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.

Tessellation Nation - Bottom Left Corner Started!

Last Tuesday I finally started working on this project in earnest.  I have a design, with basic (frame) colors picked.

And I have bought a pallet of yarn in colors that I like that more or less corresponds to the colors in my design.

So last Tuesday morning I pulled out skeins and started arranging them into colorways and came up with the color scheme for the lower left corner.

I’m not sure if the first two pentagon circles that I made will make it into the blanket now, but that is okay.  So far I’ve only been working the Pentagon 1 pattern, which has double crochets for round two.  There is also a Pentagon 2 pattern that has puffs for round two and the pattern recommends that you try to use them in roughly equal proportions.  But when I made a Pentagon 2 and started to join it to one of my Pentagon 1 circles I just didn’t like it.  I’ve been putting off working the Pentagon 2 pattern because I’m just not a big fan of puffs.  I’m thinking about just not doing any of the Pentagon 2 pattern, and leaving all of the texture for the flowers.  Now that I’ve worked all the pentagons in the bottom left corner I’ve started working my way to the right, where I need to transition to the purple frame color.  So I’ve pulled out my purples and added them to my color lineup.  I’m going to keep the interior colors the same, I think, and just change the frame color.  We’ll see how it works out.  There is a lot of “figure it out as you go” with this blanket, which means that I’m taking things slow and letting ideas marinate and inspiration come as it will.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Scheepjies Terrazzo

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Lightning Thief - Third Chart - One Repeat Done!

Last night I finished up the first repeat of the third chart.  My yarn usage looks to be on target for the large size.  So far it has been pretty easy knitting, and the yarn is certainly a dream to work with.  I haven’t been working as much on this project because I’ve been working on my Tessellation Nation.

Pattern:  Lightning Thief by Lily Go

Yarn:  Araucania Yarns Huasco Multy Botany Lace

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Lightning Thief - Second Chart Done!

I’ve been working on this project because I can read when I’m working the wrong side rows.  It is also pretty good television knitting.  So, I have finished the second chart and am on to the third, which I will repeat at least once.  I’ll check my yarn usage after the second repeat and see if I have enough to work a third.

On another topic, my cat, Jezebel, slept most of the night on my chest, and in the early hours of the morning moved to the foot of the bed to sleep by my lower leg.  Fortunately I do not move much when I sleep, and often sleep on my back.  It was quite nice to have a purr monster sleeping on my chest.

Pattern:  Lightning Thief by Lily Go

Yarn:  Araucania Yarns Huasco Multy Botany Lace

Needle:  US 5 (3.7 5 mm)

Lightning Thief - First Chart Done!

I have finished the first chart - rows 1-28.  Lots of beads, which makes for slow knitting.  I am adding the beads before knitting the stitch instead of after knitting the stitch, as called for by the pattern because I prefer doing it that way.  On row 15, where the pattern has you place a bead after working a knit two together (k2tog), I placed the bead on the second stitch, so that when I worked the k2tog the bead is on top of the decrease.  I’ll continue to do that for the next chart, which has beads on both k2tog stitches and slip, slip, knit (ssk) stitches.  For the ssks I’ll place the bead on the first stitch before I worked the decrease, so it will end up on top of the decrease.

Pattern:  Lightning Thief by Lily Go

Yarn:  Araucania Yarns Huasco Multy Botany Lace

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)