Starry Night - Time For Chart E!

I have finished knitting the 3.5 inches after placing the sleeve stitches on holders and casting on underarm stitches.  Per the pattern, the rest of the body is supposed to come out to 6.5 inches, so based on my row gauge I need another 16 rows of the yellow to make everything come out correctly.  I should have enough of the blue to do the few rows on the body between chart E and chart F, but I’m not sure if I will have enough to work the few rows on the sleeves before I work chart G.  We’ll see.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa

Yarn:  Sundara Yarns Super Sock

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Practically Handspun - Three Skeins Done!

Another skein knitted up.  I’m in the mindless part, just increases every 10 rows to give a slight A-line silhouette, which is a modification to the pattern that I made at some point.  I was thinking about making two of these vests out of these sets of my handspun, but have now decided that I’m just going to keep knitting on this one until all the yarn is gone, using it from thickest (mostly) to thinnest.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich

Yarn:  Handspun

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Practically Handspun - 2 Skeins Done!

I finished up Skein 11d, and started working with Skein 12b.  The transition between Skein 11d and Skein 12b worked out perfectly at the end of a row.  If I had been thinking things through a little more I might have started with Skein 12b, and then worked either Skein 11d or Skein 12c.  That would have me working from the thickest yarn to the thinnest.  But that is not what I did, and I think it looks just fine as it is.  At this point I had finished Skein 12b, and have cast off the stitches for the sleeve caps.  I am now working with Skein 12c, then I’ll use Skein 12a.  If I still need more length I’ll use Skein 11c.  I am enjoying the knitting.  There is something extra special about working with your handspun, imperfect though it may be.

This is a nice shot of the yoke that I forgot to post.  I like the garter stitch bands.

I have enough yarn that I can make a second vest using up Skein 11 and all of Skein 13.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich 

Yarn:  Handspun Merino Top

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Practically Handspun - Cast On!

Having used up Skeins 7 and 10 of my handspun yarns I looked to the next set of skeins that I had spun:    Skein 11.  Skein 11 is actually 4 skeins, spun from 250 grams of Rosie’s Multicolor Merino Top in the colorway Cornucopia bought from The Woolery.

The four skeins are, from left to right:

Skein 11a - 26 grams, 49 yards or 1.88 yd/g

Skein11b - 44 grams, 76 yards or 1.73 yd/g

Skein 11c - 89 grams, 145 yards or 1.62 yd/g

Skein 11d - 89 grams, 130 yards or 1.46 yd/g

As you can see from the numbers, my singles and my finished yarn were getting thicker as I spun this top up and settled into a good single thickness.  I have been trying to decided for some time now what to make out of this yarn, along with the other three of the Rosie’s tops that I had spun up.  I had pretty much settled on a vest based upon the yardage, but I still couldn’t settle on a design that would maximize the usage and minimize the work of figuring out how to use it.  Yesterday I decided that I was just overthinking the whole thing and so I cast on another Practically vest by Kelly Herdrich, my 12th time making this pattern.  What can I say?  It is an easy knit, looks great on, and is a great way to use up those precious skeins.  I pulled out Skein 11d and caked it up yesterday and cast on.  When I use up that skein I will actually switch to Skein 12, which is really 3 skeins, and is also from 250 grams of Rosie’s Multicolor Merino Top, in colorway Valentine.

For this spin I was focusing on consistency, and having settled into that slightly thicker single on Skein 11d, they all have a similar thickness to that skein.  From left to right:

Skein 12a - 79 grams, 115 yards or 1.46 yd/g

Skein 12b - 79.6 grams, 111 yards or 1.4 yd/g

Skein 12c - 84.3 grams, 121 yards or 1.44 yd/g

If I still need more length I will grab Skein 11c to finish, although I would kind of like to do something else with Skeins 11b and 11c.  Skein 11d I am thinking of weaving up on my Zoom Loom.  I think the colors would like nice with the plum squares that I wove up from Skein 10.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich

Yarn:  Handspun Rosie’s Multicolor Merino Top

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Skein 10 Zoom Loom Squares - Finished!

My skein 10 was thicker than Skein 7, so I used my Zoom Loom and made squares.  It worked quite well, although weaving the final weft was a bit challenging at time due to the thicker yarn, so sometimes I had to resort to sewing the weft, but they came out great.

Skein 7 Turtle Loom Hexies - Finished!

I finished up the rest of Skein 7 making hexies on my Turtle Loom.  It was a lot of fun and I got pretty good at it by the end.  I have no idea what these will become, for now I will continue to use up my handspun on my pin looms and collect pieces.

Foxgloves - Finished!

This was a super quick knit - three days.  And I still had yarn left over.  I used about 2/3rd of my skein 10 of my handspun.  As a reminder, this is the yarn that I used.

They fit perfectly, and I got to use my mitten blockers for the first time!  There are even little inserts for the thumbs.

Pattern:  Foxgloves by Clara Parks

Yarn:  Handspun

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)