WnS Ep. 198: Blending with Blends (again)
Dear Spinning Circle,
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Thank you for being here today, especially those who were able to make it to the Live Stream. I appreciate your time spent here in this place with me. You are most welcome. I hope you feel most welcome because you are welcome here.
Enjoy the show!
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If you are curious about what happens in our community, please click the links below, reach out to me: rachel @ welfordpurls (dot) com, or reach out on Instagram/Ravelry/Slack (if you are a Patreon member, @welfordpurls_admin).
On & Off the Bobbins
Bowmont & Huaycana (waa-kai-yah) on Lendrum Saxony; long-draw
On & Off the Needles
In Progress – Knitting
Fanel by Orlane Suuche – Disdero Ranch 100% Romney; woollen spun; Ashford eSpinner3
Florence Tank by Sari Norland – Drops Lace Unicolor (70% Alpaca/30% Mulberry Silk)
Cruiser by Kristen Finlay – Small Bird Workshop CVM/Mohair held double with Cascade 220 Fingering 100% Wool in colourway 9680
Aurealis by Jennifer Steingass – 100% spindle spun sweater in Gotland; Spunky Eclectic ‘Thread Box’ (December 2020 club colourway) with 100% undyed Gotland; Turtlemade Turkish Spindles (~35g); sample swatch finished!
Community Participation
For May, tell us about your favourite food & why! Ravelry Episode thread here.
Breed & Colour Studies – Shetland
Bridget shares via Slack: I have finally started weaving with my “Always Believe” Breed and Color Study yarn! I am following a variation of Sara Lambs advise on weaving with handspun. She has you using the fiber yarn in the weft but I wanted the “sunset” to advance horizontally up the fabric so I am using the fiber yarn, cotton, as the warp.
Samantha shares via Slack: I want to share my latest spin with you peeps. It is a Badger Face Welsh Mountain Fleece which I bought on Etsy and came from about 60 miles from me in Wales. All combed (first time combing) and spun and plied on my Ashford Traditional wheel. There are a few more nests left but they have darker colours and I wanted to keep this as cream as possible. Wpi 14 40° angle 1056m grist of 1185ypp. Not quite next to skin softness but will make a lovely cardigan. I may even dye it! My most consistent spin yet and I love it.
Dionne shares via Slack: I did it! All fiber spun and here’s the resulting yarn. My first skein has a higher twist angle but I like a lower twist better. This is all I have left of my singles. I might be able to get a small skein of 2ply for color work from it. Know to measure yardage and pick a pattern.
Zero to Hero // #sweaterspin #useyourhandspun #spinallthethings
Laura shares via Slack: 15.1oz/427g of worsted weight cabled yarn, that ended up being 692 yards. Final fiber content %s: Peruvian Highland (WOTA): 46.9%/BFL 26.55%/Merino 18.58%/Tussah 7.97% If you number the braids from top to bottom 1, 2, 3, 4, I spun each braid, then plied 1 & 2, and 3 & 4, then plied the leftovers of 1 & 3 together. Then for the final cabling ply, I plied 1,2 and 3,4 together, and when 3,4 ran out, I used 1,3 to finish out the remainder of 1,2, and then split it by weight to ply together for the last smaller skein. In the last photo, the all 1,3 skein is on the left. The last photo is also the truest image color-wise of the resulting yarn.
Barb shares via Slack: Finally got pics with my B&C Sian sweater. The blue is Shropshire. Rotated the three contrast colors through the patterns. The yarns are all 3-ply at DK weight. Got gauge, probably the first time EVER. Kept rechecking because I didn’t believe it. Love the fit. I’ll have to wait for winter to return, way too warm to wear right now.
Mary shares via Ravelry: My most recent sweater was this one: The Ruska Pullover by Jessica McDonald. All knit in handspun yarns, inverting the color choices (light to dark) from the original pattern. Yarns used: Main: 100% Corriedale Lamb 3-ply in natural grey-brown. 826 yards. CC1: Targhee 80-Silk10-Bamboo10 3-ply in pale yellow, dyed with goldenrod. 51 yards. CC2: Merino tweed 3-ply. 10 yards.
Christine shares Ravelry: I’ve finished my Crofters Smock : This was knitted in a 3ply yarn spun from 3 colours of Malabrigo Nube, which I combo-plyed. The pattern’s written for an aran-weight yarn, but I knitted the sweater at a DK gauge, which meant calculating which size to cast on to get the size I needed to fit me (I took a photo of my notes and calculations on working this out and put it on my project page). There are lots more photos on my project page, including some close-ups of the cuffs and saddle shoulder. I was going to add the pockets, which are optional, but finished the neckline with a few metres of the 5th ball of yarn remaining, so rather than use the last ball/skein for the pockets, I decided to leave them off as, at around 290 metres, I should have enough to use that ball for the yoke of a colourwork sweater. It’s a pattern I’d definitely knit again and would recommend.
Sample Spinning // PLAY
Jennie shares via Slack: Nearly done plying my current spinning WIP—12 ounces of a Manx Loaghtan, Shetland, and BFL blend from Hipstrings. This is my first big spin on my Ashford e-spinner, and I’ve learned A LOT.
Pia shares via Slack: I love a full spindle. Finally finished this polwarth and silk singles. I spun this as thin as I could just to see if I can. It took forever but it was a nice background spin project. Still debating whether I should make a 2- or 3-ply.
Thank you so much for joining me today!
Until then, Happy Spinning!
