Tessellation Nation - First Five Petal Flower Inset

I’ve also been making good progress on my Tessellation Nation since my redesign effort.  I’ve made my first five petal flower and set it in, and started on the bottom right hand corner, which has a new frame color - purple!  The outlines for two Mandalas are emerging.  I also ripped out the stars that I had done and redid them, as I didn’t like the center construction on them.  The pattern has you do a round of single crochets (14 plus a slip stitch join, for 15 stitches) and then a round of 30 half-double crochets, two per single crochet, which was just unwieldy.  First I tried working twenty triple crochets in 5 sets of four with a chain between each set, and that fit, but I wasn’t crazy about the look.  I pondered the problem on our daily walk and when I came back I checked to see if the first two rounds of the pentagon 1 would work, and it did.  So now that is how I work my stars.  I did change the beginning of round 2 so I start with chain three and a double crochet into the same stitch.  That way when I finish the round I am ready to work into the chain space for the first join and the first star point.  I work a single crochet into the chain space, join and then work another single crochet into the chain space before working the star point.  I always use a magic ring for my centers, which allows me to cinch up the piece to fit the space nicely.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton 

Yarn:  Scheepjes Terrazzo

Hook:  3.75 mm (F), 3.5 mm (E)

Spinning Report - Skein 14

After finishing up those beautiful dyed tops that I had bought, I went back to the undyed Heinz 57 top and also dropped down to a smaller whorl (I had been working on my 12:1 ratio whorl, but have now switched to my 16:1 whorl).  Still working short forward draft, and trying to spin as thin and consistent a single as I could.  Here is the first bobbin.

It was not a fast spin, and the single on my second bobbin was definitely thinner than the first, as I had a fair bit left over (for me) even though the weight of the singles on each bobbin was comparable, and my final skein was only 68 grams (I usually shoot for about 80 grams).

I also put my smaller whorl on my Kiwi for plying (15:1).  I had a few issues with the plying - I did have a break on my first bobbin, but was able to rejoin it into the plied yarn okay (a better join than I’ve typically been able to do), but I also had some resistance from the wheel - so I decided it needed a drop of oil.  Unfortunately the oil bottle that came with my Kromski was 10 years old, and the plastic was the old plastic that grows brittle with age (and with exposure to oil, I suspect) and the bottle cracked when I squeezed it.  I thought that I had only gotten oil on my hands, but apparently I had also gotten oil on my drive wheel and more importantly on my drive band, but I didn’t realize that at the time.  No, I kept plying, and wondering where the strange noise was coming from, and why it wasn’t treadling as easily as it should.  I managed to finish the plying, and only after the skein was soaking did I take a look at the wheel and figure out all that had happened.  I cleaned everything up and wiped everything down, and treadled it for a few minutes, and it should be fine now.  Fortunately I had bought a new maintenance kit for my Kromski and it came with a new bottle of oil in a plastic bottle that is the better plastic.  I saved the old oil in a sealed container, and the application tip, which is really long.

I dyed the skein in Wool Tincture Dyes, in the color Deep Water.  It is a very uniform dye job, which made me happy, but that is probably because the dye packs and the jar is geared for a 100 gram skein, and mine was only 68, so it had plenty of room.  The yarn came out at a sport weight, although there are stretches that are thinner and some that are thicker.  Even with the challenges, I am happy with the result.

Skein 14:  240 yards, 68.1 grams or 3.5 yards/gram

Lightning Thief - Part B, Chart 1 Done!

Last night I finished up the lace part of the first Part B chart (all those beads!) and this morning I finished up the four knit rows that separate the first Part B chart from the second Part B chart.  Still more beads!  But these are the larger size 6 beads, not the smaller size 8, which will be easier to work with.  I am excited about finishing this shawl, I looked at some of the finished projects on Ravelry and it is really beautiful.

Pattern:  Lightning Thief by Lily Go

Yarn:  Araucania Yarns Huasco Multy Botany Lace

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Lightning Thief - Part A Done!

Last night I finished up Part A of the Lightning Thief for the large size.  This morning I weighed my yarn and did the math to see if I could make the extra-large size (the designer conveniently included charts with row by row stitch counts for all of the sizes), but alas I do not have enough yarn to do that, so it is on to Part B.

Pattern:  Lightning Thief by Lily Go

Yarn:  Araucania Yarns Huasco Multy Botany Lace

US 5 (3.75 mm)
 

Tessellation Nation - Progress on Bottom Left Corner

So I did a little redesign on my Tessellation Nation last week and maxed out the Medallion and Mandala flowers.  That did require me to rip out about a half dozen pentagons, but I’ve made good progress since the change.

The colors are not strictly correct - more of a suggestion, and I’m thinking of swapping the light and dark purple, but we will see what happens as I go.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Scheepjies Terrazo

Hook:  3.75 mm (F) and 3.5 mm (E)

Seahorse - Finished!

