Bolster Pillow - Finished!

This fiber was from Paradise Fibers, and is called Girl with Pearl Earring.  It is 54% Merino, 40% Kid Mohair, 6% Stellina.  I ended up with two skeins, one of 51 yards and 60.3 grams (~.85 yards/gram), and one of 72 yards and 79.1 grams (~0.91 yards/gram).  It was spun on my Kromski at an 8:1 ratio and played on my Kiwi at a 9.5:1 ratio.  I didn’t really know what else to do with it, but had a vague notion of turning it into a pillow, and ended up settling on a bolster pillow, so I grabbed a US 8 (5.0 mm) needle and cast on some stitches.

If you look at the blocking picture you can see that it did not come out as a perfect cylinder.  Yes, my gauge changed because my two skeins of yarn were not quite the same weight.  They weren’t that much off, but it was enough.  I didn’t really let it worry me, because I figured it wouldn’t make too much of a difference when I worked it up into the pillow.  I finished the knitting quickly, casting on March 13, and casting off March 14.  Then I had to wait for the bolster pillow form to arrive.  It came yesterday.  I immediately stuffed it into my waiting tube.

Yes, the bolster sticks out some at either end.  My tube was between sizes so I went with the larger size figuring yarn stretches and pillows compress and bolsters should be on the firmer side.  For the end caps I had already decided that I was just going to crochet circles until they were big enough to join with my knitted tube.  I had some sparkly DK yarn from Expression Fiber Arts left over from another project so I decided to use that.  I did the cast off (smaller end) first.

I joined the last round with the cast off edge using single crochet, pinning the end cap to the knitted tube using locking stitch markers and placing stitch markers about every 1.5 inches around the circumference so I could do the finagling to make them fit together neatly.  I then crocheted another end cap the same size and attached it to my cast on edge.  That was easier to do, just because of the nature of cast on and cast off edges, and the fact that it was a bit looser then my cast off edge.

I am delighted with the result.

Pattern:  None, just a simple knitted tube and some crocheted rounds

Yarn:  Hand spun by me

Needle:  US 8 (5.0 mm)

Hook:  4.5 mm

 

Hydrangea Neckwarmer - Finished!

I cast this project on back on March 17, 2025.  This is more of my hand spun, hand dyed yarn.  I spun the yarn on my Kromski, with a 12:1 ratio, and played it on my Kiwi, with a ratio of 9.5:1 and dyed it with a Wool Tincture Dyes dye kit using the color Malbec.  While this yarn still had some variability in thickness, it did come out more on the thinner side - at 219 yards and 90 grams.

I wanted to make an accessory out of this yarn so I went searching on Ravelry and settled on this pattern by Anne Hanson from the book Brave New Knits, which I happened to have in my knitting library.  I did make some modifications to the pattern.  I went up a needle size, to a US 4 (3.5 mm) needle, and I cast on more stitches.  The smaller size of this cowl has you cast on 84 stitches, for a finished circumference of 16 inches, while the larger size has you cast on 96 stitches, for a finished circumference of 18 inches.  Frankly, both of these sizes seemed too small for my tastes.  I did start out with 96 stitches and really didn’t like how small it seemed, so I ripped and cast on 144 stitches.

I did have some hiccups with the pattern.  I much prefer knitting from charts and typically skip past the written instructions that go along with the chart, which caused some consternation when I reached round 7 and my motif was not lining up correctly.  It turns out that the beginning of the round shifts on rounds 7, 9, and 11.  The written instructions have you slip the first stitch on those rounds, but there is no mention of the reason for slipping that stitch or that the motif shifts.  Luckily the motif is easily memorized, and I shifted my round marker as necessary to work the decreases that spanned it, using the chart only to make sure that I was lining up the motif correctly.

I also had some issues with the knit-on edging.  The pattern calls for a provisional cast on so you can graft the last row to the first row to make a continuous edge.  I didn’t want to do it that way so I just left the first and last motifs separate.  I like the way it allows the edge to settle on the shoulders.  The lace pattern was also fairly straightforward and easy to memorize, although I did have to rip back three times to fix errors that I made and didn’t catch until I was close enough to the end to easily count the remaining stitches and realize that I had screwed up somewhere.  It was a bit frustrating, but I did have that chart memorized by the end!

When I went to block it I was initially going to pin it out as I do with any lace item, but as I was laying it out on the blocking mats I decided I liked the look of a gentle block, especially the way that the edge ruffled, so I just smoothed it out a little and left it.

Pattern:  Hydrangea Neckwarmer by Anne Hanson from Brave New Knits edited by Julie Turjoman

Yarn:  Heinz 57 top, from The Woolery, hand spun and hand dyed by me

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

 

Ibbi Socks - Cast On!

I actually cast these on back on March 3 and have been working on them off and on.  I’ve been trying to finish up WIPs and not start new projects, but I fell down the spinning rabbit hole and have been obsessed with working with my handspun.  This is not handspun.  This is, in fact, part of the 2024 Onling Advent Calendar.  I had grabbed this yarn and some needles a while back and just parked them in a project bag waiting for the urge to cast on.  I’ve actually turned the heel on the first sock and have started on the foot.

