July 5, 2006
Rays of Sunshine
There are a couple of bright happy things for me to talk about today. The first, because this is, after all, a craft oriented blog, is this lovely 8 ounces of superwash Merino in a colorway called "Hang on Sloopy" from Crown Mountain Farms.
This purchase of this little bale of orangey goodness ultimately had it's roots in two things: 1) the woman I consider to be the muse for all things orange and 2) the fact that this is the fiber that is used to spin up the Sock Hop sock yarns (also from Crown Mountain Farms).
I was not sure what to expect from superwash Merino from a texture perspective. It turns out to be quite soft and luscious. Now I just need to dig out that recent issue of Spin Off that talked about making sock yarns. Methinks that I need some good tight twist to create a nice durable yarn. But the real issue will be 2 ply or 3? Any sock yarn spinners out there want to offer your guidance?
The other little ray of sunshine today was John's first follow up visit to the doctor after his surgery. He woke up this morning with his eye feeling much better. It was such a wonderful moment for me to go to the doctor with him and watch him take off the bandage. He has a lot of bruising around the eye and a good deal of redness in his eye but there's no infection, he's experiencing very little pain and the doctor felt everything looked good for this point in the recovery process. We've both been feeling pretty good all day long. This is still only day 2 and John still has a while to go with sleeping sitting up, but I think both of us are more hopeful and less concerned about more surgery or loss of vision. And John is actually a very good convalescent -- not only did he take care of many of his "big" chores before the surgery to help make my life a bit easier now, he's made the decision in his own mind that he is going to take the time he needs to heal correctly. It may be inconvenient for a little while, but it's far better than the alternative.
And there is a bit of crafting going on, just not as much as usual since I have other higher priorities right now, and there's only so much excitement I can get from posting "oh! I have another half bobbin more of cormo/silk/alpaca single".
I'm glad to hear he is making good progress.
And that he has reached his own accommodation with what he has to do.
It's amazing how little time is left after the caretaking and daily living is taken care of.
Very good news about John!
I almost always use 3-ply for socks, with fine, high-twist singles as the base.
I am way, way behind on my bloglines, so I had no idea your husband was having eye surgery. I hope all is well. He sounds like my husband, very calm and matter-of-fact about pain and medical procedures.
I don't know about the sock yarn thing, but I am having some sock yarn made at a spinnery, and I asked for 3-ply because it seems like it would be extra durable.
I'm glad to hear things are going well. He has been in my thoughts and prayers the past couple of days.
Excellent news about John's recovery. Much relief.
Glad to hear about your husband. As for the socks, I took Judith MacKenzie's FABULOUS class on spinning for and knitting (Nancy Bush co-taught the class!)of socks at SOAR last year. Three ply. Period. Oh, and definitely worsted spun. If Judith says, it must be so.
I'm very happy to hear that your John is doing well. I think you made a wonderful point in what you said in your earlier post about wishing you could take the hard times on yourself rather than the people you love. I feel that way about my husband and when my daughters came along the feelings only intensified. I was told years ago that having children is like agreeing to have your heart walk around outside of your body for the rest of your life. I think getting married is much like that. Worrying more about the safety of someone else than the safety of yourself.
Ok, I'm being long winded. I hope that things get better and better for John and I think your orange fiber is stunning.
Marcia's right about 3ply and worsted spun... though I am lazy sometimes (or I don't have enough fiber!) and a 2 ply will do in a pinch. ;)
I love the colorway! I have one like that in red that I am just aching to spin, but I have to finish up some other spinning projects first.
Seems like I am the lone person who uses a two ply for sock yarns. I end up with a sock-dk weight that way, I don't care for worsted weight for socks, too stiff for my tastes. I am a tight plyer though. I haven't heard of early wear from some of the wearers of my socks, but it could be too early to tell. As for myself, I wear Birkenstocks becuase I don't like heels on shoes, so that might explain why I don't experience wear. I don't consider my socks thin by any means either. I have some earlier ones that I think are just too stiff and then they were too loose when knit with larger needles.
