Turtle Loom Hexies

At some point in the past, I’m not sure exactly when, I bought a Turtle Loom from The Woolery.  Why?  Because I must have all of the tools so that I can do all of the things, at least when it comes to fiber.  It sat around for a long time in an old project bag.  The project bag was an early one, an L.L. Bean tote in custom colors, back when they were doing that.  I ordered several and used them for years.  The loom was rediscovered after I retired when I was organizing my studio (using booth infrastructure from my days working for my sister at Bead & Button, and schlepping the infrastructure back and forth in my Element).  It was given a home that made it easily accessible for use, and waited patiently for me to notice it again.

I finally got it out after I had finished the Hydrangea Neckwarmer and still had some yarn left over (Skein 7 of my handspun) and learned how to use it.  It is very simple, and also lots of fun, if a little fiddly, especially towards the end.  I have made two hexies from the leftovers and have more to use up.

I have no idea what these will become, but I’m sure that I will think of something.  In the meantime I will continue to accumulate hexies made from my handspun.

The original skeins.  This skein was made on my original niddy noddy, which makes the shorter skeins, I have since bought an adjustable one that makes the longer (2 yard) skeins.  They are so much easier to work with!  Especially when dyeing.

Foxgloves - One Mitt Done (Almost)

Well, I still have to work the thumb, but most of the knitting is done.  I’m going to knit the second mitt and then do both thumbs.  This is more of my handspun, the next skein in the line-up to get used, Skein 10.  I have been trying to be diligent about using my handspun in a project soon after it is made.  The last thing I need is more stash accumulation.  It took me two tries to get the fit right.  The first time I mostly followed the pattern, except that I extended the thumb gusset far beyond what the pattern called for.  But when I got up past that point I tried it on and realized that the cuff was too long and that I was at risk of running short of yarn if I didn’t make some mods.  Here is a picture of the first attempt.

You can see how much cuff there is.  So I ripped it all the way back and started over, starting the thumb gusset early.  The pattern has you put the thumb stitches on waste yarn after you finish the increases, but that would have left me with a very short thumb gusset, and I have a long palm and a muscular thumb.

Even after shortening the cuff, it is still substantial.  I know that if I had knit the pattern exactly as written it would not have fit my hand, at all.  Fortunately I have no qualms about on the fly modifications.

This is the skein that I used.  It was spun on my Kromski at 12:1 and plied on my Kiwi at 9.5:1.  I ended up with 135 yards, and 86.4 grams, or 1.56 yards/gram.   I dyed it using my Wool Tincture Dyes kit, and the color is Plum.

Pattern:  Foxgloves by Clara Parks from the book Brave New Knits

Yarn:  Handspun, Skein 10

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Rosemary - Chart 1 Almost Done

I have been making progress on my Rosemary sock and have almost made it through chart 1.  I am enjoying the knit and the yarn is very nice to work with.  With all the cabling these will definitely be house socks, I don’t think I have any shoes that I could put these socks into.

Pattern:  Rosemary by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alpha B Yarn Elite B

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

Starry Night - Yoke Done!

Even though I have been focusing on sock knitting, I have not abandoned my Starry Night Tee (unlike Tessellation Nation, which has been languishing).  This project is something I can work on while reading, or while watching TV that I need to actually watch.  Last night I finished up the yoke and put the sleeve stitches on stitch holders.  I’ve tried it on and the fit is perfect.  How I finish the body and sleeves will depend on how far my yarn goes.  If I run short of yarn I’m sure I can find something in my stash that I can use.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Super Sock

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Spinning Report - Skeins 15 and 16

After finishing up Skein 14 I saw that I didn’t have that much left of my latest bag of Heinz 57 so I decided to spin it up and keep working on my drafting and also the fineness of my singles.  The top was a bit more than I typically spin on a bobbin (I did not weight it, but have calibrated my eye for how full I like my bobbins to get about 40 grams of single per bobbin) so when I reached that point and still had fiber left I did another bobbin.  This gave me four bobbins, two with about 40 grams and two with about 15 grams.  First I plied up the two 40 gram bobbins and ended up with this beautiful skein of fingering weight yarn.  It came in at 82 grams and 347 yards, or 4.21 yards/gram.  Spun on my Kromski at 16:1, plied on my Kiwi at 15:1.

After finishing that skein I took the two bobbins that had the smaller amount, and the leftovers from Skein 14 and weighed them all.  Then I put them on my Lazy Kate (lightest at top, heaviest at bottom) and made my first 3-ply yarn.  Spun on my Kromski at 16:1, plied on my Kiwi at 7.5:1.

It came out perfect.  100 yards, 36.5 grams, or 3.65 grams/yard.  I posted a picture of it in the Sheepspot Guild for the Friday spinning check-in, and was recognized in the spin of the week.  The challenge for May was a new to you ply, and this was mine.  I haven’t dyed it yet and I want to make some more 3-ply.  I’m thinking colorwork socks, but we’ll see what I end up doing with it.  I’m getting a little faster with the plying, still syncing my treadling with my drafting, but settling in to a nice rhythm.

Rosemary - Cast On!

One of the skeins in Box F1, which I am working my way through (more or less) is this luscious red skein of Alpha B Yarn by Elite B.  It is 80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon, and came to me as part of Janel Laidman’s Knitterati club, so it is a two-fer.  It continues my knitting up of the Knitterati club patterns (at least the sock patterns), and helps me knit up the yarn in Box F1.

As can be seen in the picture, it is knit toe-up, which is a sock construction method that I truly enjoy, although I am not doing any special shaping on the toe.  I used Judy Becker’s magic cast on, as slightly modified by the Sockmatician.  This design has lots of cables.

Pattern:  Rosemary by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alpha B Yarn by Elite B

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

 

Taliesin Socks - Finished!

And they are done!  The second sock went quickly, although I did have a couple of tinking episodes.  My pick up on the gusset on the right hand side wasn’t right, but I didn’t realize it until I had worked a couple of rows, so I had to tink that back and do it over.  The second issue was during the toe graft when my back needle slipped and I dropped a stitch and didn’t realize it right away and the stitch dropped down two rows before I caught it, but I did catch it.  I got out my neck lamp, undid the entire graft (which admittedly was only 13 stitches) and redid it.

Pattern:  Taliesin Sock by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Madelinetosh Tosh Sock

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)