Saturday, November 19, 2011

My Very First Handspun Mittens

After a week and half of spinning on my new spindle, I finally got enough yarn to make something.  I even plied the yarn.  But I wasn't sure how correct was my plying.  All I did was holding 2 strands and spun them in reverse, and voila, I had 2 ply yarns that weren't too balanced.

Main Color: Dark Brown Welsh
Contrast Color: Corridale 
(both purchased from Dharma Trading CO)
Needles: US #4
 
 I made a quick motif design that turned out to be a bit too diffused due to single stitches of contrast color in many places as opposed to concentrated consecutive stitches of contrast color. Also, the contrast color yarn was spun thinner than the brown so the stitches aren't as fulled as compare to the brown yarn.  But I'm still pleased with the result.  One mitten also came out wider than the other due to the yarn was thicker.  I guess some batch of yarn was spun thicker than the others.  Live and learn.


After 10 days of spinning, the designing took 40 minutes and the knitting took 2 days.  So the last part was definitely an instant gratification.


I raised a little money to fix up the old wheel by destashing  the few indie yarns in my stash.  They barely made a dent to my yarn collection in terms of quantitiy, but they sure were the most expensive ones in my collection, so that really helped.  Now I just need to learn more about spinning wheels to make better decisions regarding the missing parts for the old wheel.

I am really excited about this new addiction.   But I did miss knitting.  Not knitting for 10 days while spinning was starting to get to me.  I'm ready for new projects.


4 comments:

  1. Have fun with your new hobby Connie :-))
    I have never tried spinning, but love to look at homespun yarn. It is very beautiful :-))

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  2. I think these mitts look great. And that sounds like how I ply -- spin them together in the opposite direction. :)

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  3. I know many knitters who expanded their love of fibre into spinning. Have fun.

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  4. Spinning is so much fun and really relaxing once you get into the rhythm! I find that I switch back and forth between only knitting for a while then only spinning. Can't wait to see more lovely things you make with your handspun.

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