FF: BSJ production, Part 1

Note: apparently Fiber Friday is not limited to spinning, since today's post is about dyeing. Consider yourselves warned.

Last weekend we had a lovely visit from the siblings-in-law* who came down to make off with some of our baby stuff in anticipation of their firstborn's arrival in July. And while Mom-to-be is a knitter, she hasn't been feeling the motivation to do much baby knitting these days. So I, as Auntie-to-be, have taken up the gauntlet. I had some undyed Swish superwash leftover from my Fabulous Intarsia Experiment, so I handed SIL my Acid Dye Quick Reference and told her to pick some colors.

This is an example of how it's a good idea to get input from the intended recipients of a knitted item, because I would never have put these colors together.

The yarn soaked overnight, and I squeezed it out and laid it on some plastic wrap while I go the dyes ready. It was a bit windy, so quite a bit of VM ended up in the dye package, but it did no harm to the yarn, so far as I can tell. I used highly technological means to apply the dye (plastic water bottles with holes punched in the lids so I could squeeze the dye out). The parents picked Sun Yellow, Golden Yellow and Emerald, but I used artistic license to add just a squirt of Fuschia to the mix.

I wrapped up the yarn, put it in the roaster, and then took it back out again to spray it with citric acid (oops!). Then back in the roaster on a rack above about 1.5 inches of water at 225 degrees for about 2 hours. I rinsed out the yarn and hung it to dry.

Reskeined,

And balled up ready to go.

This will become a Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ) - I'm just hoping I have enough yarn for it! According to Ravelry's fabulous BSJ Wiki, it will be a near thing, but I've got some other colors in the stash that can be used or overdyed to be more appropriate. So I'm off on another Zimmerman adventure.

* What do you call your sibling-in-law's spouse anyway? Sibling-in-law once removed? These are the things that keep me up at night.

FF: Spinning bulky singles

Last week, I posted about my infatuation with the animal that produced this,

My infatuation has now expanded dramatically, since I have transformed 4 oz of crimpy gorgeousness into this.

I really wanted some bulky singles from this fiber, but my default spin when I'm not actively trying to do something in particular is about 28-30 wpi. So this one took a bit more thought.

First step was to strip the top lengthwise. I figured the less drafting I had to do the better, since then I wouldn't have the opportunity to get too thin.

Then it was sitting in front of the wheel (7:1 ratio), don't draft too much, don't pinch out the air, don't smooth! Phew.

The singles ended up puffy and fluffy and squooshy,

and fairly unbalanced, not surprisingly.

A fulling finish later, skeins were balanced and lovely. I was expecting a dramatic shift in the wpi from pre-bath to post-bath, but it didn't change as much as I thought it would. Went from about 10-11 wpi to 8-11 (I guess I drafted a bit too much in some sections, hunh?).

So now it sits on my countertop, beautifying my house and waiting for me to finish one or two other projects before I cast on for the cowl.

This stuff is impossible to photograph well - the colors are so subtle that they tend to get lost. 

Maybe I'll figure it out eventually...

Final specs:
Fiber: Briar Rose Fibers BFL, colorway "Ply by Night"
Spun at 7:1, Lendrum ST
No plying!
Finished hot/cold/hot/cold/hot/cold water with some agitation
Final wpi: 8-11 (bulky weight), ~230 yds/4.5 oz. I love the yardage from not plying. Plenty for the cowl and maybe something else!

And a funny video for anyone interested. Do you think PETA would approve?

FO: Two Tomtens

Last night, in the throes of an oncoming cold that had my brain leaking out my ears and unable to do anything remotely complicated, I finished Boo's Tomten. Staying home today gave me a great opportunity to do the crocheted edging and sew on the buttons.

