Elowen: the latest shawl

It's always a great feeling when you have something off your needles, the ends woven in and the item washed and blocked. Here is the latest. It's called Elowen, available on Ravelry. Made in 100% commercial yarn, the only thing 100-Mile about this shawl is the knitter. But go easy on me folks, we all need distractions.

It's blocked with shawl pins, one of the world's greatest inventions. And held down by my collection of river rocks. That's why I collect flat, heavy rocks.

I'm planning to wear it to work so maybe I can entice the youngest to do a photo shoot.

100-mile skirt update V

Here's the last skein of yarn for the 100-mile skirt. It is 189m and I hope this finishes the skirt. 400m took me to about 3 inches above my knee, and while the pattern does start to flare out quite a bit, I think this last 189m will do the trick.

Here it is on the niddy-noddy:

And here it is, nicely dried after a good soak in hot water.

 Now I have to find the pattern and try to remember where I was. . . .

March Fibre club: Wellspring colourway in English Shetland

Here's a photo of the March Fibre club yarn, nearly complete. It's English Shetland wool that is a delight to spin, especially after spinning the slippery silky/merino/nylon Candygram last week. I am spinning this yarn to be a worsted weight and it spun up fast. All of it has been spun it all on my Houndesign Henry's Dervish spindle.

I just have two more sets of singles to ply and then I'll finish them off by boiling and bashing them around. That way they'll get slightly felted and it also may even out the colours a bit.  The dark colours may lose a bit of dye and the lighter ones may pick it up. At least that's what I hope will happen.

Two days later:

I finished up the yarn. And then I put all the skeins well tied up with figure eights, into a pasta pot with hot water and a bit of shampoo. I brought it to a boil and then held it at a simmer for 15 minutes. In that time the twist relaxed, the yarn evened out and the colours became a bit more even. The dark sections lost some of their dye and the lighter sections picked it up. I like this yarn a lot better now.

Not sure what it will be. There's 100+grams of it. Enough to make a set of half-mitts and a hat. Or it could just go into my yarn collection.  I seem to be much more prolific making yarn than I am knitting these days.

Candygram yarn complete

The yarn is all done. Here it is right after being made into skeins.

and here it is all washed and bashed up, ready for knitting.You can see how the yarn softens up and gets its bounce back after a good hot soak. In some sections it's a sock yarn, and in others is a sport weight.

Not entirely sure how it's going to knit up, in terms of how the colours will behave with each other. The yarn itself is lovely and soft and strong, so it could be a pair of socks. But the colours and patterning are really asking for it to be some kind of small shawl scarf.  

Then again I could just put it into my yarn collection with all the other stuff that I make. I simply love making yarn. This fibre club is a great way to satisfy my need to constantly explore fibres and colours and get out of my regular rhythms.  

I'm onto the March fibre now. I'm determined to have the Jan/Feb/March fibre spun up before the next cycle begins. January fibre is a merino/silk blend that will take a lot of discipline. That's why I've jumped to the March fibre.  It's a nice Shetland wool with greens and blues. Easy spinning, worsted weight. Will go fast, I type hopefully.

Will keep you posted.