The cuff is shorter than called for in the pattern because I have muscular calves (walking every day will do that for you) but overall the fit is perfect.  The pattern comes with three sizes and I’m working the medium size.

Pattern:  Ibbi Socks by Inge-Lis Holst & Katrine Hannibal

Yarn:  Onling No. 18 in color Rosa

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

 

Wallflowers - Half-hexi’s Finished!

All I have left to do now is the trim.  Jezebel has already claimed the blanket as hers, which can make working on it a bit of a challenge at times.  The fact that I’m working with dark yarn and want good natural light to avoid eye strain also narrows the window of activity.  I do love the way that it is coming out.  I need to get this finished so that I can focus on Tesselation Nation, which I have not even started - other than coming up with a potential motif arrangement and color scheme.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton, The Mercerie

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Simple Cowl - Finished!

I cast this on Tuesday, March 11, and finished it up Wednesday, March 12.  The yarn was spun up from a fiber club shipment from Paradise Yarns that I ordered on a whim.  It was a multicolored top - a mix of purples and yellows, and there were some other colors in there as well.  It was composed of 60% Extra Fine Merino, 25% Baby Alpaca, and 15% Tussah Silk.   I divided it in half, horizontally, so I could get two bobbins of singles, and then I stripped it lengthwise and spun it with absolutely no color management.  The resulting yarn was beautiful, and I’m sorry I don’t have a better picture of it.  It came out as worsted weight.

This is a picture fresh off the needles, before it went in for its blocking soak.  There is lots of color stuff happening, but it is pretty subtle.

And this is some of the yarn.  I actually had two skeins, a smaller one (this one) and a larger one, which I did not take a picture of.  The yarn was lovely - soft, silky, with great drape, and cushy.  It was also pretty consistent, which made me very happy.  Given how soft it was I knew I wanted something that I could wear close to the skin, so I cast on a simple cowl.  Just some rows of garter stitch at beginning and end and rounds and rounds of stockinette.  I even took out the end of round marker after I finished the first section of garter because I really just didn’t care and I wanted to make sure that I used up all of the yarn.  I only put the marker back in when I started the garter stitch for the end.

I spun the yarn on my Kromski, with a 12:1 ratio, and plyed it on my Kiwi, with a ratio of 9.5:1.  I even used a plying bracelet at the end to make sure I used up of the singles.

I really like having two wheels, one for spinning and one for plying so I don’t have to adjust them, and can have in process spinning on my Kromski while still finishing up other spinning efforts.

Pattern:  None - simple cowl, just cast on stitches, join in the round, and go

Yarn:  Handspun

Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

 

Twills in Silk - Finished!

I started weaving this way back in 2012 - according to the project page in my weaving notebook for my loom, I started it on October 28, 2012.  I finally finished the weaving last month - February 27, 2025.  My beating is uneven, and for the most part denser than the pattern called for, so the beauty of the warp is unfortunately mostly hidden.  But it is finished, and now I can weave something else on that loom.  I am not unhappy with the result, imperfect though it may be.  One thing life (and spinning) has taught me is to not be overly judgmental about things.  Do I always try to improve my technique and increase my mastery?  Absolutely!  Do I beat myself up when I fall short of ideals?  Absolutely not!  Every day is a new day to learn, to grow, to improve.

Project:  Twills in Silk

Sett:  15 ends per inch

Materials:  1 - 3.5 ounce skein Gemstone 2/12 silk in #103 red, 1 mini-cone Gemstone 2/12 silk each in #116 rose, #105 Copenhagen, #106 gold

Source:  Yarn Barn of Kansas kit

Loom:  24 harness Margaret from Woolhouse Tools

More Spinning!

After spinning up the Zen Yarn Garden fiber (spin 6), I went back to the Heinz 57 fiber and focused on spinning up two full bobbins, trying to spin consistent thin single.  I ended up with about 103 grams / 255 yards of yarn, which I dyed using the Malbec.  I still had some paler spots, these were co-located with the ties, even though I tried to tie them loosely.  I might try using this yarn as the weft in some weaving.

Next, I pulled out some fiber that I had recently received from Paradise Fibers as part of their Fiber Club.

The fiber is called Girl with Pearl Earring, and contains 54% merino, 40% Kid Mohair, 6% Stellina.  It was a bit of a tricky spin for me, and I ended up with thicker singles - every time I tried to go thin it would go too thin and break.  I’m not sure what I would make with it.  The fiber club came with two fibers, and I’m still spinning up the second one, but I do have a sample.

The yarn is multicolored, and I’m not trying to do any sort of color management.  It is 60% Extra Fine Merino, 25% Baby Alpaca, 15% Tussah Silk.  This one came out a bit thicker as well, although I have spun another third of the fiber and the single has come out thinner, so maybe I’m getting a bit better.

All of these were plyed on my new wheel, an Ashford Kiwi 3.

I’ve set it up across the room from my Kromski.  It is wonderful to ply on.  On my Kromski my treadling is slow, but on the Kiwi I am fast, and the plying goes quickly.  I also bought a second niddy noddy, as the one I have only makes shorter skeins.  When I tackle long draw I will do that on the Kiwi, as my setup with the Kromski doesn’t really lend itself to those sort of arm movements.