lisa’s place

This flu has given me more time than usual to stare blankly at my computer screen.  Here are some interesting things I’ve found:

Knitting Chart Generator (chartGen):

This little application is great!  Turn your written knitting directions into an easy to read chart.  Simply type in your knitting instructions or click on the various knitting stitch buttons and then click *Preview Chart* or *Get Printer-Friendly Chart* and that’s it.  I’ve only messed around with it a little bit, but it works really well.  The page is set up so it is really easy and intuitive to use.  There is a Ravelry thread here where the author is posting updates and taking suggestions.

How about this handy little gadget?  I used to have a little foam version (but, of course, I lost it a long time ago…)

What a great way to use up little sock yarn scraps.  Here’s the link to the pattern.

And check out these paperdolls.  They look like such fun!

I seem to remember burning out a bit when I cut out paperdolls last time around (but I was probably about 8 years old, maybe I’d have more patience now).

Speaking of patience…  I seriously doubt I’d ever actually make these, but I wish I would.  I just love them, they are so serene and so pretty.  I think they’d be worth the time.

Here’s the link to the tutorial.  It looks really well explained.

Good night, all.

Of course, I had to quickly spin up some of the fiber I received yesterday.

First, the specially dyed superwash roving that Carol sent:

I tried to spin a sportweight single with quite a bit of twist.

I just can’t get over how nice the colors are.  I’ve no idea what I’ll do with this, but I know I’ll be ordering more.  This may have been the easiest roving I’ve ever spun.  I think this would be great for a beginner.

Next up, a picture of the sample I’d spun yesterday of the Brown Sheep mill end rovings in browns (now that it is dry, it is soft and smooshy and most pleasing).

Finally, here is a bit of llama I spun (in the grease) a couple of weeks ago.

This yarn has grown on me.  I am really liking how rustic and handmade it looks now.

(Sorry about the formatting problems – will try to make this easier to read).

What could possibly be better than a fiber source that provides friendly service, convenience, a Ravelry group filled with information (moderated by one of the owners), and a fun surprise when you open up each package?

How about this? A small business that was started to use up mill ends from a large yarn manufacturer and provides them at very low cost to handspinners, felters, and knitters.

I first heard about this company, Sheep Shed Studio,on a ravelry group for Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel owners. Recently, a new group was formed for those spinners who love Sheep Shed Studio called Sheep Shed Fiber Lovers.

After seeing pictures of fibers that members had received, I couldn’t help myself. I placed an order for 5 lbs of Brown Sheep mill end rovings in browns. This roving sold for $7.50 per lb and shipping was a steal if you ordered more than about 2.5-3 lbs. There is even a handy shipping calculator when you add to your cart so you can decide how much fiber you should purchase to maximize your shipping dollars.

I received my order today. I was surprised by the size of the box (not that big) and was not sure how everything could possibly fit. When I cut through the tape, the contents literally spilled out. (More like gnawed through it with my teeth and my car keys (I was in the car, having just picked it up) because I couldn’t wait to get a look at it, a student walking by looked at me like I’d completely lost it).

For some, these colors might seem plain or boring, but I love browns, especially for sweaters to wear with jeans (which I wear almost exclusively). I am so excited by how nicely this spins up – very forgiving. This tiny bit that I spun up just to test only took a few minutes to spin and ply. It is still damp in the photo but it is already very soft!

There will be SO much yarn here, plenty for at least 3 sweaters, I think. How exciting is that? Three sweaters for about $50! Absolutely can’t beat that. As a bonus – rescued wool!

I can’t wait until I have a day I can spend in front of the wheel. I want to see how a worsted single would spin and wash up. This roving is quite easy to spin evenly and I think you could put a fair amount of twist on a single and end up with a pretty balanced yarn.

As a bonus, this specially dyed superwash wool was included in my package:

Carol dyes some of the wools in beautiful colors and sells them at very reasonable prices (and apparently shares samples with customers). I think my next order will include some of these wools (and maybe some superwash wool to dye myself).

Tags: fiber, handspun, stash

Here is my version of the very popular Hemlock Ring Blanket.  Here is the Ravelry link.

I used handspun blue faced leicester top – a worsted/bulky single that I spun pretty loosely.  I wanted the yarn to be really soft and smooshy.

As a general rule, I tend to treat my handspun yarns (particularly the singles) pretty roughly.  I washed this yarn in very hot water with Soak and then rinsed and swished and slightly squeezed the yarn through a series of subsequent hot and cold rinses just until the singles started to ever so slightly stick together.  This is a very fine line to walk.  But if you pay close attention, I think the benefits are really worth the risk.  The result is a very soft, ever-so-slightly fulled/felted single that is a joy to knit.  This particular fiber has a bit of a cloudiness to it that I really like:

Unfortunately, I didn’t keep good track of the actual yardage (I do know that I used about 13 ounces of yarn).  I worked the pattern to row 55 of Jared’s chart and then bound off according to the original hemlock doily pattern.  Binding off was not trivial, but I think the end product was well worth the effort.

This was a surprisingly quick knit.  The most difficult part for me was the blocking process:  I felt confident that I’d have no trouble blocking this yarn, but I didn’t understand the muscle power that would be required.  Prior to blocking, this little blanket was about 2.5 feet in diameter – after blocking, it measured over 4 feet in diameter.  It took a whole lotta pins, both hands, and a few false starts, but it blocked perfectly into a completely flat and exactly-as-I-had-imagined-it blanket!  I’m sure I’ll make another one of these – maybe using a semi-solid Malabrigo or with more handspun.