I'm baaaack! ~ post from Guest Blogger Jeff

hi there!

long time no post. life and work had been suuuuuuuper busy and knitting and spinning had gone by the wayside. now that we're into July, and the "big meeting that pays my salary" is over, i have time to knit and spin again! maybe i'll actually finish my shetland triangle sometime soon!

it's also been fracking hot and humid in PA and that has made me not want to knit - plus, it's Tour de Fleece! so i've been spinning lots more than knitting (although, i did finish one baby blankey and start on another - good old no thinking garter stitch).

here is some yummy spinning goodness:


corriedale spun on my great wheel

 speaking of great wheels, i, uh, kind of just acquired another one...


the "new" GW is in the front of the "old" gw.
i just need to get a drive band and a little piece to keep the wheel on and i think we're in business!

and now, back to your regularly scheduled spinning pics:


this became...



...this! a 2-ply wensleydale from Into the Whirled
in the Doctor Who inspired colorway Mercy Hartigan



black welsh mountain and tussah silk blend from HilltopCloud
single was spun months ago, but finally plied it this week

north ronaldsay from Gnomespun - my first "successful" attempt at long draw on the Lendrum

and....

BFL from HilltopCloud naturally dyed with marigolds

will become a 3-ply yarn with the other 2 braids above (also
naturally dyed - both with berberis)

I finished something! ~ guest blogger WillyG

Yay!  I finished something for the KAL!

I know, I know, it's not even a full week.  Like I said before, I was on vacation. But it really is a simple knit once you get going, and as lace goes,  pretty easy to catch/fix mistakes.  (And I did so.)

This shawl is all about imperfection.

See the little plying error?  I had a few of these.  As I got further into the shawl, I figured out how to tack these to the back of the fabric as I knit, but earlier on there are a few oddities to keep the perfectionists busy.

I also noticed as I knit that the color transitions came out a bit stripey for what I had envisioned. Someone overlooked this factor when he was blending the colors!!  But that's okay; I have several ideas for how to remedy this next time.  And there will be a next time.  This was superfun!  I already bought more of the same type of fiber in a different colorway...

Into The Whirled dyes the best colorways, no?

Now for my favorite bits about this shawl.
I love the fabric I ended up with - light and a bit drifty, but not so airy that it annoys me.  For some reason, I like my knits to have a denser fabric than many people - even when it comes to lace.  This turned out perfectly, and I'm delighted I was able to spin it.  WOOT!  Milestone right there.

I also love the color blending in the first section, more by default than anything.  The fibers were longer than the color blocks in the sea foam sections, so the olive crept in.

I'm also in love with the undulating movement created by the simple lace patterning.  For the lace newbies, it takes a bit of blocking to smooth out the natural bumps that form in the fabric, but once you do that it really pops.

I think the simple pattern shows a variety of yarns beautifully; I can't wait to see yours! And once again, happy May!!

How's YOUR Shetland Triangle Knitting? - guestblogger willyg

I realize I have been off work the past two days... don't worry it's not a competition.  Here's what I've got so far:

I was pretty excited about my handspun gradient... now I see that I did too good a job separating the colors.  Oh well.  Live and learn, right?

I'm about to enter into a rather busy stretch of the weekend, so I expect people to catch up a bit.  I'm interested to hear how people are finding the cast on.  How's it going? Once past that tab, it's pretty smooth sailing until it's time to do the border...

Can't wait to see everyone's cast ons/progress!  :)

Woot Woot! ~ post by guestblogger WillyG

My May Day KAL yarn is done, and the shawl is begun!

The yarn looks pretty now, but Jeff had to do some damage control while I was fighting with the plies; I found myself shouting at the yarn, "You're not friggin' mohair, so stop acting like it!" Did I ever mention how wonderful Jeff is? It was worth sticking with the sticky yarn, though, and the plied yarn behaved beautifully on the ball winder.  Woot!

On my Leaves Of Grass, I'm actually into Chart D!!!!  Another woot!

Happy May, and enjoy your Shetland Triangle! I know I will.  

Pre-funk progress update - by guest blogger WillyG

Here's a double update for y'all.

Melissa called for yarn reveals for the May Day knitalong, and I'm more than happy to oblige, despite being not quite ready.

You see, I'm trying to spin my own yarn for the shawl.

This is a big deal for me; I've been scheming to do something like this (knit a shawl from my own handspun yarn) for a couple years, but never did enough spinning to make it happen.  Lately, though, I've gotten comfortable enough using a spindle to get a fingering-ish weight yarn from two plies.

I currently have one of the two singles completed:

I'm using one of my long-time favorite color combinations; this photo doesn't show you as well as the first that I am spinning a gradient.  Ooh, it's fun! I won't bore you with all the little details about how I'm spinning it, though I will say that it is less intimidating than one might expect. Check out my regular blog if this intrigues you.

I told you this was a two-fer; here's the news on my Leaves Of Grass. Last night I broke into the last repeat of chart C!

I know, I know...I'm probably not even half-way, but I'm one of those people that has to set small goals for myself, and reaching chart D is good enough for me for a while.  There are just too many good things I want to make and learn to spend all my time on just this one blanket. The happy result of my procrastination is that it provides a nice, relaxing retreat from other projects when I do pick it up. There's something wonderful about the drawn-out process of short repetitions of lace knitting interspersed with free-flying plain rounds that helps me be a different person than at work -- less driven, perhaps -- and I'm trying to keep it that way.  Apparently, I'm succeeding, heheh!