I really didn’t have all that much left to do, just the frilly bits, but it took me over a year to finally do it.  When I left off working on it I had completed the body and one of the side fins.  A couple of weeks ago I dug it out and did the little frilly bits by the eyes.  I didn’t bother blocking those before I sewed them on because I liked the look of them a little curly. I did the side fins and blocked them, and then finally did the dorsal fin.  That took me two tries to get it the right length.  I used the Long Dorsal Fin Style 1, level 1 and level 2 (the small and medium spikes), working a single small spike at the beginning and end, and working the medium spikes the rest of the way.  I did a slight modification to the pattern by skipping the slip stitch into the top of the tallest stitch in the spike - I didn’t like the look and it was a bit of a pain to work.  When I sewed the side fins on I did sew up the sides a bit so they weren’t so floppy.  I did not block the dorsal fin before I attached it.

Pattern:  Seahorse by Megan Lapp

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Luster Worsted

Hook:  4.0 mm (G)

Spinning Report - Skeins 10-13

I have been spinning regularly, every day, when possible.  I typically spin in the mornings, and usually for 30 minutes to an hour.  I find it very meditative, and it sets my brain (and mood) up nicely for the rest of the day.  Since my last spinning post on March 7, I have spun and plied over 800 grams of yarn.  All of these yarns were spun on my Kromski at a 12:1 ratio and plied on my Kiwi at a 9.5:1 ratio.

This is my 10th skein.  I went back to the Heinz 57, which I use as a sort of palette cleanser, and a way to reset myself after spinning a new base.  This skein came in at 135 yards and 86.4 g, or 1.56 yd/g and about 10 wraps per inch, so something between a worsted and a DK.  I dyed the skein with Plum from Wool Tincture Dyes.  I still have some variation in the dye take up, mostly where the ties are, even though I do try to tie loosely and I swish the fiber around in my dye jar.  I’m not overly concerned, as I’m not going for total uniformity.  Here is a picture of the skein untwisted.

Overall I am happy with both the singles consistency - there is not as much variation as I’ve had in the past, and the plying consistency.  I do like the set up I have with spinning on the Kromski and plying on the Kiwi.  I’m not sure what I will make with this yarn, but have been thinking about some fingerless mitts.

A little while ago I did an impulse buy of some of Rosie’s Multicolor Merino Tops from The Woolery, so I tackled them next and focused on my singles, trying to be consistent.  For each of the tops I used the same process:  I took the 250 g top out of the bag and shook it out, and then divided it into three equal sections length-wise.  Two of the sections I wrapped up in to a nest and set aside, then I took one section and divided it in half length-wise again, so that I had two pieces of top that were about the same length.  I then stripped the top in half, and then in half again, so I was working with about one quarter of the top at a time to keep the colors from blending too much.  All were spun using short forward draw and scotch tension.  I spun two bobbins from each of the three original sections of top, I wound the bobbins off the wheel and onto another bobbin and let them sit overnight (at a minimum) before plying.  I did not spin up all of the fiber and then mix the bobbins, which I know is recommended to minimize variations in the plied yarn by compensating for variations in the singles, but I wanted to see my inconsistency, not mask it.  I spun a section, and plied it, and then spun the next section and plied it, until I had spun and plied all three sections.

The first top that I grabbed was the Cornucopia colorway.

From left to right these are skeins 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d.  As I settled in to spinning this top my singles settled in to a slightly thicker diameter.  When I was plying the first two bobbins I had a break, which I didn’t fix, so I ended up with two smaller skeins.

Skein 11a came in at 49 yards and 26.5 g, or 1.84 yd/g

Skein 11b came in at 76 yards and 44.5 g, or 1.69 yd/g

Skein 11c came in at 145 yards and 89.7 g or 1.62 yd/g

Skein 11d came in at 130 yards and 89.8 g or 1.44 yd/g

Next I grabbed the Valentine colorway.

From left to right these are skeins 12a, 12b, and 12c.  The singles on these three skeins are far more consistent.

Skein 12a came in at 115 yards and 79 g, or 1.46 yd/g

Skein 12b came in at 111 yards and 79.6 g, or 1.4 yd/g

Skein 12c came in at 121 yards and 84.3 g, or 1.44 yd/g

The last top is the Purple Haze colorway.

From left to right these are skeins 13a, 13b, and 13c, and on these skeins I went back to a thinner single, even thinner than what I had achieved on the first colorway.  I wanted to see how thin I could comfortably and consistently spin on the 12:1 ratio whorl.

Skein 13a came in at 154 yards and 78.1 g, or 1.97 yd/g

Skein 13b came in at 176 yards and 82.5 g, or 2.13 yd/g

Skein 13c came in at 161 yards and 83.6 g, or 1.93 yd/g

Overall, I am very happy with my spinning and plying on all of these skeins, and with the greater consistency I am achieving.  Although I have no idea what I want to make out of these three sets.

After finishing up these three tops I decided to go down a whorl size, so I set up with my 16:1 whorl and started spinning some more Heinz 57 top.  I haven’t finished my first bobbin yet, but I do have two ply-back samples:

After looking at the first ply-back sample (top) I decided I needed a bit more twist in my singles, which you can see in the bottom ply-back sample.  I’m pretty chuffed with the fineness I am achieving.  These are still short forward draw, although I did do a few inches of long draw just to see how it felt and looked - and it felt and looked pretty good.  Once I have spun short forward draw on all of my Kromski whorls (after the 16:1, I will do the 20:1), I will go back to the biggest whorl and practice long draw on all of them.