Stash Saturday: The Yarn and Fiber Company

So I mentioned that I had little splurge online on The Yarn and Fiber Company’s website as compensation and therapy for minding the three crazies when DH got caught in San Francisco by the Ash Cloud. It was all delivered the other day, so I can show and tell all:

One Lace weight yarn:

Ivy Brambles Romantica Merino Lace Yarn. I don’t know what I’m going to make with this. All I want to do is cuddle it!

Two “goes” of Roving for spinning – previously blogged about:

Ivy Brambles Merino Roving in “Volcano” (l); Sereknity Blue-faced Leicester Roving in “Kismet” (r)

Three specific projects:

Sereknity Perfect Sock Yarn in “Jewel of Denial” for Jaywalkers (l); Kauni Effektgarn for Non-Reversible, Intarsia, Double-knit bag or blanket (r)

and…

Jojoland Melody Superwash Fingering for their Swirl Shawl pattern – also purchased from The Yarn and Fiber Company. psst! Free-shipping to Ireland!

April’s Sunday Spin-In

Asking DH if I could go to the Monthy Spin-In the Sunday after he’d got back from being stranded for five days by an Ash Cloud was “milking-it”, let’s be straight about it. My account with the Brownie Points Depository was bursting at the seams and I was making a withdrawal. I didn’t quite say: “You see those three crazies and that mini-mountain of laundry? They’re all yours! See you in a few hours.” But I might as well have!

If we ignore the flailing spindles and the wanton fluff flying everywhere, I had a very relaxing time turning this:

Bought from Chicwithstix at the Crafty Market

…into this:

Worsted weight, perhaps?

I think it might be a bit painful for other spinners to watch me in action. I’m not… shall we say… graceful. Also, possibly my concentration-face looks akin to another person’s “I’m in pain”-face. A few other spinners expressed their concerns for my well-being and hinted at a less-than peaceful mental health – albeit, very gently and with a willingness to assist. In fact, I felt very much at ease and enjoyed myself immensely.

In particular, I’m very proud about what I’ve produced. It’s fairly even, doesn’t have too many rogue pieces of fluff from other spinners or floor-pickings and seems to be a worsted weight (as opposed to the lace-weight / bulky I produced last time).

I realise it helped that I was using pencil roving; and that it was undyed – that was my plan. By cutting out the pre-drafting part of the process, I could focus on practicing getting the twist in (without taking an eye out!).

I still have the second bag to spin. When I do, I plan to dye each single the same colour but separately: one in a dye for wool, and the other in a dye for Tencel. I know the Tencel will take some of the wool dye but I’m interested in seeing how the blends react. Then, I will ply them and hopefully end up with something that is nicely blended.

Nom da Yarn on Monday

So – I’m not promising anything (for fear it falls flat on it’s face after one go) but I may, possibly, try to flash some stash of a Monday on a regular basis. Today, I have for your delectation, some Manos del Uruguay, Silk Blend [30% Silk, 70% Merino].

It’s the romantically titled colour way of 7032 and is destined to be a moebius capelet from Cat Bordhi’s book “A Treasury of Magical Knitting”.

Some more lushiousness from South America, or Peru to be exact, is my selection of yarn by Mirasol. Miski [100% Baby Llama] in Blue (shade #104) and Wine (#107); and Sulka [60% Merino/20% Alpaca/20% Silk] in green (shade #202). This is destined to be some sort of top-down, self-designed, cropped wrap, possibly with a touch of fair-isle or fluffy cuffs at the very least.