Long Draw Spinning Practice - 2025, part 2

For Part 2 - I chose BFL again.  This is a blue and green colorway where the colors were placed on the Blending Board in 1/4 sections.

Since I intend to make a 2-ply, I need to be clear about which end I start from for each rolag.  So I matched the rolags by approximate weight, then placed them in order of spinning and reversed the second half.

I did break the single twice, so I ended up with 3 cakes for plying.  This will be interesting to see how well I keep things in order. lol.

I put ties on the ends I need to start plying.  The middle cake will end up being a game-time decision, since I will end up plying from both ends if it.

For the most part each color change included some Barber Poling, which is to be expected.  There was one very long section of Barber Pole and one change that occurred at exactly the same time.  It will be interesting to see how this knits up.

7/8 oz (25g), 58.5 yards of 2-ply.

As a side note, I don't like how the yarn looks on the bobbin.... it is fuzzy and indistinct.  I assume this is a feature that I will grow to appreciate... eventually.  But they don't look so bad from this vantage point. lol

Happy Fiber Arts Friday

Long Draw Spinning Practice - 2025, part 1

Last summer (2024), I acquired a Great Wheel.

She needs some repair before she can be used.... AND I need some skills before I can use her.

My upskilling finally started with a little bit of focus on the Long Draw Spinning Technique in my medium-wools class in June 2025, Spinning Goldilocks.

Several of the students requested some guidance on the Long Draw Technique, so for me it was serendipitous.

I had been working on making Rolags in my Clemes & Clemes class the day before and I had some reserved from an earlier Clemes & Clemes class.

So with a bunch of appropriately prepared materials, all I needed was time and focus for practice.  :-)

With the Tour de Fleece 2025 complete, I figured now is as good a time as any...

First up is to decide which rolags to start with, and I decided on this Purple+Orange Blue Faced Leicester.  The colors are layered, so it should hide my mistakes pretty well... and of course, the quality of the Rolag is pretty bad.  lol.

One thing to note about this project, is that I am giving myself permission to be bad at something... AND putting it in a public space.  YIKES.  Not that many people are still reading this blog, but it will be discoverable by anyone.  Double YIKES.

Learning is about improving skills... or at least going from a place of relative incompetence to a place of better competence in a target topic area.

So in this case, I am objectively a good spinner in Worsted techniques and I am reasonably competent now at preparing fiber for Worsted spinning... but I have spent very little time working on Woolen, or even semi-Worsted techniques.  So this project is intended to chronical this journey.

It does seem to be going faster than my typical, Short-Forward-Draw, but I have much less control over the consistency of the yarn.  I do expect that to improve with practice.

Even though the gauge of this yarn is all over the place, there was only one tiny bit that was over-spun.  It feels lofty and squishy... which is the point of using Woolen Spinning Techniques.

I find it interesting how color plays... how a color looks depends significantly on what it is next to.  The finished yarn looks Maroon+Gold rather than purple+orange.

7/8 oz (26g), 54.7 yards of 2-ply

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Football Knitting 2025

As I begin this draft, it is August 1st.... Rabbit! Rabbit!

I was surprised earlier this week to hear them talking about football on the local news.  What?  Already?  Yes.  sigh.  Although, the slightly cooler weather is welcome.  :-)

So over the weekend, I put together my list of sportsing games and started to think about whether I want to focus on a particular project this year.

I think this answer is no.

I have my Cozy Stripes Sweater snoozing until the weather cools a bit more, which is very close to being complete and my Rainbow Vanilla Socks that have been getting some attention over the summer, but still moving slowly... especially during the Tour de Fleece - Hommes and Femme... and my short list of next projects is growing.

So I'm thinking that I will use this time for knitting, but not for a specific project.

Here's to cooler weather on the horizon.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Estes Park Wool Market, 2025

In February 2025, soon after the schedule came out, I signed up for two classes for this year's Estes Park Wool Market.

