Today is overcast and humid but the days were bright and beautiful this past week. Sunday we carried our dinner to the deck. Afterwards I stayed outdoors to ply a skein of yarn. If I had known my husband was taking a photo, I would have changed into a better shirt. My spindle spinning skills are improving. Although I'm still predrafting fiber, there is a good bit of consistent yarn in this skein. Sarah's positive comments about Polworth fiber prompted me to try it. I'm glad I did. The fiber and staple length make it good for beginners. It is a nice alternative to merino. This is the third skein and measures about 53 yards. I don't think I could get much more on my spindle. I have one small bump of this fiber to spin.
I knit a little on the Rewilding Shawl and have come to the long and longer rows at the end of the shawl. I didn't take a photo because it's hard to see any visible difference. Hazel Knits no longer makes this yarn and I might know why. Lyric, a laceweight superwash merino, has a crisp hand that feels like cotton. Either the superwash processing or the dying created a yarn that feels lifeless. I'm reserving judgement until it's washed and blocked. The light weight fabric isn't awful but it isn't what I expected. The baby sweater flew off the needles. The combination of colorful yarn on comfortable needles and a tried and true pattern made the knitting fun and easy. The sleeves don't match but I think that adds to the charm. By the way, I won this game of yarn chicken. Whew.
I also knit on Norah's cardigan. I finished the textured yoke and put the sleeve stitches on waste yarn. Now I'm knitting on the stockinette body until I come to the cute little pockets. Today is a dark day so I had to adjust the light settings on the photo.
I'm reading The Beadworkers, a collection of short stories by Beth Piatote. The stories are set in the Pacific Northwest and Piatote's characters are Native Americans. Her writing is spare but lyrical. Usually I am not a big short story fan as I want to know more about the characters and their story. However this is a wonderful collection.
I am linking to Kat and the Unravelers on this Wednesday in July. I hope you are enjoying these summer days.
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Beautiful spinning, Jane! Well done!! And those little sweaters! Too sweet! :)
ReplyDeleteThe short story book sounds very intriguing! I am off to see if my library has a copy!
What pretty yarn! As Kat says, beautiful spinning. And both sweaters are so cute. The baby sweater is just darling and I love the color for Norah's sweater. And, again, like Kat, I will be looking for that book at my library - the reviews on Amazon are all so good!!
ReplyDeleteWow, Jane - you're making gorgeous yarn! I love the color and the texture in that skein you just plied. and the knitting looks great, too - Cricket is a new-to-me pattern and looks perfect for a little girl. Bookmarking!
ReplyDeleteI am not usually much of a short story reader either, but that book you are reading sounds so interesting. I love your spinning and the baby sweaters - especially the one with all the different colors. So cute. You are very talented at your craft. See you again soon. :-)
ReplyDeleteYour spun up yarn is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteInteresting vocabulary you have to learn with spinning....a bump? Plying? Chain Plying? Lots to learn if you are a beginner.
I am so glad you are enjoying the Polwarth -- it's truly my favorite breed to spin, and it always amazes me that one component of it comes from Lincoln sheep (Lincoln is a long wool that feels like human hair to me, nothing like the puffy softness of Polwarth!). Your little skein is beautiful and squooshy-looking!
ReplyDeleteI have the same issue with short stories; I usually get frustrated that my time with the characters is limited, especially if I really like the characters. In spite of that, I seem to be reading a lot of collections this year. My favorites have been The Office of Historical Corrections and The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.
I have learned a great deal about what I don't know about spinning just from this post. I'm intrigued and your yarns are lovely. Kudos to your husband for the pic. Spin, knit and read on!
ReplyDeleteCheers~
Wow your baby sweaters are just adorable. Nice work! I am listening to a podcast on....grief of all things. It is fascinating. A four part series. I guess I know that as we age, grief becomes more an expected part of life. This series is interesting and not too sad. A lot of comedians participated
ReplyDeleteso much pretty knitting and spinning! I just started to knit a little bit in the evenings, I'm hoping my afternoons will free up soon.
ReplyDeleteWell done on the spinning and I love that baby sweater. The colors are so sweet
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