FF: 3-plies, as far as the eye can see

The second experiment in my exploration of selling handspun yarn came in the form of two Spunky Eclectic tops I'd been eyeing for a while, and was inspired by my friend Caro, the Queen of the Three Ply.

Fiber: on the left, SE Panda (60% superwash merino/30% bamboo/10% nylon) in "Blue Moon", on the right, SE superwash merino in "Emerald Isle", both purchased on my first visit to Amy's bricks and mortar store in August of 2009.

Spun/plied: 15:1/12:1 and 15:1/15:1 respectively, both spun worsted, with a short forward draw. I prepped each top by splitting it into three equal lengths, and then stripping each piece into 6 sections. I spun each length on to one bobbin and then 3-plied.

Stats: 241 yds and 144 yds respectively (might have to double check that second measurement). Approximately DK weight on both.

Now for the experiment part. I spun up the Panda willy nilly, and loved every minute of it. The finished yarn is smooth and drapey and I desparately want more so I can make a tank top out of this stuff. The bamboo gives it a lovely shine.

When I pulled out the other superwash merino, I decided to keep track of how long it took me to spin it up.

Not counting prep time, it took me four hours to spin the yarn. I finished it by soaking in warm wat, spinning out the extra water in the washing machine and hanging to dry. So, this skein (if actually 144 yds) works out at £55 (including cost of fiber), which is £0.38/yd. Which falls into the range I've found. So now I've just got to see what the cost is for a 2 ply, and I should have my bases covered. Although if I spun woolen, it might end up being a bit faster...

Travelling

Tomorrow we hop on a plane and head westward for a couple of weeks, so today I have been dealing with the age-old question of which projects to bring. This is a serious consideration - you want to bring a good number and variety of projects so that you don't get bored, but also don't run out of things to do. Running out of knitting might resort to a panic-driven yarn buying spree the likes of which Himself could not forgive! So, I've spent some time thinking about what to bring with me. And here's the pile:

Not actually all the bad, given the circumstances. There's the self-designed sweater that needs only a sleeve to be finished (and the pattern needs to go out to testers by Friday, but that's a different problem). This is the key project for tomorrow's7.5 hr flight, and I'm hoping to land in Boston with a mostly finished sleeve.

There's the August socks, which are lagging woefully behind. I was making good progress, but had to rip everything out and start on smaller needles to get something that might vaguely fit my foot. However, that means they're now being knit on US 0/2.0 mm needles. Metal needles. I know they're technically allowed, but given that my last trip with metal pointy sticks resulted in my being held up at security for a while, I think these will be going in the hold instead.

Third up is my guilty project: the Dahlia Cardigan from the latest issue of Interweave Knits. I couldn't help casting on this weekend, but I've finished the interesting bit (the lace panel on the back). I predict that this one is going to languish now that I've hit the stockinette stage, but maybe it will be good car knitting. This one is also on metal needles, so it will get packed in the checked bags. Hopefully TSA is a bit more understanding/less paranoid about metal needles then the Brits, so I can work on it on the way home.

Lastly, I've packed a spinning project: My oldest remaining Hello Yarn Fiber Club stash, from June 2009. This is Shetland in the colorway "Sour Fig". And my trusty Golding spindle. I haven't tried a spindling project on a trip before, and I'm looking forward to it. I think I'm going to try a 6 strand cable with this fiber - three 2-ply yarns plied together. Means I need to split up the fiber by weight before we leave though. Another item for this evening's list.

I'm looking forward to some quality family time, both with the girls and Himself, as well as with various (grand)parents, brothers/sisters (aunts/uncles) and friends. Happy August!

Fiber Friday: more singles

I mentioned a while back that I was having some issues in the day job. Those issues are not yet resolved, sadly, mostly due to the crapshoot that is the research funding roulette wheel. I've been thinking very seriously about starting some kind of fibery business venture. With that in mind, I've been playing around with different types of handspun yarn, trying to get an idea of how much time it takes me to spin up X number of yards. The first ventures have centered around singles yarns.

This is the skein of Corriedale singles I spun up during the Tour de Fleece. 1.5 hours, 227 yds. Not too bad for 90 minutes work, but my hands and wrists were pretty tired by the end of it. So I wanted to try again with a different fiber, just to see how it went.

