FO: Blueberry Brambler

Pattern: Brambler by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Handspun wool, dyed at Halcyon Yarns, ~4 oz, 240 yds, 12-14 wpi, singles spun on a Golding 1.4 oz handspindle, plied on wheel at 10:1.
Started/Finished: June 21/July 16, but not blocked until 8/21 (!)
Commments: Anne wrote in her blog about how addictive this pattern was, and she wasn't kidding! I raced through most of this in just a few days, ran out of yarn while in New England, and had to wait to get home to spin up the 0.3 ounces I had left. It made just enough yarn for 38 repeats of the pattern instead of the recommended 36.

The only thing I would change, in retrospect, is the cast on/cast off. I cast on with the backwards loop method, hoping for a loose edge, and bound off with my usual lace/sock cuff bindoff. To say they don't match would be an understatement. So the next time I make this scarf (and there will definitely be a next time), I'll put a bit more thought into matching the two edges.

Kudos to Anne for a beautiful and extremely well written (as always)  pattern!

More shots:

Boo likes it too...

I love swaps

Even though this is the first one I've ever done. What could be better then getting a big pile of goodies in the mail out of the blue?

My Hush Hush Handspun Hootenanny loot from Liz:

1) a beautiful skein of greeny bluey orangey 2-ply handspun loveliness that is going to be a winter hat for me
2) a 4 oz braid of handdyed domestic wool from Poppy Flower Fibers
3) a cute sheep card
4)2 oz of handdyed bombyx silk (!) from Miss. Babs
5) some fizzy bath treats
6) last, but not least, some sock yarn leftovers for the blanket!

What fun! A new fiber purveyor, a new fiber type (what in the everloving heck am I going to do with that silk? I can't spin it - it's too gorgeous!), cute sheep and sock yarn scraps.

Thank you so much Liz! I can't wait for the next round.

The swap package is on the way...

I sent off my first swap package today, and let me tell you it was a near thing.

I love this yarn, and I want to keep it and display it on my kitchen table for the next ten years:

It's soft and squishy and the colors are To. Die. For. (you know, if you're one of us who has a thing for blues).

This is a handpainted Targhee top from Woodland Woolworks, in the colorway "Winter Sky". Spun/plied (navajo plied) at 10:1 on a ST folding Lendrum. 4 oz, ~290 yds, 13 wpi, making in approximately sport weight. I tried to overply a bit and then gave it a fulling wash (hot/cold/hot/cold/hot/cold), so it came out very springy!

I'm hoping there's enough here for my swap partner to get a pair of socks. Or maybe some mittens. Anyway, if she doesn't like it, I will pay for her to ship it back to me.

As for TS Edouard, he pulled a Rita* and all we got was a bit of a breeze and some good soaking rain, which was desperately needed. May the rest of the season go as well!

* pulling a Rita means that the hurricane/storm makes a beeline for Houston and, at almost the last possible moment, swerves and hits the poor folks on the TX-LA border. Thankfully this time, it was a much smaller storm.

Shhhhh! Secret spinning

While I haven't been blogging very much of late, I have been busy with projects. On Sunday I finally finished the singles for my H^4 swap pal (Hush Hush Handspun Hootenanny). They're now resting so when I ply I don't end up tearing my hair out, but here's a peek:

Fiber - Handpainted Targhee in "Winter Sky"

I split the top lengthwise into six more-or-less equal sections, did a bit of predrafting, and spun away.

Six of these

turned into this.

Like my previous experience with this fiber, the singles are pretty thin, so I'm hoping for a fingering weight when all is said and done. But it's lovely soft stuff. I'm going to have a hard time parting with it, but I've got 2 lbs of undyed Targhee sitting in my spinning stash, waiting for the right project. Since this stuff seems to spin pretty thin, I've been thinking that I could spin it up and dye it for a colorwork sweater - maybe this?

Some tropical island vibes for Friday

Sand, turquoise blue water, green palm trees, fluffy clouds, stunning skies

Brilliantly luscious, 18 micron merino wool, colorway Maldives, handdyed by Adrian, for the Hello Yarn Fiber Club. I think this was December's offering, and it's been hiding in the closet for too long.

When the latest issue of Spin Off arrived last week, I was suddenly obsessed with Theresa's lined mittens (Rav link). Devil and Boo need mittens. Clearly. So I pawed through the fiber stash and pulled out this stuff. I split the roving (more or less) in half lengthwise, spun it densely, and chain plied to maintain the stripes.
Stats:
Spun/plied at 10:1, worsted (short forward draw).
2.9 oz/81 g, 155 yds, 11 wpi post-wash (hot/cold/thwack fulling method)

I think I'll pair it with either some Nature Spun sport leftover from Turkish Walrus (the blue-purple) or with some superwash merino I got in Italy and used for a rollneck sweater for Devil (also blue-purple). It's either that, or break down and bust out the dyes to get some custom colorway for the lining. Probably faster to use the stash yarn...

I think it will match pretty well, and it should be the same weight. And there's still 2 oz of this fiber left to spin up. I'm pretty sure I can get a pair for Devil out of this skein, but two pairs is a bit dubious. The other 2 oz will probably end up as Boo mittens. And maybe they'll actually need them somewhere (not too far) down the line.