Yarnalong: Knitting, Spinning and Reading, 3/9/16

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My goodness has it been busy…

My twelve year old daughter is in a Aladdin musical, which opens on Thursday, so her world had been super busy and mine also, but for other reasons. I work from home and my workload has increased. Which means, that it has not left me time to do too much, but I have taken time almost daily to spin… and a few of those days I knitted also.

I’m finally going to finish this Chevron scarf. It’s almost finished and I’m ashamed to say it’s been hibernating for a little over two years.

Knitting Chevron scarf and Hiya Hiya needles_3

Yes… let me hang my head in shame. I adore bright colors and the above color combination makes me smile. Which is another reason why I don’t know why I fell behind like this. It took me a while to figure out the variegated color combinations that I loved.

Merino wool and silk
Merino wool and silk

Last week, I’d ordered this merino and silk combed top roving from BeesyBee Fibers and this one of my purchases. I love their fiber, the customer sevice is excellent and so I will be purchasing from them again.

Isn’t it gorgeous? I’m a new spinner and have never spun with silk before, initially I was going to wait until I was a bit more confident but… I gave in to temptation and spun a tiny amount of the roving.

Merino wool and silk_2 03.06.14

I was thrilled that I had no issues spinning this incredibly soft fiber and before I knew it, I was taking my handspun wool off my Woolee Winder,

Merino wool and silk_5 03.06.14

wrapping it around my Niddy Noddy

Newly spun yarn
Newly spun yarn

and turning it into a skein! I finished my handspun yarn, which I wrote about here.

Handspun yarn_1 3.8.16
Handspun yarn turned into a center pull yarn hank

I used my Boye electric ball winder and turned the skein into a center pull yarn hank. Isn’t it cute?

Knitting handspun yarn_1 3.8.16

Yesterday marked a first… I actually knit with some of my handspun yarn. I only knit a few rows, but I can’t tell you the feeling I received knitting with yarn that I created. No, it’s not perfect, but it’s my own handspun yarn. Handspun yarn is my favorite yarn to knit or weave with.

Books_1 3.9.16

What I’m reading?

1.  The MacArthur Study Bible

I read my Bible daily and I love this study bible. This year, I made a commitment to reread the Bible. It will be my fourth time. Currently I’m in Joshua and have just finished reading chapter 7. I don’t count this towards my daily devotions, but even still I’m really enjoying rereading my favorite book. I try to spend as much time reading Gods word as possible

The rest of the books are recommendations from those who participate in the yarn along. Thank you all so much!

2.  Pride and Prejudice – Illustrated Version by Jane Austen

3.  Seduction of the Heart by Tim LaHaye and Ed Hinson

4. Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty

 

I’m linking too, Ginny’s yarnalong, Wake up Wednesday and Stitch Along Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

Spinning: Merino Wool & Silk Combed Top

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Yesterday evening I had a chance to look at some of the fiber packages that arrived on Saturday.

Before I touched the new fiber, I spun some of my “go to” fiber, Romney wool roving. Why? Even though my roving was making it through the orifice, I was having a lot of underspun yarn? I also noticed that this ONLY started happening after returning home. Last weekend, my daughter and I were away and my wheel travelled with us. What could be the issue? In my case, I think the issue was twofold. One, the wheel wasn’t tightened securely, I forgot to do that when I brought my wheel home from a week ago and I was spinning way too slowly, so there was not enough “twist” in the fiber that was being fed into the orifice. I fixed that issue and once again I was spinning yarn!

Merino wool and silk_1 03.06.14
Merino and silk combed top roving from Beesybeefibers

Oozing with confidence I moved onto spinning merino and silk combed top wool roving. Isn’t it beautiful? This is fiber that I purchased from Beesybeefibers. It’s my first time purchasing from them, and I will purchase from them again. Here’s a link to their Etsy shop. I discovered them on Ebay and that’s where I made my purchase.

Merino wool and silk_2 03.06.14
Newly spun yarn on my Woolee Winder

Guess what? It’s my first time spinning with silk and initially, I was hesitant about spinning with silk this early in my spinning life, but you know what? I didn’t have any issues whatsoever!

Merino wool and silk_5 03.06.14
Wrapping my handspun yarn around my Niddy Noddy

In hindsight, I should have used more fiber, but just like Peter doubting that he could walk on water, I had my doubts that I would spin without problems.

