Photo description: scrap book page with a Tencel Top card from Hearthside Fibers upper left, single spun and chain plied samples upper right, unspun fiber middle left, plain weave swatch middle right, stockinette knit swatch lower left, and crocheted lace round lower right
The next completed fiber study page is for Tencel. Tencel is made from wood pulp and the combed fiber is shiny and silky looking, but it is not easy to draft consistently. I want to like it because it is made from waste product, but it fought me when I was spinning. Maybe it would be better if it were blended with something. Blending fibers is another whole rabbit hole.
Despite the difficulties spinning, my swatches are more rectangular and less skewed than with other fibers. I block most of my swatches, but the Tencel really benefitted from being wet and reshaped.
Photo description: Sophie the dilute calico sitting on my lap as I cast on a new knitting project
This is not my usual lap cat. Sophie, the outside cat that adopted us and moved inside, has decided that laps are warm and cozy, especially with a fuzzy blanket. She has not learned knitting etiquette yet, though, and thinks the yarn is for play. We’re working on it. Right now it is a balance of encouraging lap time and gently discouraging yarn gnawing.
The new project is a meditative piece using yarn gifted to me by my youngest. It will be a wide scarf done in garter stitch, so no pattern lines to follow, no perl stitches, just knit and turn.
When I went to swatch my hand spun rose fiber yarn I had an urge to cable, so I did. Cables in knitting look fancy but are not technically difficult. The stitches get a little tight in the twist, so take a little longer, but the concept is just to put one side of the cable on a cable needle, put the extra needle to the front or back, knit the other side of the cable, put the first side back on the knitting needle, then knit them. Honestly the words took longer to type. There are brave souls who can cable without the extra needle to hold the loose stitches, but I haven’t worked up the courage yet.
Photo description: two ply hand spun rose fiber yarn knitted swatch with two cables of opposite twist on a garter stitch background using a size 4 Prym circular needle
The direction of twist depends on if the skipped stitches are moved to the front or back of the work. Since I was swatching, I did one of each.
My photo album is my memory, especially for crafts. I’m usually several projects ahead of what I’m posting about, and remembering back to what hook or needle I used is problematic. So I take a picture.
Photo description: knitted swatch of hand spun mint infused fiber with a needle gauge and a needle inserted into the 2.25mm hole. Calico cat sleeping in the background.
If I can get an animal in the background of the picture, all the better.
When I started knitting with my three-ply hand-spun merino/alpaca yarn, I wasn’t sure how much I would have. So the plan was to go a flexible route. I intended to make a wrap around scarf with sleeves, but rather than start with the sleeves, which locks me into the pattern, I started with a moss stitch on the body of the scarf (sleeves can be added later). When I knit the scarf long enough to go around my shoulders, it was obvious that I wouldn’t have enough to knit the additional third and have sleeves, so I made the scarf section into a shrug by sewing it into a Möbius ring. The Möbius shape allows the shrug to fit the wearer both at the shoulders and the elbows. A straight tube has less adjustability.
I then knit two long fingerless gloves in a rib stitch. To keep the gloves even, I worked from both ends of the yarn cake with size 11 circular needles, working both gloves flat at the same time. When they were long enough (I didn’t run out of yarn this time), I sewed up the sides and left a thumb hole (many thanks to my crochet friend for the suggestion!)
Photo description: hand spun, hand knit shrug and long fingerless glovesPhoto description: trying on one fingerless glove, calico cat for scale
The shrug and gloves have the same aesthetic as a scarf with sleeves, but with more flexibility for styling. And if you run out of yarn, at least there is one finished useable item.
Critters and Craft 