Harvest BFL Batch I
Ply | Two
Yardage | Approx 229 m/33 gms
WPI | 24-26 WPI
Fibre | BFL (Blueface Leicester)
Spindle | The Paua shell (singles/plying)

…and it’s driving me nuts. My singles keep breaking as I’m plying and I’m not sure why exactly. Am wondering if it’s because I put in too much twist for the ply or if there isn’t enough twist in the singles. Anyway, it’s back to the loom and some light spinning for me. I’m breaking up the fibre into three lots and spinning/plying them as I go along, just so I don’t get bored of it too soon.

Oh, I’m meeting up with some ladies in Zurich on Wednesday…it ought to be fun! It’s been a while since I last made new friends…

It was inevitable…nothing stays in its original form for long (fibres, that is) - not when you have a secret project on the way and you need some fresh supplies!

Sugar Pie is merino/alpaca/silk and therefore the texture and feel of the fibre (and end result) is radically different from the BFL (Blueface Leicester) that I’m been working on with the Paua shell spindle. Smoother with slight tuffs of hair sticking out, I thought it’d be better for me to spin this with a heavier spindle so I took Lime Spring off The Baaa Spindle and started on this instead. I think I’ve had enough of practice spinning, don’t you think so?

Anyway, the plan for both Harvest and Sugar Pie is basically simple - spin into fine singles, overspin a little and ply it. It’ll be my first time plying so hopefully I don’t make a mess out of things.

Btw, does anyone have pulse oximeter? Just wondering if people need this sort of thing at home…hm.

On a whim, I thought I’d do a round-up on my crafty WIPs (Work-In-Progress) and what-nots…

Knitting
Pablo Dark Spring and Boyfriend Socks are still on the darn DPNs. I didn’t get to do as much knitting as I would have liked during the vacation because I sprained my pinkie during a hiking trip the weekend before - lets just say that I’m glad my behind which has a bit of fat (and muscle) is really great as a cushion.

Then there are the shawls - I ought to block Rosier de Angelique which is more like a triangular scarf and continue on with an olive green version of Swallowtail.

Weaving
So far, it’s just Venetian Harlequin at work; that’s the beauty of having just one loom and two shuttles. You can’t really “cast on” any projects until you finish the one on the loom. Still, I’ve been stocking up for a series of weaves that I have in mind. I just hope I can keep up the pace!

Spinning
When the Paua shell spindle arrived, I thought I could resist starting a new batch of fibre. It would appear that I have underestimated myself. Now I have 75 gms of Lime Spring and at least over 3/4 of Harvest II to finish up spinning.

Do you think we’d ever get more than 24 hours in a day?

Just as Nil and I were getting ready to leave for France two Fridays ago, my spindle from BGD arrived all nicely packaged. I never managed to open it until yesterday. It came unassembled - the whorl is removable, which is great - and putting it together is easy work.

The shell is amazingly gorgeous; the dark blue and turquoise swirls are simply mesmerising! I haven’t really started spinning with this yet, so I can’t say for sure if it spins long but I do know that it’s awfully light - it’s at least double the weight of my other spindle, The Baa Spindle. What I do know is that it’ll be great for spinning those laceweight singles!

Now only if I can finish up this weaving AND knitting…

Paua shell spindle
Bottom Whorl | Paua shell, 2 inches
Shaft | hardwood, carved top
Total weight | 0.5 oz
Total length (including hook) | 10 inches
Cost | USD24
From | Butterfly Girl Designs

On the side, at least all this is better than writing about acne experts; am seriously getting tired of these assignments. Gimmesomethinginteresting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The first batch of Lime Spring is complete and wound up; no, it hasn’t been washed or skeined yet. That will have to wait until I complete spinning up the remaining 75 gms of fibre left.

Since I’ve been busy spinning the last couple of days, I thought I’d get back to my lace shawl. The socks - Dark Pablo and Boyfriend Socks - are my travel projects and I’ll be working on them again in two weeks when we head to Lyon for a wedding and some good old-fashioned berry picking.

Don’t be surprised if you don’t see posts of spinning until after I get back (or maybe sooner). The days ahead look to be filled with knitting…and patiently waiting for a few surprises from the postman.

I thought I’d take my cue from some spinning “greats” (okay, they may not see themselves as greats…) and use a rather clumsily-put together DIY lightbox when it comes to photographing WIPs (Work-In-Progress), stash and FOs (Finished Objects). Can’t you just tell that knitting and spinning is also all about abbreviations?

And so far, I’m loving the results…oh, and the spinning too!

Guess what came in the mail today?

Harvest II
Fibre | Blueface Leicester
Weight | 4.1 oz
From | Erica over @ Squoosh

Sugar Pie
Fibre | 50/30/20 Alpaca/Merino/Silk
Weight | 3.9 oz
From | Erica over @ Squoosh

I have big plans for these little two babies, but I reckon they’ll have to wait at least another two to three weeks. Yes, I have something in mind but I’m not telling.

Orange Sherbet
Yardage | Approx 200 m/50 gms of fingering weight
WPI | N/A
Fibre | 50 gms of Flitz-It Multicolour New Merino Wool
Spindle | The Baaa Spindle

I’m pretty happy with how this turned out after “sacrificing” 50 grams of the fibre to just practising on the spindle. After the practise round, I started work on the remaining half which was already split into another half (25-25 gm). It was just something I did when I was braiding them up; I shouldn’t have done it actually because now I have two separate skeins with slightly different yardage!

Anyway, I left these as singles because for starters I wanted to see how they would turn out after a wash and skeining. That and the fact that I don’t really know how to ply yet…plus I don’t have enough for plying.

That aside, I do love the candy cane-striping effect that the fibre gave. It came to be dyed in vertical stripes instead of horizontal ones so I wasn’t all that shocked by the effect. While waiting for this one to dry (and occasionally admiring it from afar), I got started on another batch of fibre - Lime Spring which is also dyed in the same way - and it is giving me a very interesting colour combo at the moment. We’ll see how that turns out.

So…what do I do with this batch of yarn? I am not too sure really. Maybe I’ll use them for a smallish project of some sorts. We’ll see how it goes.