Thursday was Blending Board Primer - this is my fourth class with Clemes and Clemes and was focused on making rolags.

Friday was Spin Goldilocks with Maggie Casey.  This class was focused on medium wools, which are some of my favorite.  I also want to soak up as much of Maggie Casey's knowledge as I can while she's still teaching.  :-)

So ultimately the weekend was focused on Woolen style prep and spinning techniques.

I got the long-draw working a little bit.  Spinning from the rolag felt weird at first, but I think I have a much better understanding between the Worsted and Woolen techniques now.

I also found it nice that we were in the Government and Spanish Language Classrooms of the High School.

I had a schedule conflict for the remainder of the weekend, so I spent some time at the Friday open market for students... I was kind of looking for a yarn suitable for a project I am pondering.  I didn't find anything that grabbed me.  Which is unusual.

I guess, the more I have the skills to make what I want, the less I'm interested in purchasing it.  But in this case, I'm not quite sure what I want yet, other than fine gauge and a moody color.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 10

We're getting close to the home stretch for this project.... As of the last post, only 2 arms, sewing on buttons, weaving in ends, and repairing two dropped stitches is ALL that remains.  Ha.  :-)

At the beginning of this section, I have 3 full brown skeins available for the arms and 14g of Skein #7 that I will reserve for button sewing.

AND.... we've reached the warm part of the year.  Progress on this project has slowed way down.

Since it will be 100F today, I think the responsible thing to do is to recognize that very little work will be completed on this project over the next few months.  Which means it is essentially in Time Out and I will be focusing on much smaller projects such as socks for the near term.

As of this writing, I am about half-complete with the first arm.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - 2/5/25) - 2wks 4days - 14 g remain

• Green (2/5/25 - 2/6/25) - 2days - 22 g remain (begin body stripes)
• Orange (2/6/25 - 2/8/25) - 3days - 23g remain
• #5 (2/8/25 - 2/9/25) - 2days - 11 g remain
• Orange (2/9/25) - 1day - 18 g remain
• Green (2/10/25 - 2/14/25) - 5days - 17 g remain (complete body stripes)

• #5 (2/14/25 - 2/20/25) - 6days (begin hem)
• #6 (2/20/25 - 2/25/25) - 5days - 20g remain (complete hem, bind off pending)

• TINK Body Hem (2/27/25 - 3/6/25)  - 8days
• #5 (3/6/25 - 3/22/25) - 2 wks 2 days (begin re-Knitting Body Hem with smaller needles, US3)
• #6 (3/22/25 - 3/23/25) - 2 days (complete and bind-off Body Hem) - 19g remain

• Pickup Collar/Button Band Stitches (3/24/25 - 3/30/25) - 6days
• #6 (3/30/25 - 4/10/25) - 11days (begin Button Band/Collar, US3)
• #7 (4/10/25 - 4/22/25) - 12days (complete Button Band/Collar and Bind off) - 14g remain

• #8 (4/23/25 - 6/4/25) - 6wks (begin Arm #1, on hold for the summer) - 10g remain

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Rainbow Vanilla Socks, part 2

I spent a little bit of time working on these Rainbow Vanilla Socks while at a Dog Show on Mother's Day.

I had set these up in early April in preparation for some travelling I have planned for next month... and also for the warmer days that happen during a Colorado spring which was certainly the case last weekend.

I realized that I cast one one more stitch for one sock, so I corrected that and now have both toes complete.

I also took some measurements and set the plan for when to place the scrap lines for the Afterthought Heel.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 9

While the pattern calls for the sleeves to be completed next, I will do the Collar/Button Band next... I am feeling more confident about the remaining Brown Skeins, but I want to be certain. :-)

My original thought was to start with a fresh skein to hopefully prevent the need to join skeins in the midst of this section, or worse in the midst of the button holes.