Fiber: Hello Yarn Merino in "Harmonia"
Spun at 8.5:1, 282 yds.

The ratio was a bit high for the final yarn - I wanted to add a bit more twist then I did with the Corriedale, given the shorter staple length of the merino, but the thin bits are a bit overtwisted. It will probably come out fine in the knitting, but we'll see. I also fulled the yarn when I finished it - three shifts between hot and cold water baths until the single started sticking together. The finished yarn is nice and fluffy where it's not overtwisted.

This skein took me 2 hours to do, but my right wrist and hand were still a bit unhappy. I didn't do any predrafting with the fiber, just stripped it into sections (6 I think). I think that next time I'll do a bit more predrafting just to loosen the fiber up a bit more and make it a bit easier to spin into a single. I also might try to keep the single a bit more even next time and see if that helps the wrists.

If I were going to charge £10/hour for my labor, these skeins would end up at £30 and £35 respectively with the cost of the fiber, which works out to £0.13 and £0.12/yard. From my research, singles yarns are being priced at anywhere from £0.10-0.50/yard. That's quite a spread, with art yarns running on the higher end of that scale.What would you spend for handspun yarn? Would you rather get a full 4 oz or standardized skeins (i.e. 100 yard skeins)? Would you rather thick and thin singles, even singles or multiplied yarns? Please do leave a comment if you have any thoughts along these lines. Thanks!

The last of the Tour de Fleece yarns

A horrible picture of a nice yarn

Fiber: merino/alpaca/camel/silk from Krafty Koala
Spun/plied: 12:1
Stats: 278 yds/4.5 oz, about sport weight
Comments: I was drawn to two things about this fiber - the blend and the dark, gloomy colors. Maybe it was the fact that it was grey and rainy and cold during Knit Nation...in any event, I was excited to spin this up, and jumped right in during the Tour de Fleece.

I split the top in half across the length and then split each half into four strips - this seems to have become my standard fiber prep these days. I used to do a lot more spinning from the full width of top from one end going straight through to the other end, but I've been trying to mix up and blend the colors in a lot of the stuff I've been spinning recently, to move away from dramatic stripey-ness. It remains to be seen if that approach has been actually successful.

Back to the fiber: I had a tough time spinning this, largely due to the difference in staple length between the various fibers. The merino and alpaca and silk were all ok, but I kept ending up with little puffs of short, fuzzy, presumably camel fibers that wouldn't stay integrated in the top. The silk was also pretty obvious in the blend and not terribly well mixed in. To be perfectly honest, I should have expected this problem ahead of time, just given the composition of the top, but I don't think I'll try a similar combination again.

I was hoping to end up with enough yardage for a Bitterroot shawl, but fell well short. The yarn is lovely and drapey and has gorgeous sheen, so maybe this should be my yarn for a little shawlette design. I can do Bitterroot with last year's TdF laceweight instead.

Fiber Friday: TdF Yarns #4 and #6

Fiber: Hello Yarn Fiber Club January 2010, "Loch", 83% mohair/15% nylon/2% merino
Spun/plied: 12:1, short forward draw
Comments: I was a bit concerned about this colorway - the combo of blue and orange has never really appealed to me, regardless of what the colorwheel says should be true. I decided to split my first 4 oz bump into two color groups and spin them seperately. Here's what the fiber looked like originally.

I broke the top apart into blue/green chunks and orange/olive chunks. Each piece was stripped into 4 lengths and I tried to mix them up as much as possible in the spinning. Here is the first batch of finished singles before plying.

I spun this with a short forward worsted draw, and the singles ended up a bit thicker then my usual default yarn - the mohair seemed a bit clumpy, more like tencel then wool I think. But really fun to spin, and so smooth and drapey - I knew the finished yarn was going to be incredible.

Originally I was going to split the second four ounces down the middle and spin for matching chain-plied stripey socks. However. Once the first two skeins came out of their spa treatment, I started thinking that I needed to do the same with the second bump. So when the cyclists hit the Alpes, I was spinning away on another orange vs. blue situation.

 

Hooray Tommy!

I ended up with about 220 yds of blue and 150 yds of orange, approximately DK weight. Now I just have to find the right pattern for them!