Making Wedding Plans

Coming home from Salt Lake City tomorrow.  It's been a fun trip.  Here's the happy couple.  It had snowed and Brittney had tiny flats on so Mark carried her to the house.

They are darling.

Faina's Knitting

YouTube - Vereteno's Channel

this is what I've been watching in my spare time.

It's Always Wensleydale

Maggie spent some time knitting today. This is what she finished. Her plan is to sew a bunch of squares together into a blanket. She ran out of yarn and is currently winding some Ultra Alpaca from my stash so she can continue. Funny how in June she told Maggie Casey that she doesn't knit!

In other news, there is spinning going on. I am working on a sampling project because I am a bad spinner. I know what happens when you spin different fibers in different ways but I never ever kept the samples I made during demonstrations. Silly me. I am now working on a project in which I will spin samples meant for different purposes so I will have them on hand from now on.

Firs there was Wensleydale because, well, you know, I love it.
That is a photo of 4 of the samples. I have one more to spin to complete the set. Click for biggy if you want.

From left to right:

2 Ply lace, about 40 wraps per inch. The fiber for this sample was combed, pulled into a top through a diz and spun worsted with a short forward draw.

3 Ply spun for a smooth yarn. This fiber was combed and dized and also spun short forward draw. It has a wpi of 20 and has only about 6 twist per inch in the ply to avoid crispness in the yarn. This yarn is very soft and would surprise anyone that it is Wensleydale.

3 Ply Spun for Warmth. This sample was prepared the same way as the other two but then spun from the fold. 12 wraps per inch and 12 twists per inch . There is a bit more of a halo with this sample but the luster still shines through. This one was also spun with a bit more twist in the ply to increase durability.

And another 3 Ply for warmth spun right from the comb with twist between my front hand and the comb tines. 14 wraps per inch on this sample with about 8 twists per inch but the angle of the twist is a lot lower than the above sample. I did knot a swatch with this sample and I love it. It has a gauge of about 6 stitches per inch and was knit on a 3.5mm needle (US size 4)

Though I have done these exercises plenty of times I am still so excited about how just changing a tiny thing like drafting techniques can change the look and feel of the yarn.

The missing sample is one that will be spun specifically with weaving in mind. So it will be a 2 ply with a bit more twist than that of the lace sample and also spun worsted to keep the halo down and avoid too much abrasion on the loom and also help to make the warping easy.

Currently in the works is Cormo.

All of these fleeces are available in the shop and online. I wouldn't sell anything in the shop that I am not convinced is the best I can get at the time - but I keep searching. If there is a fleece type you are searching for and you don't see it in the shop please email or call. But I do have plans for photographing and listing the 40 fleeces that are missing right now.