle came out. The second is a mug with a leaf applied to the side so that you can slip your hand inside and keep your hand warm while you sip on your tea. Unfortunately, I neglected to account for the shrinkage of the clay when it dries, so it came out a little smaller than I expected, but I can still get my fingers inside the little leaf pocket.

For fiber spinning, I’ve spent the last week or so not knitting. I think I may have over-knit recently and my elbow is telling me to take a break. I’ve got two bobbins spun and plied so far, and am working on some 100% silk which is challenging, but AMAZING at the same time. Below, on the left is some superwash merino fiber from Twisted Fiber Art in the colorway, “Maple” and on the right is more superwash merino fiber from PigeonRoof Studios in, “Illuminated Moss.”

Then I have another spun-to-knit project because this month has been all about handspun.

Fiber is from Fiber Optic yarns and is 80% Merino and 20% silk dyed into one big long gradient. The colorway is Gold-Copper-Cinnamon-Espresso.

All spun up! 480 yards, fingering weight, and chain plied to keep the color progression.

Knit into Saroyan! (Ravelry Project Link) The pattern is pretty easy, and the only issue is that it wants to curl up. I thought I had blocked it pretty well, but the garter border at the top still wants to curl under. Other than that, I’m really happy with how this came out and how even the not-so-even handspun knitted up. Can’t wait to wear it out and show it off!

Gloves/Mittens

Owlie Gloves

By Sheetar 7 February 2012 7 February 2012 0

Owlie Gloves! They’re just too cute, and a great way to use up my growing stash of handspun.

First, the Fiber:

Fiber is by Gnomespun and is Polwarth in colorway, “Hidcote” – I picked this up at Rhinbeck in October 2010

Second, the spun yarn:

Yarn was chain plied, and came out to 328 yards. It probably falls between worsted and DK and is pretty slubby and uneven, but it’s got a very handspun quality to it which is perfect for gloves. The unevenness seems to disappear, especially when knit at a smaller/tighter gauge. The yarn is lofty and squishy and perfect for gloves.

Thirdly, the gloves!:

Pattern is Owlie Mitts that I added fingers to so that I’d have gloves. I love fingerless gloves and mitts, but really, it’s my fingers that get cold, and adding fingers to mitts is pretty easy! They fit perfectly. The gauge is pretty tight (think knitting a thick DK yarn on US 1.5 needles), but there’s no way the cold is getting in through these. The beads were sewn on later rather than knitted in since I didn’t have the crochet hook or floss necessary to add them during the knitting. No big deal. Here’s the Ravelry Project Link if you want to see my short bit of notes.

knitting, Socks, Spinning

Go With the Flow Socks

By Sheetar 16 April 2011 16 April 2011 3

Finally, another spun-to-finished project. I’ve been accumulating quite the stash of handspun, and I figured it was time to put some to use. The yarn is dyed by Meg at Twisted Fiber Art, and she’s really quite the magician with dye. The colorway is called, “Intrigue,” and was part of a club Meg ran for 3 months. I spun the superwash merino roving into a thin single and then chain or navajo plied the yarn so that the colors would stay together as they were dyed. I ended up with about 425 yards of fingering weight yarn that was then turned into a really squishy pair of Go With the Flow socks. The pattern knitted up quickly, and I only made a few modifications – worked a plain slip-stitch heel and didn’t turn the work inside out after the heel flap was done. I love the way they came out and refuse to take them off now that the photos are taken. Yeah, it’s almost not-sock season, but that won’t stop me from stocking up for the winter!

Gloves/Mittens

Boscage Mitts

By Sheetar 25 March 2010 7 February 2012 0

I was fortuante enough to participate in another test knit – I’m really getting to love doing these! It’s taken me a while to write up (I know, I know, bad blogger!), but here’s what I’ve got. Expect more updates in the near future – I’ve got a lot of things to tell you about.

Boscage Mitts
Pattern: Boscage Mitts
Designer: Ritsuka Nashi
Needles: US 11 (8mm)
Yarn: Handspun silk/wool blend, approx 10wpi
–Ravelry Project Link–
What an absolutely fabulous pair of mitts! I happened to have this skein of handspun merino/tussah blend that I bought as roving from Cloverleaf Farms at Rhinebeck. It had been spun up for a while, just waiting for the right project to come along. Well, the right project did come along and how right it was. The stitch pattern makes the mitts light and airy while still being warm, and get this, reversible! Ritsuka’s pattern is well thought out, using a tubular cast on which makes the finished mitts look clean and neat. I know it’s not really the season to knit mitts anymore, but you can never be too prepared for another snowpocalypse, now can you? Plus, they knit up quickly – I finished these in one afternoon.