So I spent some time reviewing the instructions for the Collar/Button Band and estimating how many grams would be required for each row...  That brought me to ~25g, or one complete skein, to make the Collar/Button Band.   Then, I still need yarn to make the i-cord bind-off.  Which means I will definitely have a join in this section.

So with that information, I decided to continue with Skein #6 and force the join to be somewhere in the middle.

But first, I need to pick-up the stitches...

Picking up the stitches has been kind of a drag on this project.  I had the thought of creating a life-line as I went, but I was pretty far down the body before I had that thought.  :-/  Also, it's typical to pick up 3 of 4 rows, rather than all of them.... Anyway, I did finally get there, but not without some pain.

The blue markers are stitches that need to be added and the orange markers need to be dropped.

Since there were so many, I decided to slip the stitches and add/drop as marked and then re-count, before beginning to work the Collar/Button Band Section, which now looks a lot less ominous.  lol.

The body is shorter than the pattern calls for.  So I have the collar marked as written and the Stripe/Hem section marked as written, with the middle being fewer stitches.  I will need to keep this in mind as I work the pattern.

At the beginning of this section, I had 19g available in Skein #6.  The join to Skein #7 happened on the lapel in the short row section, so it is not obvious.  WooHoo!

Upon finishing all of the short rows and being ready to bind-off, I used the 19g from Skein #6 and 8g from Skein #7 for a total of ~26g... which means my estimate was close.

You can see from the above photo that it's hard to really see how the project looks while it's still on the needles, but I do like how the collar is laying.

I have 17g available in Skein #7 for the bind-off which is more than enough.

I am a little annoyed that the Button Holes are hard to find, but it did help me choose which buttons to use... I will think a bit on how to make them more visible.  In the meantime, the stitch markers are holding the places for the buttons.

This section took a lot longer that I hoped, and you see I have set up a second project which is resting.  I want to finish this sweater before the warm weather really arrives.  Otherwise, it will not get worked on until the fall.... AND I want to wear this sweater in the fall.  So you see, I am starting to feel a bit of urgency.  :-D

At this point I have 3 skeins of Brown remaining for the sleeves.... which I will begin next.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - 2/5/25) - 2wks 4days - 14 g remain

• Green (2/5/25 - 2/6/25) - 2days - 22 g remain (begin body stripes)
• Orange (2/6/25 - 2/8/25) - 3days - 23g remain
• #5 (2/8/25 - 2/9/25) - 2days - 11 g remain
• Orange (2/9/25) - 1day - 18 g remain
• Green (2/10/25 - 2/14/25) - 5days - 17 g remain (complete body stripes)

• #5 (2/14/25 - 2/20/25) - 6days (begin hem)
• #6 (2/20/25 - 2/25/25) - 5days - 20g remain (complete hem, bind off pending)

• TINK Body Hem (2/27/25 - 3/6/25)  - 8days
• #5 (3/6/25 - 3/22/25) - 2 wks 2 days (begin re-Knitting Body Hem with smaller needles, US3)
• #6 (3/22/25 - 3/23/25) - 2 days (complete and bind-off Body Hem) - 19g remain

• Pickup Collar/Button Band Stitches (3/24/25 - 3/30/25) - 6days
• #6 (3/30/25 - 4/10/25) - 11days (begin Button Band/Collar, US3)
• #7 (4/10/25 - 4/22/25) - 12days (complete Button Band/Collar and Bind off) - 14g remain

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Rainbow Vanilla Socks, part 1

I have wanted to make a pair of Rainbow Socks for a while.  As such, I've accumulated a selection of Rainbow Sock-weight yarns over the last few years.

I've been setting them aside for the last few months and contemplating them with different patterns... I want to show-off the colorway without making it muddy or modifying the stripe thicknesses due to changing round lengths around the heel.  Many of the alternate-construction patterns are quite interesting in this regard, but as of the end of March, I decided to make a simple Toe-up, Vanilla Sock, with an Afterthought Heel using Scarlett's Rainbow.

