158 yards! Alpaca/Silk 70/30

#moreyarnplease #morefiberplease #likebutter #pocketwheel

Alpaca/Silk 70/30 ~

Wow - I love this fiber!

Perfect Vacation Cast off ~

One last post about Oregon.....as there is a rumor going around that November begins next week....and I am still talking about my September vacation....yet, it was such a great GREAT vacation....

Cast off the lovely Annis shawl while having coffee in a cool cafe with this perfect VACATION sign...knitting and coffee and vacation with two of the best ladies on this earth....I am so blessed to know them and have them as my friends....they are more special than even the most special silk yarn from England, used to knit this beauty!   Oh, how I love love LOVE this picture!!!!!
P.S.  Someone please tell me that November does NOT start next week....really.......

More Rabbit Holes ~

I have a great friend, the Jitteryknitter, who always finds a new and interesting rabbit hole for me to launch myself into.  For my birthday one year, she bought me lovely BFL fiber of lovely greens, just in case I needed to get serious about spinning... and I launched myself happily down that rabbit hole..... One year she surprised me with amazing Signature needles...perhaps because I was babysitting her pair and couldn't seem to find time to return them (we had bonded so well, and I really thought they were happier with me.....but I did (finally) return them..) and I have launched myself into getting...ahem...several pair since then...(how many is "several"?). One year she brought me the most beautiful silk from London, the Most Beautiful Silk EVER....and I almost weep with joy each time I knit on the shawl and feel that silk and see it making such lovely stitches.....

This year she found some fabulous yarn for me, in a super shape of a sock blank!  I have seen these, but never knit with one.  I love the colors, she said the Neon Green spoke to her...perhaps I have been choosing a lot of lime and neon lately... and the yarn is oh-so-soft!  I am excited to cast on!! This could be a great new format for yarn...does not need winding...does not get tangled.... a new rabbit hole for me!!!

In love with British silk ~

Have I mentioned how much I love knitting with this silk from London?  I love the feel of this yarn, and I love the colors as they perfectly pass over my lovely Signature needles. I also love that the yarn is a special gift from "I Knit London" from the most fabulous friend.  I am so happy to be knitting on this again.

Lovely silk, so very lovely!

London Vacation ~

As I have been knit knit knitting on my lime wedding scarf, I noticed my sweet Annis shawl laying patiently on the table where I left her...shimmering in her silk and nups, and those lovely pastel colors of lavender and mint. Knowing that I finished the difficult rows with the nups, and now knitting short rows, I thought I should knit a few rows just to show my love for this silk that my friend brought me from London....

After all, I am sure I can knit faster on my limey after a wee bit of time with my London silk!

Scoring Silk ~

One might ask, "How would I score some lovely silk, perhaps a blend with some wool....in fabulous colors...how would I do that?"   Well, readers, I did just that.  I scored several skeins of lovely Silky Wool in a lovely blue and an interesting greenish-yellow...all I had to do was wait patiently for Jitteryknitter to be sick of knitting with it.  She has already made a lovely cardigan sweater out of the blue, and I think there was another project out of the combination blue and greenish-yellow, and this last project was a scarf "with options."  The "options" were holes in the scarf where one could thread it one way, or another way and yet another way for many different "looks" however.... even with Debi, who can wear a shawl and scarf in every way imaginable, Debi could not make this "with options" scarf work even ONE way!!! Not even one!!!

So, Jitteryknitter sadly decided that she could not/would not/shall not knit with this yarn again....so I slipped in a request that I could try to knit something out of it... I could take that silky wool off her hands so she would not have to think about those "options" any more.....I caught her at a weak moment, and the yarn in now home with me... and almost all of the "options" have been frogged, and they are waiting for a different pattern...perhaps the Daybreak Shawl as I have heard that it is "not difficult" and I love how it looks....Do you think that is a good choice for this silk I have scored?

Cast on again ~

Say "bye bye" to this lovely shawl-in-progress out of my fabulous 50/50 silk/merino handspun that I am oh-so-proud of....as I'm going to cast on again with size 11 needles... I was knitting with my size 8 Signatures, but the fabric was too dense, although super lovely.  Wish I had Signature needles in size 11, but I don't...so I'll be knitting with addi lace turbos....not exactly the heavenly combination as silk and Signatures, but I think the shawl will look better knit with larger needles.

