Today a number of goodies came in the mail for me from Knit Picks. I ordered 3 skeins of Shadow Lace in Midnight Heather, 3 skeins of Gloss Sock in Parsley, "Respect the Spindle" book, and a ball winder. All of it came in less than a week so I'm ecstatic. I took the time to wind up my Parsley into little yarn cakes with the winder asap and it was quick and fun. I can't wait to start winding more yarn up into little yarn cakes BUT I want to jump immediately into the pair of socks for Greg.
I'm knitting up for him Men's Merino Socks by Nancy Bush from Interweave's 2010 Knitting Traditions magazine. I got the magazine a while back for the articles especially the one on the Cowichan sweater history because I was knitting up a Cowichan-like knock-off from Knitscene at the time but I fell in love with wanting to knit up some of the other patterns inside. I chose the Parsley green Gloss sock yarn for Greg's socks because it didn't have any synthetics in it to agitate him and I figured it would be a nice splurge on some merino/silk blended sock yarn for a present.
The Gloss has gotten some mixed reviews on Ravelry from different users. Some folks complain that it wears out quickly and pills for heavy duty stuff while other people says it felts too easily or even stretches out a lot. The complaints are so varied between that and the myriad of compliments that the yarn gets for its shimmer and feel against your skin though so I'll take my chances and do a pair of socks and see how Greg likes them. For the price, it's worth experimenting with a pair of socks for my man.
In the skein, the Gloss didn't really impress me as a shiny, silky yarn but as I knit it up it felt pretty buttery and it started to show its shine knitted up. I've been mindful of the yarn in seeing how quickly it pills by rubbing on the ribbed part of the sock I've already knit up and so far it's holding up well. I've only got an inch or so in on the 3.5 inch long ribbing but knitting up in such a tiny gauge on size 2s are making my wrist stiffen a little. I must be out of practice in knitting in the round on dpns on tiny needles.
About Me
- Momochi
- Total knitting nerd with a passion for knitting the quirky, cute, and even down-right awesome.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Spinning!!!!
Sorry for few updates that have been few and far between. Recently, I got into spinning wool the past few weeks. It's been sort of an off and on again obsession with trying to learn how to do it but I've become a spinning goddess at doing singles. Plying is another matter but I'm slowly reading more and more about the process so I can get consistent plys.
A month or so ago I ended up visiting the Wool Gatherers shop to pick up a student spindle and some practice fluff to work with after I ordered a spindle online with some gorgeous purple-dyed corriedale wool. I wanted to get some practice in so at least my first project didn't come out looking like what the dog chewed and spat out. As luck had turned out, I ended up picking a top whorl student spindle and the one I ordered was a bottom whorl. Big question for me was would I stick with top or bottom? Reminds me of trying to choose which bunk to sleep in back in grade school...
I actually really like the bottom whorl. The only difference between the two whorls is where the weight is put on the spindle but the result can be the same with practice no matter which you choose to spin with. Top whorls are really fast that the wool just flies but I think I get more control with a bottom whorl spindle.
As luck would have it, my aunty gave me a few bags of her leftover wooly fluff and an extra top spindle she made but didn't sue anymore so I've got tons to play with before I put more money into the hobby. There is a book coming in this Friday for me to study on spinning called Respect the Spindle that I ordered off Knitpicks along with some lace yarn for me and then some sock yarn for a pair for Greg. I even decided on a ball winder since it'll make things a lot easier in converting my stash in easier to pack, already winded bundles rather than with all the loose stuff that's floating around in my hamper basket. I've got a lot of yarn that went to Florida in a plastic bin but there is still some leftover here at home that I've put in a laundry bin for knitting up between moves. Eventually I'll take a picture of all the stuff I've practice spun.
A month or so ago I ended up visiting the Wool Gatherers shop to pick up a student spindle and some practice fluff to work with after I ordered a spindle online with some gorgeous purple-dyed corriedale wool. I wanted to get some practice in so at least my first project didn't come out looking like what the dog chewed and spat out. As luck had turned out, I ended up picking a top whorl student spindle and the one I ordered was a bottom whorl. Big question for me was would I stick with top or bottom? Reminds me of trying to choose which bunk to sleep in back in grade school...
I actually really like the bottom whorl. The only difference between the two whorls is where the weight is put on the spindle but the result can be the same with practice no matter which you choose to spin with. Top whorls are really fast that the wool just flies but I think I get more control with a bottom whorl spindle.
As luck would have it, my aunty gave me a few bags of her leftover wooly fluff and an extra top spindle she made but didn't sue anymore so I've got tons to play with before I put more money into the hobby. There is a book coming in this Friday for me to study on spinning called Respect the Spindle that I ordered off Knitpicks along with some lace yarn for me and then some sock yarn for a pair for Greg. I even decided on a ball winder since it'll make things a lot easier in converting my stash in easier to pack, already winded bundles rather than with all the loose stuff that's floating around in my hamper basket. I've got a lot of yarn that went to Florida in a plastic bin but there is still some leftover here at home that I've put in a laundry bin for knitting up between moves. Eventually I'll take a picture of all the stuff I've practice spun.
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