The yarn I chose was acquired at the Estes Park Wool Market last year and dyed locally by a new-to-me artist.

The colorway, Scarlett's Rainbow, is named after the artist's daughter and has a large number of colors in short succession.  Which means the color changes every few stitches.

This pattern should work nicely with this colorway, which I think lends itself to a pleasing set of Fraternal Twins, rather than needing to be Identical.  If I hold on to that idea, the stress of getting both socks started in the same place of the colorway goes away.... and I am always in favor of reducing stress, no matter how small it may seem.  :-)

I initially swatched with US0 needles, which yielded the recommended gauge of 8sts/inch.  However, I decided the fabric was too stretchy.  So I cast on with US00 needles.

As of this writing, I have two rounds completed per sock and the end-of-rounds are marked.

We are ready for being a travel project and will be Fraternal Twins.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 8

At the end of Part 7, I had decided to TINK and re-knit the Body Hem...

It took me 8 days to complete the TINKing.  Of course, had I added a Life Line I could have ripped it out in a few minutes.... but I wanted to preserve where the stitch markers were located and make sure I didn't drop any stitches... so TINKing is what I did.

I restarted the hem with the smaller (US3) needles on March 6 and was able to get 1 more row out of skein #5 at just over 12.

While the 24-inch circs worked for the hem, it was tight.  So I ordered a set of 40-inch circs which was much more comfortable on the Body Hem and will be necessary for the Collar/Button Band, which I will start next.

I have started thinking about my next projects.  It is unusual for me to have only one project on the go, and I have been dedicated to this project since mid-December 2024.

I think part of the interest is that the skeins are small, so I am changing them at a higher rate which helps to keep the interest high.  Also there has been just enough variation in the pattern to help keep me focused, even though it is a whole lot of stockinette.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - 2/5/25) - 2wks 4days - 14 g remain

• Green (2/5/25 - 2/6/25) - 2days - 22 g remain (begin body stripes)
• Orange (2/6/25 - 2/8/25) - 3days - 23g remain
• #5 (2/8/25 - 2/9/25) - 2days - 11 g remain
• Orange (2/9/25) - 1day - 18 g remain
• Green (2/10/25 - 2/14/25) - 5days - 17 g remain (complete body stripes)

• #5 (2/14/25 - 2/20/25) - 6days (begin hem)
• #6 (2/20/25 - 2/25/25) - 5days - 20g remain (complete hem, bind off pending)

• TINK Body Hem (2/27/25 - 3/6/25)  - 8days
• #5 (3/6/25 - 3/22/25) - 2 wks 2 days (begin re-Knitting Body Hem with smaller needles, US3)
• #6 (3/22/25 - 3/23/25) - 2 days (complete and bind-off Body Hem)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 7

At the end of Part 6, I had completed the body stripes and was ready to begin the body hem, with 11g of Brown Skein #5 remaining.

The 11g took me thru row 12 of the hem and I started Brown Skein #6.

I have decided not to finish the body out with black since the bind-off for the Collar/Button Band is a different technique and I think it will look weird.

That being said, I have also decided to TINK back the hem and re-knit it with the next size smaller needles, per the recommendation in the pattern.

I just think that the hem should be a slightly stiffer fabric... and now I know why this is often recommended.  :-)

The good news here, it that the over-all length is good.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - 2/5/25) - 2wks 4days - 14 g remain

• Green (2/5/25 - 2/6/25) - 2days - 22 g remain (begin body stripes)
• Orange (2/6/25 - 2/8/25) - 3days - 23g remain
• #5 (2/8/25 - 2/9/25) - 2days - 11 g remain
• Orange (2/9/25) - 1day - 18 g remain
• Green (2/10/25 - 2/14/25) - 5days - 17 g remain (complete body stripes)

• #5 (2/14/25 - 2/20/25) - 6days (begin hem)
• #6 (2/20/25 - 2/25/25) - 5days - 20g remain (complete hem, bind off pending)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 6

At the end of Part #5, I was planning to make one more row of brown and then begin the stripes as written on the right side of the fabric.