I am starting to think after reading others comments that it depends on your wheel and it's ratios, your spinning style and your taste. You could also look at the structure of some of your favorite sock yarns too.
Oh, I have been wanting to sent you this link now that you are brewing, but I can't get it to come up right. There is a beeriodic table on the webelements.com site.
Good news!
I thought of you yesterday when I saw a commercial for Samuel Adams -- they are having a beer contest. The winners get their formulas produced and bottled by Sam Adams. Info is at their website, they said, samueladams.com. Might be something to distract John a little while the eye heals...
What a great day. :-) I'm really glad that your spouse is improving, and that you scored such a fantastic, sunny-looking hunk o' fiber. :-) You need some sunshine right now!
Glad to hear John is doing well. It's always scary and uncomfortable for the patient and the spouse. Hang in there!
Mmmm....that roving looks positively DELICIOUS.
Can't help you on the spinning for socks thing -- all my socks must be superwash and I can't get into spinning superwash wool.
I just spun up my first Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino in the wild child colorway. I used 3 ply and have knit the first sock. Since I haven't worn it yet, I can't comment on durability, but I purposely spun and plyed tighter than usual. I hope it works!
I will warn you though that my roving also had many white (undyed) segments that all became dyed when I set the twist. There was a lot of orange dye bleeding into the hot water, and it dyed all the white sections of the yarn a yellow/orange color. The same thing happened when I set the twist on some corriedale pencil roving I spun (in the CMF Tibetan dreams colorway). In both cases the yarn came out fine, but there are absolutely no really pale sections left, which I actually liked in the original. I thought the superwash merino really is luscious but finicky to spin fine, compared to the corriedale or to cormo/silk blends. Worth it though.
Great news about John's check up. Here's to continued progress!
Yeah! Good healing thoughts are being sent as you read this.
Love the roving, love the orange! Spin girl spin!
Great to hear the bandages came off well. You both focus on resting and healing and I'm sure some good crafting will come out of it anyway.
I'm so glad to hear that things are going well with John!
I'm a terrible convalescent, and so is my hubby and I can't tell you how much better iut will be since John is following all the rules properly!
Healing vibes beint channeled John's way!
Oooooh that roving is Dee-lish!
So glad to hear that John is taking the effort to heal correctly. It was so important for my father - he had a retina detach and the other close to it. His vision is now better than ever.
Can't wait to see the creamsicle spun up. Pure summer, in a roving.
A year or more ago, you were doing some needlework pillows, the kits I believe, were purchased from somewhere in the UK. I kept the link for along time but for some reason I no longer have it. Do you still have the link or another that will lead me to the kits? btw, did you complete them both?
Glad John is doing well and being a "good patient".
thanks so much
I'm new to the blogging world and have enjoyed reading peoples' comments. For the first time I am compelled to put in my 2cents worth. Just a little background... I've been spinning professionaly for 11 years,have spun for three different yarn labels,and have spun the work of many different dyers. I find that the Crown Mountain dye job is top of the line. I have spun over 40lbs of the Sock Hop yarn and have never had a problem with bleeding dye. Unfortunatly there are spinning books out there that tell you to set your yarn by washing it in hot water. COLD WATER ONLY PLEASE!! You wouldn't wash your favorite red sweater in hot water, it would bleed and fade, so please don't wash your dyed fibers in hot water.
As for 2ply vs 3ply... I am a true lover of Navaho 3ply. But for the Crown Mountain superwash merino a tightly spun 2ply brings the vibrant colors to life. To do it in a 3 ply it needs to be spun very fine, which reduces the color concentration, then 3 plying it blends the colors even more. It still makes a beautiful yarn, but looses that fun barberpole effect that creates that stripey goodness in the finished sock.
I hope you enjoy spinning the Hang on Sloopy as much as I have and I hope you will post pictures of your finished yarn, I love to see other peoples' creations
Happy spinning, Yours in cold water... Cheryl
I'm glad your husband is feeling better. I'm a Chicago lurker who came out of hiding to comment on the orangy goodness. I have been craving that colorway ever since I followed your link to Crown Mountain Farms. Now the real question....where the heck do you learn how to spin in Chicago?