Newly spun yarn
Newly spun yarn awaiting finishing

However, I’m thrilled with this tiny skein of merino wool and silk.

 

Adventures in spinning: Basket of handspun yarn

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Earlier this morning, I took a photo of most of the handspun yarn that I’ve created thus far.

Actually, I need a larger basket for my handspun yarn. I stuffed most of my yarn into this wicker basket.

Handspun Yarn_1 3.4.16
Handspun yarn

It’s interesting to see how I’ve progressed on a daily basis. The mustard colored yarn was some of the yarn I made after my private two-hour spinning lesson. The fiber was different and it took a little bit for me to adjust as is shown with the tightly coiled sections; however, afterwards I spun the multicolored yarn with hardly any issues.

Handspun Yarn_5 3.4.16
My lovely handspun yarn… flaws and all

Just look at that basket of yarn. I’m literally beaming, even with all it’s flaws. I can’t help but think… I made this!

Handspun Yarn_3 3.4.16

I have no idea what I’ll make with my yarn, but even with the imperfections my skeins of handspun yarn is proudly displayed in my basket. God tells us to be thankful in all things. This handspun yarn is a wonderful reminder that despite the mistakes, how much I love what I’ve prepared… just like God loves his children, despite our weaknesses.

The past few days, I hit a snag, I was feeding a lot of underspun yarn through my spinning wheels orifice. However, I was determined not to be defeated. Early this morning (around 2:30 a.m.) I finally figured out the issue. I needed to adjust the tension spring. I’d tried that before, but still was struggling; however this time was the charm. Perhaps the early morning spinning was helpful? 😆😜I was spinning yarn again.

I’m literally exhausted. Thankfully I work from home, my clients work are complete. I was up early ( even for me) so I made the most of my time and finished all of their projects. My daughter is at her Lutheran school and so I think I’ll try to take an hour nap. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.

Knitting Cables and rereading the Pride and Prejudice, illustrated version

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Last evening, I pulled out one of my knitting projects.

Knitting Cabled Hat_Agathis_1 3.2.16

It’s a cabled knit hat that I’m making for my daughter. I wish I could say I’m using some of my handspun wool, but I’m not and that’s fine. My daughter loves this color combination! Too bad it’s almost Spring, she won’t be able to wear it too much before it’s tucked away for when it’s cold.

Pride and Prejudice and cable knitting
Pride and Prejudice and cable knitting

Do you see the book in the background? It’s an illustrated copy of Classics Reimagined, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. As a very young child, I read this book. However, I had no idea that an illustrated copy existed until Krisin wrote about it on Wool and Wheel. I talk about my excitement in discovering an illustrated copy of Pride and Prejudice in this post. Besides the few pictures that I’ve shown here and the ones I’ve seen on Kristin’s website. I have made an effort NOT to flip through the book since I want the beautiful illustrations to be a delightful surprise when I turn the pages. I’ve already started reading it and last evening, I read the first three chapters. I also purchased a copy for my lovely daughter. Hers should arrive tomorrow! I’ll be sure to inscribe that copy.

Later this evening, after she’s sleeping or tomorrow after my clients work are finished, I’m also going to sew her a cute little makeup bag to which I add machine embroidery. She has a musical coming up next week and the girls have to wear makeup. If I have more time, I’ll whip up a pair of leggings for her on my Serger machine. Those gifts will be a nice little surprise waiting for her at home after I pick her up from her Lutheran school.

You might not be able to see the stitch pattern that well with my above photo and so, below, I’m including a clearer version of the completed hat.

Agathis Hat
Agathis hat

I did not make the above hat. It’s a photo on the Ravelry project page. Aren’t those cables delightful? I love knitting cables. Guess what? Agathis is a free pattern that you can download on Ravelry. I have a combination of paid and free patterns on that website.

It’s supposed to snow in our area tonight. Not a lot… just enough to do some dusting. I love snow!  This evening, while hanging out with my daughter, I’m hoping to complete several rows of this delightful cable knit hat and of course… I’ll be spinning on Ruth. That’s what I’ve named my spinning wheel. Ruth… what an amazing person and a great example of a Proverbs 31 woman!