I haven't had time for much else, but I squeezed in some spinning time with Jeremy. I love to spin fingering weight yarns (that's what I'll end up with if I spin on auto-pilot, as a friend once called it when she is spinning in her comfort zone). But they take a lot of time to spin, and knit, and it would be fun to spin heavier weight yarns every now and then, if for nothing else then to just know and get comfortable with how it's done.
So I dug up my fiber stash and the slowest whorl I could find and spun some singles.
My first attempt was a Bfl-silk-firestar blend that went oops in the dye pot. It ended up being worsted-weight yarn, when navajo-plied. I love the colors and I just had to knit the yarn into a scarf, but must wait until there's proper light for it to be photographed.
The second attempt was a dark teal BFL-silk-firestar blend, which ended up being navajo-plied to bulky weight yarn. (I think there is some 150 yds of yarn in this 6 oz skein.)
My biggest problem has been balanced, full-bodied two-ply yarn. So I dug out some merino and went nuts with it. I am not a fan of merino, the staple length is too short for my taste and it somehow feels a little, well, "dead" to my hand. So it didn't matter, if the yarn turned out to be horrible.
I still don't like merino, but I guess the yarn turned out ok. Another bulky weight yarn, as was the next attempt (Friends in Fiber pink and purple BFL-silk, pictured far left below):
I already knitted one scarf (another Baktus) with the red and purple and grey skein, but I want to knit them all! I don't knit with large needles too often, they make my wrists and knuckles hurt, but every now and then it's quite refreshing to finish something in a few hours. Baktus is a great pattern for handspun, it shows the colors so well and it's super-easy too. I'm also thinking one of these heavy-weight yarns might become the Wham Bam Thank You Lamb Cowl. The clever Quincy is also on my list of to-knit for the winter.
Speaking of which, the cold weather is here.
Perfect for staying indoors and knitting!
And finally, some pattern news. Remember the socks I posted in July? Well, the Northern Pike (Hauenleukasukat) pattern is available in English (on ravelry) and Finnish (on ravelry and Titityy). My apologies for using the same old pictures!
The socks were named after the stitch pattern, which reminded me of the story of Väinämöinen, one of the main characters of Finnish national epic, Kalevala. Väinämöinen made his kantele, a stringed instrument, using the jawbone of the Northern Pike. The socks are worked toe-up with easy patterning in the instep, heel and cuff, finished with a simple 1x1 rib.
Yarn
Knitlob's Lair Väinämöinen (100g = 400m, 75% wool, 25% nylon), 1 skein.
Needles and Notions
2 mm (US #0), cable needle, stitch markers (2).
Gauge
34 sts & 48 rows = 4" / 10 cm in stockinette stitch.
Sizes
Length of foot:
8½ (9½; 10; 10½; 11) inches or 22,5 (24; 25; 26,5; 28) cm.
Finished circumference of foot: approx. 8" / 20 cm.
Click the buy now button to purchase through ravelry (both English and Finnish pattern available in the same link) or click here to purchase the pattern through Titityy online shop!
A lot of effort went to the pattern editing, and I do hope it is now error-free. If you do find errors in the pattern, please let me know! Enjoy and happy knitting :)