Since I love this yarn oh-so-much, I don't even mind re-knitting it back to life!  I love love love this yarn!

Nervous Nupps ~

I have never knit nupps before - never... and I must say that I was a little nervous about all the counting and yarn overs, in one little stitch.  The nupps for the Annis shawl have this all in one stitch: (k1, yo) 3 times and then k1, so we go from one stitch to seven.... and then on the wrong side, I purl all 7 together.... and hope that I have the correct 7, and not some of the side stitches that want to get into the nupp... as the nupp is a happenin' place with all those silky stitches just hanging out, being together... I would want to be in the nupp too...

I have knit the first row with nupps and the purl row back, and I am not sure if I have knit this correctly...but it certainly looks lovely! Plus, since this yarn came from I Knit London, it seemed appropriate that I be knitting with it at least once over Jubilee weekend! Cheerio!

Silk and Signatures ~

Look at this lovely shawl!  The yarn is so beautiful and soft and the colors are so yummy.  Knitting with the Signature Needles is amazing, it is like the silk and needles are made for each other!  Several rows in, and I still have the correct number of stitches!  Way to go!!!

The wee points are starting to show and they are lovely, I can't wait to get back to knitting this shawl! On Ravelry, there are several Annis shawls knit out of this yarn, and they are all lovely as well...

I love these colors!  Thanks again to JitteryKnitter for bringing back the BEST yarn for me from I Knit London!

Cast on again ~

Well, casting on 363 stitches was not as easy as one would think.  I counted and recounted, and after the first row was done with its directions, I still had stitches left....so, I devised a better way to cast on the stitches.  I used a size 10 straight needle and a smaller straight needle along side it, and when I'd cast on the 363 stitches, I pulled out the smaller needle and was able to start knitting with the correct size Signature Needle off of the size 10 straight (does that make sense?  Picture shows the cast on with the size 10 straight needle)

This worked much better, and by the end of row one, I had the exact amount of stitches!  Hurrah!!!

Cast on Silk ~

A bonus Friday night with the JitteryKnitter, as she needed to stay awake until getting her family from the airport...hmmmm, how could we pass the time with something exciting? We decided to go to our favorite local yarn shop...I decided the night before that I was going to rip out my lovely birthday shawl I was knitting with the silk from I Knit London that JitteryKnitter had brought me from her trip there.  The most lovely silk in the most lovely of color combinations.. I really really want a shawl out of this yarn, and I want it soon.... and the other pattern was not working out for me.... so time to switch gears.

So I cast on for the Annis shawl, as I have wanted to make that one for a long time... the casting on 363 stitches was a bit scary, but I knew I could do it....really....especially with these Signature Needles...

Perfect Cake ~

I am very pleased at how this yarn has turned out.  Most of the plys are just as I wanted them, a tight twist like my beloved Jitterbug or Koigu.

 

 I still have lots of practicing to do in order to be consistent, however that is the fun part of this spinning adventure I am on - it is FUN to practice and look at the wonderful results!

 

My goal for Mothers' Day is to cast on a project with this lovely yarn!  I have to measure it first to see how much I have....stay tuned!

Perfect Ply ~

I was finally able to begin to ply this beautiful 50/50 merino/silk fiber. I was a little nervous to begin, as I have been Navajo plying for the last several plying yarns and wondered if I could go back to a two ply with any control.  I was hoping desperately for a Jitterbug twist or Koigu ply, where the two singles are so neatly piled on top of each other, almost like a horizontal stack...does that make sense, can you picture that?

As I started plying, the singles felt so smooth going through my fingers. These colors are so fabulous and they were combining in such a lovely barber pole of colors, and other times the same color would ply together making it a surprise of what colors would end up as the primary color when all was done. At one point when I leaned over to move the bobbin, I stopped and stared..... as there was a perfect Jitterbug ply... for a little bit of length, there was a perfect twist...be still my Jitterbug-lovin' heart!

Perfect ply for me....perfect for this lovely yarn!  Perfect for this spot in my spinning journey!  I am thrilled!!!

Zebra Bobbin ~

Look how great my single 50/50 silk/merino turned out! Beautiful!  Lovely!!!  This is the second 2 ounces, all spun, and now I get to ply them, hopefully this weekend....

