Silk hankies have been popping up everywhere since the Yarn Harlot’s post about them earlier this year.  Another great resource on how to spin them is Amy Singer’s account of spinning silk hankies on Knitty, so I thought they’d be a great beginning spinning project.

Well, I finally got around to dying the silk caps (similar to hankies but a different shape) that I bought to learn spinning a while ago.  Super fun!  I read these two (1 . 2) tutorials a while ago, but just sort-of winged it.

I love them!

A friend is having a baby in a few months and of course I wanted to make her something.  When we last talked she didn’t know if it would be a boy or a girl, and anyway, who says baby knits have to be in blue, pink, cream, etc.

I love this pattern, it’s squishy and subtle with really interesting shaping. But there are so many ends to weave in! I’m also looking forward to a few more designs by Tora Frøseth including the Mind Reader.

The yarn was a whole skein leftover from my sweater and a new skein from umschlagWolle.  I love both, and also seeing the same yarn in different projects.  Luckily I have more of the green, plus a few more colorways to try.

pattern: Angle . Tora Frøseth . Tora Frøseth Design

yarn: Composition Book Grey. Merino/Bamboo . Madelinetosh

and Smaragd . BritSock . UmschlagWolle

From start

Q

to finish!

pattern: Pi Shawl . Elizabeth Zimmerman . Knitting Workshop

or

yarn: Nosferatu + Bronte (Custom colorway) . Merino Lace . ViolaViola

more details here.

I got a lovely mixed-fibre batt from Hedgehog Fibres a few months ago and finally got around to spinning it up.  To tell the truth, I was worried since I hadn’t spun in a while, but this was super smooth-sailing.  Must be the fibres which were very smooth and lofty!

If I’d had enough singles I would have knit this new Cladonia from Kirsten Kapoor of Through The Loops, which is just stunning in a single color.

But it was only one batt.

What shall it become?

I needed one legwarmer (yes, weird, but i only get cramps in one leg) so I used my handspun.

yarn:  Corriedale Top . Hedgehog Fibres

pattern: see notes

My first knitting with handspun. Very dense and warm!

The colors remind me of a sunset by Joseph Mallord William Turner.

This is the Featherweight Cardigan by Hannah Fettig, and it must be one of the most popular sweaters on Ravelry.  Logical, since it’s very simple, yet easy to adapt with different cuff and collar textures.

For my version I made a lot of little tweaks, and the collar is totally different than in the original, using welting and short-rows.  It’s an idea I’ve been kicking around for a design of my own and thought it would be good to try it out here.  There are definitely some kinks to be worked out with the exact stitch counts, but after a nice wet blocking everything is drapey and lays nicely.

The yarn is by Madelinetosh in a limited edition  merino/bamboo fingering base which is really lovey. When wet it gets a little scraggly looking, and it freaked me out a bit, but after drying it is shiny and lovely again.  I bought it about a year ago and the yarn’s been waiting to be this sweater since then.

It’s really a shame they didn’t decide to keep this line, but I assume the bamboo doesn’t play well with their dyes.  Since I’m not a huge fan of hand-dyed yarn knit up, the bamboo actually helps make the striping much subtler.  The color is composition book grey, a slightly purpleish hue which reminds me of herons.

pattern: Featherweight Cardigan . Hannah Fettig . Knitbot

yarn: Composition Book Grey. Merino/Bamboo . Madelinetosh

[store-bought dough] + [home-made pastry cream] + [fresh strawberries] = YUM

I could not resist these sweet buttons…

Someday they will be attached to a frothy white and lemon confection, something reminiscent of Jarling’s Custard Cup!

Yummy!

Mmm … these smell delicious!

After spinning two mini-skeins of thick thin mess, the first of which is below,  I finally got the hang of things (or so I thought…) and started spinning a little less thickly thinly and messily.

So, I dyed up a lump (maybe 1.5oz) of my BFL top into what I hoped would be a gradient, though it came out more splotchy than I expected. The dye really needs to be pushed through the top to take up evenly.

The plan is to make Caller Herrin’ by Kate Davies in just white and a blue-gradient handspun.  Since the pattern calls for three dark colors and three background colors, I’m hoping the handspun makes up for that interest through texture

Unfortunately, towards the bluer end of the roving, things started to snap, break and fall apart all over the place.  Not sure if my dye job felted the top, or if my efforts to mix the colors better broke a lot of the fibers, but by the end things were getting very frustrating. In fact, I think my frustration had a lot to do with the tension problems of the yarn as well. That part of the yarn is still drying, but I think these two skeins are looking pretty happy.

They will stay as singles, since I haven’t yet plied anything, and these are about the right weight for the pattern as are.

And the thick-thin will just add to the rustic look… right?