Pattern: Modular Tomten by Elizabeth Zimmerman (I used the version in the Sweater Workshop)
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky from the stash, with additions in Pink for Devil's version. Devil's Tomten: 2.5 skeins of purples, less then 1 skein of Really, Really Pink (chosen by Herself). Boo's version: 3 skeins in Blue Magic, plus Lamb's Pride Worsted in Creme held double for the edging/buttonholes.
Needles: US 11/8.0 mm, size 10.5/6.5 mm hook
Start/finish: never mind
Gauge: 3 sts/6 rows per inch
Comments/mods: first for Devil's jacket. I was really limited by the amount of purple yarn I had in the stash, so we went to the LYS and she picked out some pink for stripes. I didn't bother with a hood, and used the pink to add button bands once I'd finished, since she tried it on and it was a wee bit small. She picked out the Flip Flop buttons herself.

For Boo's, I had plenty of yarn, so I did the hood - I think it ended up a bit small, and I used every scrap I had. Instead of grafting the top I did a three needle bind off.

The buttons were some I had lying around. I wanted to finish this today because they're predicting 20-something degree temperatures around here in the next few mornings. Which means there's a small chance I might get a modeled shot. Very small.

Time for me to head off for a nap. Begone damn cold!

FF: Buckland

Ironman just took the girls off to the playground, so I have a few minutes to blog before I run down and meet them. Enough time hopefully to show you December's spinning FO:

Fiber: Finn wool top from Hello Yarn, November 2008 Fiber Club offering, colorway "Buckland", 8 oz
Spun/plied: 10:1 on ST Lendrum
Yardage: 3 ply - 236 yds, 2 ply - 50 yds
WPI: 3 ply - 12 wpi before washing, 11 after washing. 2 ply - 14 wpi before washing, 12 wpi after washing (pictures are pre-washing).

I wanted to do a true 3 ply this time, so I split the fiber into thirds by weight. One third I spun straight from the full width of top, one third I split into thirds before spinning, and the last third I split into approximately thumb thick strips before spinning. All fiber was spun from the fold, supported/assisted long draw.

I let the singles sit on the bobbins for a few days before I plied. The two ply skein was the left over from the two bobbins that had the most singles on them. After I finished the last of the plying, the yarn sat on the bobbins for about 3 weeks while vacation got in the way. Soaked in warm water with a bit of Eucalan and hung out to dry next to the plumbago bush, which was a mistake because I spent a while picking plumbago seed heads out of the yarn before I wound it up.

This was the first time I've spun any real amount of Finn and I found it a bit tricky. Maybe I wasn't in the mood to be particularly attentive, but I had trouble getting the right amount of twist in the singles. I tended towards undertwisting (!) which is never a problem I've had before, and makes me think that it may be time to jump up to the higher ratios - my hands seem to be getting ahead of my feet a bit.

Per usual, Adrian's colors are drop-dead gorgeous. The finished yarn is soft and squishy, and would be perfect for some scarves or hats. I was thinking about making something for the kids, but I'm afraid I might have to keep it for myself. The colors are just too pretty. Maybe they can have the 50 yds of 2 ply for something.

Next week I hope to have my Ply by Night project finished: a bit of Sunshine for some grey winter days!

A new love

Once the holiday knitting ridiculousness was over with, I immediately took the opportunity to cast on some items for myself. One is already off the needles, and the other is moving along.

In the approximately 40 hrs we were in Boston, I managed to fall down and swipe my credit card on the way to the floor at Windsor Button. The previous week at WHMU, someone had brought along her recently acquired skeins of Malabrigo sock yarn, and someone else was knitting a hat out of Malabrigo worsted, so it's not surprising perhaps that I came away with this

Malabrigo sock in "Stonechat"

and this.

Worsted in "Bobby Blue". Poor thing, I didn't even get a picture of it still in the skein

Swoon. This is my maiden voyage with Malabrigo, and, while I'd never knit a sweater with it because the pilling would make me insane, it is going to be a gorgeous, soft, cushy hat. And a scarf someday when I find the right pattern for the sock weight. In the meantime, I'm enjoying working with it immensely. But don't worry, the girls are still getting fed. Occasionally.