Author: Caryn

Throwback Thursday: Thanksgiving

On By CarynIn Wildlife
Photo description: three male wild turkeys in full display facing away from the camera toward an empty field at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in 2019

Strut your stuff, even if no one is watching. Hope y’all have a Happy Thanksgiving with minimal baking mishaps.

Chicken rock

On By CarynIn art, chickens

One of my friends enjoys painting and has quite a flair for it. She had painted rocks at the chorus craft fair and I just had to buy the one that looked like Wing Ding! And then take a picture of Wing Ding with her effigy.

Photo description: Wing Ding the Black Star hen in molt standing behind the painted rock with a black chicken that I’m holding. Painting by Corinna Standlee.

Woven Tencel

On By CarynIn Craft

I was only able to get three swatches from my Tencel sample, knitted, crocheted, and woven. I wove this swatch on a Clover mini loom, with the warp doubled. To finish it I ran the warp back up through the weft passes. I like the edge the method makes, but I don’t like how wonky this piece came out.

Photo description: plain weave swatch made on a Clover mini loom with three ply hand spun Tencel yarn
Photo description: same woven swatch after blocking, but still wonky

I’m going to blame the spin on this one.

P.S. Sorry if you received this post twice by email. I usually schedule my posts about three days out, and I hit the wrong button, tried to retract it, and put it on the proper schedule. I wasn’t fast enough and the email went out. It bothered me to have this series of posts out of order, so I fixed it for the blog, but those emails may have a duplicate or not resend. Ah, technology.

Crocheted Tencel

On By CarynIn Craft

I did my go-to coaster crochet pattern for the Tencel swatch using a F hook. The crochet handles the unevenness of the yarn much better than knitting.

Photo description: crocheted coaster made from three ply hand spun Tencel yarn and a F (3.75mm) ergonomic hook by Clover
Photo description: crocheted coaster after blocking

The openness of the lace stitch also is complementary to the uneven yarn. I think if I had done an even crochet stitch, such as a single crochet every row, it wouldn’t have looked as nice. That is a good thing to know: lace or sculptural crochet is a good choice for imperfect yarn.

Knitted Tencel

On By CarynIn Craft

I knit my hand spun Tencel yarn with size 4 Prym needles. I like to do a stockinette stitch with garter stitch border to help it lay flat since stockinette alone likes to curl.

Photo description: knit swatch of Tencel with the knitting needle because sometimes I forget which size I used
Photo description: same swatch after blocking which only improved the shape slightly

My knitting tension is even, the wonkiness of this swatch comes from the uneven spin of the yarn. Tencel was a tricky fiber for me to spin. It is shiny and lustrous, but likes to clump and doesn’t draft evenly. The finished swatch is soft and has a lovely sheen, but I’m distracted by the strange pooling of uneven yarn.