Hanspun Mill Ends

-Spun from more of those mill ends I keep talking about. The color is a mix of blue and purple.
-260yds
-Approximately 2ply sportweight (though I was trying for worsted).
-I think there's about 4oz of yarn here, but I don't have a scale yet so I can't be sure.

This was a really fun spin. It goes fast when you're spinning a thicker yarn! Still a little underspun though.

I'm excited to find a project for this one.

Handspun Shawl

This is my first FO with some of my handspun. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Ravelry Project Link

The yarn doesn't have much stitch definition, so the lace pattern is a little indistinct. It's supposed to look like a basketweave pattern.

I started this off as a simple stockinette shawl for a "mindless knitting" project. About halfway through I got bored and decided to add a lace border. I had to do quite a bit of re-working to the lace pattern to get it to fit with the increases, but eventually I got it figured out. I was excited about how the edging chart turned out too, it fits in perfectly with the basketweave.

Working with my handspun was a little nerve-wracking because of how thin and underspun the yarn was. One spot got so thin that I even considered frogging back to fix it. Hopefully the yarns I'm currently spinning will be better in that respect.

I have a skein of sportweight I have yet to blog about and I'm currently spinning up 4oz of merino top into some sockweight. I've already finished half of the singles, so I should have some more finished yarn within the next weeks. :)

More Handspun

Ravelry Link

Sportweight
121.6 yds
Spun from more mill ends
Navajo Plied

I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, I'm actually seeing some improvements. I've currently got more mill ends (I have 2 lbs, so I'll be spinning these for awhile) on the wheel. I'm shooting for a 2 ply worsted weight so hopefully that works out!

Handspun

Merino Handspun (singles blogged about here).

This didn't really turn out as well as I hoped. But I did get quite a bit of yardage...408 yds.

This will probably mittens or a lace shawl...haven't thought about it too much though.

The weight fluctuates between a fingering and a lace weight.

Next: Mohair and Wool Mill Ends

A light fingering weight.

Navajo Plyed (3-ply).

167 yds.

Not sure what to do with this, it turned out pretty well, but it seems too rough to use for the projects I would be considering (a hat or cowl). I'll have to knit it up and see how it feels.

I mentioned the singles over here, and as I noted then, I did need to run the singles through the wheel again to get enough twist into them. After that, plying the singles was very easy and I'm pretty happy with this skein. It is a little hard to see the way the 3-ply looks in the photos because the halo from the mohair is so excessive. I only used about 1/3 of the singles by the way...still have to plenty to re-spin and ply. :)

Currently on the wheel, I'm spinning up some superwash wool mill ends. So far it seems to be going well, but I haven't gotten a chance to work on the singles for several days so it might be while before I finish.

Handspun-Merino

OK, here is my last finished yarn for a little while.
I have two skeins of this yarn (technically I still have to ply the second one) and the first is 91 yds so the second should be somewhere around there.
This is a DK/Sport weight yarn.

This is spun from 1.5 oz of fiber I bought at the Fiber Festival in May.


I spun the singles of the first skein on Celeste's Ashford and then plyed them together on my Ladybug.

Here are the singles (second skein) that I spun on my Ladybug:

Handspun-Mill End "Practice Yarn"

I'm posting photos of this yarn with a few caveats.

1. This yarn was spun as I was still getting my wheel adjusted. It is not spun evenly by any means.

2. I used several colours when I spun the singles. I would otherwise never dream of mixing lime green and dark blue. I probably wouldn't be in favor of the red either.

3. This was also my first time "Navajo plying". I focused so much on getting the technique down that I neglected a few really basic things. Like plying evenly. There are also several large knots where I repaired breaking singles.

There. Now, with all that in mind you may look at the photos. Not too closely please. ;)

Handspun-Cranberry Merino Top

This was actually spun quite awhile back on my drop spindle, but I've neglected to blog about it long enough so here it is!

This was spun from merino top. It's not very even, but I had fun spinning it.