Knuckle Down Friday

These past few weeks have flown by as I’ve been preparing for a Craftsy.com class that I’m going to be teaching at the end of this month. The class is about spinning with hand-dyed fibre and I’ve been having a really amazing time working on the course materials. I love seeing the theory behind colour and mixing colour really come to life in handspun and handknit pieces.

I’ve spent about 50 hours spinning… and that’s not including the time that Grace, Carina and Jean have also pitched in to help with the spinning. It’s a LOT of spinning. In fact, I just shipped off 11 kg of fibre, swatches, handspun skeins, and handknit samples today to Colorado in advance of filming. I’m super nervous about being on camera, of course, but I’m trying to counteract that by being super prepared.

While I’ve been working away, lovely things have been happening… including have our Superwash Worsted yarn featured in the brand new issue of Knitscene Accessories. Designer, Erica Jackofsky has created these elegant fingerless mitts with one skein each of Nightshade and Tumbled Stone. See the full preview of all the projects here… The magazine is available online now and will hit newsstands on June 5.

Happy long weekend, fellow Victoria Day observers!

From Russia with Love

Okay, so they’re not actually from Russia.

My first Russian spindle is from Carney’s Turnings, which I picked up at Fibres West about a month ago. And then I became so enamoured with it, I hunted down other spindle makers, finally discovering the amazing Lisa Chan at Gripping Yarn. She’s turned over 1,000 spindles and hosts an Etsy shop here. But of course, due to the popularity of her spindles, the shop is empty. So I convo’d her to ask about having a couple spindles made.

Lisa came back with a HUGE list of exotic woods that she has in stock and ready to make into spindles. She makes recommendations about what woods produce the most balanced spindles and even lists the density of each wood, so that you can make better decisions about what kind of spindle you want. Initially, I was hoping for one in East Indian Rosewood, but it wasn’t available… so I chose Purpleheart (dark red/purple colour), Bloodwood (warm orangey/red colour) and White African Pear (blond). Galina Khmeleva of “Gossamer Threads” spinning-fame, notes that traditional Russian spindles are made from birch which is quite a light wood, so I opted for the White African Pear because it was closest to this. The two darker woods are heavier, but so gorgeous. Each spindle is approximately 33g (just over 1 oz). The shape of each spindle is the same and looks like a large, full paintbrush with a tapered tip.

Lisa’s custom spindle process runs like clockwork from my customer perspective. She is prompt with the emails, turns the spindles, invoices and then ships all in a matter of days (of course, depends on her workload). She also makes French supported spindles as well as an original design called the “Rose” which is a French/Russian hybrid spindle (can be used either supported or suspended). Here’s a drool-worthy collection of her spindle photos.

Armed with Lisa’s spindles and the new spinning video by Galina (from Interweave), I’ve been spinning nearly every night before bed while watching tv. It’s been remarkably productive. I can spin nearly soundlessly and not disturb anyone, and I can spin in bed. It’s awesome.

Supported spindles don’t get along with commercial top fibre preparations… unless you get a short-stapled one and spin from the fold (or something like that). So I’ve been spinning up the batts I carded back at the 2009 SOAR with Abby Franquemont. I sort of wish I had written down what was in these batts, but I think the red one is a combination of merino, camel and sparkle… and the grey one is a mix of alpaca and silk. I think.

I’m hoping to try the crazy Russian plying technique from Galina’s video when I finish filling these spindles. You basically ply your handspun single with a commercially spun silk and wind the freshly plied yarn directly onto a round disc-shaped cardboard bobbin. The bobbins are then steamed to set the yarn and are ready to knit from right away. Hope to be sharing some plied yarn with you in the next several weeks!

Spring Twist Collective

The new Spring issue of Twist Collective is out now and I’m so in love. It’s nearly 70 pages long and packed full of really beautiful, detailed and tailored knitting patterns. There are light cardigans, summer tanks, airy shawls of all shapes, and many fine sock patterns.

Susanna IC also has a couple new shawl designs in the magazine, one of them being Giardina, knit in our Merino Silk Lace (Glacier). It’s a beaded rectangular shawl/stole that is perfect for summer layering. Here’s a close-up of the beadwork…

I’m also in love with Marnie Maclean’s ruffle cardigan, Regent, and Allison Haas’ socks, Asti (I would never put these socks into shoes — they are too pretty).

Now, with more KAL

We loved the SweetGeorgia KAL that ran this past winter, so I was thrilled when Susan (the fabulous Ravelry moderator for our Sweet SweetGeorgia group) suggested we run another one! So the new More SGY KAL/CAL/SAL (that is… knit along, crochet along, or spin along) has begun! This is all the info from the Ravelry thread:

Time for MORE SWEETGEORGIA, am I right? But…wouldn’t it be nice if you could get BONUSES the MORE SweetGeorgia yarn or fiber you used? Well then THIS is the craft-a-long for you!

THE RULES:

• THIS CRAFT-A-LONG IS ONLY FOR SGY YARNS OR FIBER. ONE POST PER ENTRY. You may enter as many times as you want.
• EACH POST MUST CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING:

1. A cast on/start date and photo within the dates of the KAL/CAL/SAL, or a prepping photo for spinners!
2. A finish date and photo added upon completion within the dates of the KAL/CAL/SAL! Completed project, or completed fiber spun up if you are entering as a spinner!

• EACH PROJECT must use greater than 50 percent of a skein or standard fiber bundle of SweetGeorgia yarn or fiber.

Now on to the bonuses!

• BONUS ENTRIES FOR EACH FULL HANK OF SGY used after the first one! So let’s say your sweater takes 4 skeins of fingering weight. You will get one entry for cast on and finish, PLUS three additional entries.
• CREATIVITY WILL BE REWARDED. So if you used 3.75 skeins for your sweater and you make a couple of bracelets and a blanket square with the last .25 skeins, you’ll get an extra full-skein entry as long as you provide photos!!
• Spinners will get a bonus for knitting/crocheting up their SGY handspun during the KAL! So if a spinner posts a prep photo and date, then a final spun fiber skein, THEN a project knit or crocheted with that skein, you get a bonus entry! Pre-spun yarn is not eligible for a bonus entry, sorry. :/
• Spinners will also get a bonus entry for each additional 100 grams of SGY fiber. So if you’ve got a double fiber membership and you spin up both of your fiber bundles, you’ll get a bonus entry for that too.
• Don’t worry, I’ll take care of adding the bonus entries for everyone. So for each entry, please just make one post.

THIS KAL/CAL/SAL RUNS FROM APRIL 1 to JUNE 30!! Fabulous prizes will be announced nearer the deadline!! HAVE FUN!

Enter your posts here: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/sweet-sweetgeorgia/2088880/

First puff

Here’s the first puff of merino bamboo silk spun and plied on the new Arbutus turkish delight. I love it. That is all.