January spinning and a sock review.

I have done some spinning lately.  Excitingly, some long term projects are off the wheel, some what.

I finished the New To You Spin Along from October.  I was trying to spin a sock yarn out of some destash fiber I picked up from Into the Whirled.  It's a super wash merino wool in a color called Its bigger on the Inside.  A bright pop of teal in a mix of oranges, that reminds me of the interior of David Tennant's tardis.

I have not washed the yarn yet, but the 3 ply gave me 616 yards out of 100 grams.  A little on the thin side for what I wanted.  It will fluff up after a wash, and I will measure again then.  I think I will still make them into socks either way, that's why I have a set of double zeros.

I started plying the prism on polwarth from the first installment of the rockin whorl club from August.  I hand carded the fiber with Angelina dyed to match.  Then I did the same with some polwrath dyed in Rauen, a dark brown.  The singles were plied together.  With coordinating sparkles.  I started with all the red, plying through the rainbow.  I got almost all the way through the orange before I realized I didn't have enough Rauen spun up.  I need more Angelina, and it should ship this week.

I love it!  I can't wait to work with it, but I need to put in more work to get to the knitting.

My speed spinning was gifted yesterday.  So happy with the results, and I'm sure Jess will make something amazing with it.

I took a friend to spinning guild on Monday, let her play on the wheel.  She learned to treadle, and draft and ply.  She has no fiber experience, not a knitter or needle arts.  She welds, so working with her hands and tools to create is not foreign.  

 

Lumpy and bumpy and amazing!

She did wonderfully don't you think?

I am not teaching or taking any classes for the foreseeable future.  So I have a sock review.  

I made the Hot Rod socks by Melanie Gibbons back in 2010.  I was in the yarntini sock cocktail club back then, and the club yarns were amazing basic colors.  I picked up the black in an update (how lucky!) to make these socks.

The socks are mostly stockinette with sections of color work, and these socks combined these yarns in a way that rocked.  So I wore the heck out of them.  And it shows.

Pros: The pattern is amazing although I would have gone up a needle on the color work part, but the placement of the color work is exactly where I like my socks to grip a little tighter.  So pretty, very fun, great for coordinating scraps of sock yarn.   The yarn is wearing well, no felting.

Cons: The pattern is not easily adjustable for in between sizes, not a big deal, but it is also hard to memorize.  So it's a medium difficulty pattern.  The yarntini yarn sells due to its amazing color, but mine bleed like a stuck pig even after 2 years of wear.  I cannot wash anything else with my yarntini socks, and these socks show it.   The black has bled into the yellow and muddied it and the toes are almost 2 shades lighter than the cuffs.  I have the rest of my yarntini in destash on ravelry for sale.  I recommend a good wash before working it.