Just in case you think we're just sitting here idle since we've been iced-in, you wouldn't be far wrong. But there has been knitting, and spinning, and planning.
Firstly, I spun the first skein of mohair/silk for my Rowan cardigan. I weighed out probably a bit more than 100g (70g mohair and 30g silk), and have ended up with 95g, giving me 694 yards (640m). The cardigan needs less than 1,374 yards, so I reckon if I do another skein of the same weight, I should have enough.
I was very careful not to put too much twist in this while spinning, because I realised it would have to be a single strand, not plied, and I didn't want it to "lean" to one side in the knitting. When taking it off the bobbin though, I did have 3 or 4 places which were too thin or didn't quite have enough twist, so I ended up knotting those together. I'll deal with them properly when I'm knitting the cardigan.
The wool has a nice sheen from the silk (which shows up in the second photo), and a bit of fluffiness from the mohair (which you can just see on the first photo) and should be nice to wear next to the skin. This still has to be dyed, and I'm a bit undecided on the colour. It will either be blues or pinks, two of my favourite colours, but I just don't know which to choose.
Before I can finish this though, I decided it was time to do some knitting. I've been promising Sarah (from the Camel Farm) that I'd knit her a camel wool sweater using the wool from her own camels. As winter is (hopefully!) almost over, I thought I'd better get on with it. Otherwise she won't get to wear it until next winter.
The wool is spun as chunky, and she decided she wanted a long, baggy sweater with a deep rib and v-neck. I only had enough wool if I used mainly camel but with alpaca and llama mixed in. Since these were different colours (Brewster is a bit of a ginger nut, and Tallulah is dark grayish brown), we decided it was best if I spun some more camel and knit it all one colour.
This is as far as I've got so far - 17.5"/45cm, and am almost ready to start the neck decreases. I have two balls of wool left, so this afternoon's job is to spin this lot :-
which will give me another ball of wool just in time to carry on knitting. There may be a slight pause while I spin some more though.
Firstly, I spun the first skein of mohair/silk for my Rowan cardigan. I weighed out probably a bit more than 100g (70g mohair and 30g silk), and have ended up with 95g, giving me 694 yards (640m). The cardigan needs less than 1,374 yards, so I reckon if I do another skein of the same weight, I should have enough.
I was very careful not to put too much twist in this while spinning, because I realised it would have to be a single strand, not plied, and I didn't want it to "lean" to one side in the knitting. When taking it off the bobbin though, I did have 3 or 4 places which were too thin or didn't quite have enough twist, so I ended up knotting those together. I'll deal with them properly when I'm knitting the cardigan.
The wool has a nice sheen from the silk (which shows up in the second photo), and a bit of fluffiness from the mohair (which you can just see on the first photo) and should be nice to wear next to the skin. This still has to be dyed, and I'm a bit undecided on the colour. It will either be blues or pinks, two of my favourite colours, but I just don't know which to choose.
Before I can finish this though, I decided it was time to do some knitting. I've been promising Sarah (from the Camel Farm) that I'd knit her a camel wool sweater using the wool from her own camels. As winter is (hopefully!) almost over, I thought I'd better get on with it. Otherwise she won't get to wear it until next winter.
The wool is spun as chunky, and she decided she wanted a long, baggy sweater with a deep rib and v-neck. I only had enough wool if I used mainly camel but with alpaca and llama mixed in. Since these were different colours (Brewster is a bit of a ginger nut, and Tallulah is dark grayish brown), we decided it was best if I spun some more camel and knit it all one colour.
This is as far as I've got so far - 17.5"/45cm, and am almost ready to start the neck decreases. I have two balls of wool left, so this afternoon's job is to spin this lot :-
which will give me another ball of wool just in time to carry on knitting. There may be a slight pause while I spin some more though.
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