Tweedy Handspun
This picture is a repeat from my trip to the Michigan Fiber Festival last August. Unfortunately, it seems to be the only image I have of the 4 ounces of Wool, Angora and Silk roving that I bought from Jane Purcell (sadly websiteless, because her color combos are incredibly vivid and engaging). Those of you who know me in person probably know why I was drawn to this roving: the vivid color in that blue/green range that I just can't seem to have enough of. Unlike many rovings I'd purchased previously, this roving had also been blended so that the colors ran vertically through the roving instead of horizontally. And I was curious as to what kind of final effect that would create. Once I picked up the roving, it was hard not to pick up several more. To be honest, I now wish I'd given in to temptation. The wool/angora/silk combo is pleasantly soft and lofty and 4 ounces only gives you so many options.
When I started spinning, I was thinking something in the neighborhood of a 2 ply sport-to-DK weight yarn. I have to be honest, though, I really haven't gotten to the point in my spinning where I'm sophisticated enough to sample and work towards the yarn I envision. Mostly, I just start spinning a single and spin it where it "feels" right. Probably once I have become a more accomplished spinner, I'll push my fiber around more. But for now, I'm content to let the fiber lead.
The result of my efforts is this skein -- about 300 yards of tweedy happiness. It's about 14 WPI, which puts it in the light DK range. I wish that my camera could handle this saturated teal well -- all the pictures I took had a much bluer cast than is true to life.
Part of letting this fiber do what it wanted to do was to let the lighter green areas be a little slubby. I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say the light green fiber is probably mostly silk, given the way it behaves. Because there were little slubs in the fiber, I just let a lot of those come along as they wanted to. Between that and the general distribution of the light green and just a touch of midnight blue throughout the teal fiber, the result is a yarn with a lot of depth and dimensionality to go along with a very tweedy disposition. Something that appeals to me a great deal and tells me a lot about the kinds of rovings I should be looking for in the future. This is one of the first yarns that I have spun (besides the moorit CVM) where I really feel that I could make an actual garment out of this.
But, of course, 300 yards doesn't get me very far along the road to a garment. But I am thinking it might make a absolutely lovely pair of fingerless gloves to keep my hands warm while I use the computer -- now that the winter weather we expect to be present in January in Chicago finally seems to have come home to roost!
Beautiful yarn, it's a pity you don't have enough of it to make a throw for your father's magnificent rocking chair.
The yarn is so lovely and balanced. Fingerless gloves ... hmm ... a Fetching idea? :)
That is lovely yarn, the colours don't speak to me but I can appreciate the evenness. I think the tweedyness is too small to be called "little slubs" - you do yourself a disservice there.
The learning point has to be - buy more!
Beautiful - I really like the colors. I'm also at the point with my spinning where the fiber leads, but I'm starting to try and push it a bit. Very nice spinning - so even!
Very nice... I love that color! I'm sure it's even more beautiful in person. Can't wait to see it in action!
Wow ! Beautiful yarn. It's really lovely. I like a yarn with a bit of life. A bit of tweedy interest. It will make fabulous fingerless mitts.
x
Great yarn! That is really interesting how the vertical stripes changed the way it looks in the finished product. I'll have to keep that in mind when blending.
Gorgeous!
I think your yarn came out beautifully. It looks very even to me, and I love the flecks of green in it. Nice work! I think fingerless gloves would be a great project to go with.
Wow! I LOVE that yarn!
Beautifully spun yarn and I love the tweedy bits.
I think your method of letting the yarn tell you what to do, is really a case of letting your non-verbal and creative right brain do the work. Being able to use both sides of your brain gives an individual an advantage, but it can be hard to explain or describe.
Such lovely yarn. How about pairing it with some commercial yarn and have it star as the accent like the pattern in the winter Knitty does?
Lovely work, yes. Glovelets sound perfect. It's hard to plan roving for projects...you end up falling in love after you've seen what it can become, and then it's too late.
This yarn is gorgeous. My colors, too! I'm at an even earlier point in my spinning progress and have just bought some roving (or maybe top?) with vertically aligned colors. I'd like to know, please, whether you spun yours "from the fold," as I was advised to do mine.
I do adore that yarn. I think it will work up beautifully as fingerless gloves.
You sell yourself short as a spinner. To have proposed to do something in the "DK to sport weight range" and then to have actually hit your aim with a light DK yarn is a wonderful achievement! Revel in that for a while!
Beautiful yarn! The little green bits add just the right amount of interest.
Oh that is gorgeous yarn!! I just found your blog and I'm so glad I did-you do wonderful work. I'm just learning to spin and have some yarn that I'm planning on knitting into fingerless mitts as well. I love those colors.