Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Swatching and Watching

I haven’t had a whole lot of knitting mojo since I finished up the two colorwork bolsters.  I cast on Last Word with the wonderful Wensleydale from The Ross Farm, but just wasn’t feeling it, I wasn’t enjoying the knit, so this morning I decided to block what I have knitted so far and just see how it looked and felt.  I put some Barber cord on my tips and soaked away.  We’ll see how it comes out, and then I will decide what I want to do next.
In the meantime I did a couple of swatches while watching PLY Spinners Guild videos.  I have had this luscious set of Sundara Yarn Extra Fine Aran Merino in my stash for a little while.  And it has been quietly insisting that I do something with it.  I mean, just look at those colors!  That is what I love about Sundara Yarn - her  colors.  Seriously, she dyes beautiful yarn, and I love her Daily Dreams emails.  She is pretty much my only impulse yarn buy these days because if you see something you like in the Daily Dream you have to get it, as all of those are essentially limited runs.
Before I started swatching I spent some time sipping my first cup of tea and cruising the pattern library on Ravelry looking for some potential patterns for this set, as well as something that might suite the Wensleydale better.  I found a few prospects, noted the called for fiber and the stitch gauge and swatched away, while I watched the aforementioned PLY Spinners Guild videos.  The swatches are blocking, but I think I know what I want to make with the Sundara Yarn.  Even still damp the swatch is wonderfully soft and has nice drape and the gauge looks pretty good for the pattern I have in mind.

Regarding the PLY Spinners Guild, if you’re a spinner, or want to be a spinner, it is a really great resource.  They have a whole series of videos that are really quite excellent.  I am also reading PLY Magazine, which is also an excellent resource.  The Sheepspot Society is another great resource.  I took the Fall 2024 Spin School on line course, which is actually how I learned to spin, and now I’m in Breed School.  And I don’t know what happened to that first paragraph.  When I put in the link for The Ross Farm it centered everything, and I can’t get it to go away.  Oh Well.

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