 

or perhaps for Mother's Day weekend I'll get a chance to do something that I want to do....I want to spin!!!  I want to ply!!!!

 

I want to knit with this lovely yarn!!!  I want to see how the colors blend and shine together!!

Zebra spins ~

When I picked up my Pocket Wheel last October, on the Perfect Pocket Day, I was able to pick three bobbins for my wheel. Jitteryknitter picked out the zebra wood bobbin right away, as it has such personality, plus it is beautiful!  As you can see in that first picture from my Perfect Pocket Day, the zebra had some tension problems at first, just some adjustments to work out being in a new home, with a clueless spinner..:).. but the zebra and I have become good buddies, and we help each other ease the tension of our days to create some lovely singles.

Here is the zebra with the start of the second two ounces of my lovely 50/50 merino/silk. I've spun the first two ounces on this bobbin, and when the zebra has the rest of the two ounces, then I will make a lovely 2-ply and hopefully get enough yardage to make a dazzling shawl! You can still see a bit of tension on this single, as I am still learning on my spinning journey...the colors are so beautiful!

Square Vacation ~

Please don't tell those at church that I took a little vacation from the squares to do a bit of spinning on this lovely 50/50 silk/merino dream fiber.  I can tell you that it is just a bit more slippery than I am used to spinning, but it is good to try all fibers and learn new ways to cope with a new fiber. 

The colors are stunning and the fiber is really soft and fluffy.  My hope and dream is that I will be able to ply this lovely single into a two ply and have enough yardage to knit a sweet shawl or scarf for myself.  By the end of this spinning session, I had spun two ounces, with two ounces left to spin....

Now, back to those squares.....Doesn't my Pocket Wheel look so happy with this fiber!!!

Lollipop Silk ~

There is a story about this lovely fiber.  It came into my possession as the "lollipop" after a doctor's appointment. Remember, as a kid, when your folks promised you a lollipop if you made it through a difficult doctor's appointment in a brave way? Well, this doctor of mine happens to have his office very near my favorite yarn store...so when I learned that I had to have a less-than-appealing-procedure last Friday, I put my Christmas gift certificate into my bag as that reward "lollipop" if I was brave during this appointment. I did this once before, and it worked out then as a great reward, and made me think of the yarn shop visit instead of worrying about the doctor visit....

I was very brave, and didn't cry or freak out or faint....just did a lot of breathing deeply....and was fine at the end...  So my reward was the yarn store, and I looked around to find just the right reward....and saw this lovely 50/50 merino silk in these dashing colors of teal and green and red....

 

and that was all I needed to see to know this was my reward.  I've never spun 50/50 silk before, so I was a little nervous when I started spinning this afternoon... hopefully I'll have some pictures of my singles soon....

Birthday cast on ~

Since I have to work on my birthday (I know, it seems to be unfair, however I am very very grateful to have a job...just wanted to get that up front) I've been worried about my annual, "Cast on a project on my birthday" as then I can refer to it as my Birthday Socks or Birthday Scarf or Birthday whatever.... So far I've done that here and here and here....seems to be mostly socks....Here is my birthday shawl that I've cast on, early, I know, but I thought I needed to be sure to have a birthday cast on before my work day.....This is that wonderful Natural Dye Studio yarn, 100% silk, Precious and I love it! The shawl pattern is called Crow Prints, and I saw it on a knitter while at Madrona Fiber Arts ~ her shawl was beautiful, so I added it to my wish list! (I'm thinking I need to cast on some Birthday socks this weekend!)

International special ~

There are some yarns that are always special to a knitter. Often, it is the yarn that takes the knitter out of the "acrylic at box stores" into the brave new world of natural fibers. What a delightful and wondrous leap that is. Yarn from The Natural Dye Studios fits into that category for me. Internationally made, so that gives it that extra special je ne sais quoi... I've made several projects out of this amazing yarn here and here are just two, plus talked about it here....... When I found out that JitteryKnitter was going to vacation in the same land where this lovely yarn is made, I asked if she could look for some, any kind would do....just some that came directly from its homeland...and being the bestest friend ever, this is what she brought me....Yes, it is sooooooo lovely, and 100% silk.......mouth watering colors called Sweet Pea....The bag is delightful too - how lovely it would be to Knit London, but perhaps someday. I'm now looking for a pattern for this amazing treasure....stay tuned!