Thursday, October 4, 2007

Handspun Heaven

I was in such a hurry to start knitting some of my handspun that I have no pics of the singles or of the few hours that the yarn was actually in a skein.
Using my ashford traveller spinning wheel, I filled two small bobbins with 100% wool northern lights pencil roving in the picasso colorway. I then plied the two singles on my jumbo flyer. Each single took me about a week to spin, and it took about 3 days to ply it all. The yarn weighs a little over 4 oz, and I ended up with about 355 yds of beautiful sock yarn.
I was amazed at the way the colors blended and changed as I spun up the singles, and it was so much fun to see what colors would end up together after plying... and now I get to see the colors change again as the yarn is knit.
This is the first project that I have started using my own handspun, and knitting these socks makes me unbelievably happy! I chose a the jeweled steps pattern from Cat Bordhi's "New Pathways in Sock Knitting." I just finished the whirlpool toe, and I am very close to reaching the arch expansion section. When these socks are finished, they will be my first completed toe-up socks. The whirlpool toe was new to me, and I really like how it turned out. The colors make me more ready than ever for fall weather and the changing leaves.