Friday, May 23, 2008

Handspun and Hand Dyed







I finished up the bamboo/sari silk/firestar fiber from Butterflygirl Designs last night. This is the first spindle-spun project I've tackled in years (okay, I cheated and plied the last 2 skeins on the wheel, but I spindled all of the singles), and the yarn came out beautifully. The total is 3.9ozs and 455 yds of sparkly, soft, jewel-tone goodness. This stuff is really hard to photograph well- the 2nd pic shows off the colors best. I am going to knit a lacy scarf with this yarn. I'll look around for a suitable pattern. The lace will have to be uncomplicated because this is a slightly textured yarn (the silk bits stick out gorgeously, and there are inconsistencies in the spinning) and a fiddly lace will not show off to advantage. Any suggestions out there?


(Butterflygirl Designs has more of the Riot available if you're interested, as well as gorgeous spindles: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5207884&order=&section_id=&page=1 )

I finished another skein of the medium-tan hand-processed Cormo. This one is 2.1 ozs and 156 yds (I cannot consistently get 100YPO on 2-ply yarns)- with the other skein of this shade, I have 275 yds and 4ozs, and one more skein to spin up to finish this entire batch of wool. I did not do it justice with my prep- there are many more neps than I realized, so it's definitely a textured yarn. But it's so soft and beautiful.

And my first shipment of Twisted Fiberarts self-patterning sock yarns arrived, and I am totally in love. Well, I was in love already, just from the pictures. And I fell even more in love after getting a couple of their hand-dyed rovings (which I will spin as self-patterning yarns). But I'm really really in love, now that I have seen, and felt, their dyed-yarns. The colors are deep and gorgeous, and the dye-saturation is perfect. I got Scorched in Playful (superwash merino, light sport, though I'm sure I'll knit it with size 2 needles) (see it here: http://www.twistedfiberart.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=98 ), and Guardian in 2 different weights (Playful, and Arial, superwash merino, light fingering) (see it here: http://www.twistedfiberart.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=92 ). Twisted also sends a teensy little sample skein (yarn, or roving, depending on what you order) that is specially dyed to show the color repeats in the smaller sample. This time I got Ankh in Kabam! (superwash merino and bamboo and nylon). (see it here: http://www.twistedfiberart.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=86 )

Twisted Fiberarts is now taking pre-orders for 4 more colorways (several types of yarn, plus several types of rovings for the spinners). This stuff sells out very quickly (all of the Xavier yarn-which is the colorway of the sample roving I used on the mini mitten and sock-is gone already), so if you want to order, check it out now: http://www.twistedfiberart.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=26 You won't be sorry. (I scored yarn and roving in Giles and Sherwood)

2 comments:

Kate/Massachusetts said...

http://knitspot.com/ Check out Anne's lace scarf patterns. She has a bunch and her latests designs might hold a gem!

Kathleen Taylor said...

Thanks for the link, Kate! There are some great scarf patterns at knitspot! I bookmarked the site and may use one of those designs- there are a couple that look perfect for this yarn.