Upon beginning the stripes, I have 14 g of Brown Skein #5 remaining.

The body stripes are now complete and I have 11g of Brown Skein #5 remaining.  

I suspect that the remaining Green and Orange Skeins will be enough to complete the arm stripes.

Next up is the body hem.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - 2/5/25) - 2wks 4days - 14 g remain
• 
  
• Green (2/5/25 - 2/6/25) - 2days - 22 g remain (begin body stripes)
• Orange (2/6/25 - 2/8/25) - 3days - 23g remain
• #5 (2/8/25 - 2/9/25) - 2days - 11 g remain
• Orange (2/9/25) - 1day - 18 g remain
• Green (2/10/25 - 2/14/25) - 5days - 17 g remain (complete body stripes)

I'm getting pretty excited about this sweater.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 5

As I begin this post, I am embarking upon Skein #5 of Brown yarn.... and have 5 more remaining.

The baseline pattern says to begin the stripes at 5-inches before the end.  My goal length is 14-inches from the armpit, and am currently at 7-inches.  So I need to check and confirm the body length at 9 inches or about half-way thru this skein or ~13 rows.

I expect to need a bit more than one skein for the collar/button band.  The body hem will be about half of one skein.  Which leaves ~3 skeins for the sleeves... so I continue to feel ok about the amount of yarn I have.

As of this morning, (2/5/25) I am 11 rows into Brown Skein #5.  I have begin the hip increases and am getting close to my goal of 9-inches from the armpit.  So I decided to try the sweater on and feel very good about where I am.

I will complete one more row of brown, so I can begin the stripes on the right side of the fabric and then begins the stripes as written.

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days
• #5 (1/18/25 - TBD)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 4

As of last time (January 6, 2025) I had just completed skein #3.

My estimates for yarn needs for the rest of the body at that time was:

• Each row is taking a bit less than 1g
• Each Skein = 25g
• 18 rows = 3.5 inches of length
• Length goal = 14 inches from Armpit
• ~3 more skeins to complete the body

Now, at the completion of Skein #4, my estimates are holding pretty close.  Skein #4 added 4 inches and 26 rows to the length to the body.

The length from the armpit is currently 7-inches and the goal is 14-inches.  Meaning two full-skeins are required to finish out the body length.

At this point, I'm still waffling on whether to have stripes accentuating my hips.  lol.  So I am considering finishing out the body in the brown yarn and increase the striping on the arms.

In both cases, I am hoping to finish out in brown and trim in black.  The black I had for other reasons and was not part of the initial color plan for this sweater.

   

Apologies for the shadows in these photos.... but even with looking at the color order side-by-side on my bigger screen it's clear there isn't much value difference between these colors, so the stripes should only offer interest and not accentuate.  Which has me feeling better about including the stripes on the body.

And for the last several weeks, this has been my only project since ~Christmas (12/22/24)...  For example, Skein #3 only took 1 week to consume (12/30-1/6).... Yes, these are small skeins at 25g, but still... that's a pretty good clip for me.  :-)

Skein duration:

• #1 (11/2/24 - 12/10/24) 5wks 3days
• #2 (12/10/24 - 12/30/24) 2wks 6days
• #3 (12/30/24 - 1/6/25) 1 week
• #4 (1/6/25 - 1/18/25) 1wk 5days

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 3

At the end of December (27th) last time, I had just completed Skein #2 and was 4 rows away from dividing out the sleeves.

On News Year's Eve Eve, I completed the divide out...

Now, at the end of Skein #3, I'm feeling a little better about how much main color yarn I have...

• Each row is taking a bit less than 1g
• 18 rows = 3.5 inches of length
• Length goal = 14 inches from Armpit

So I'm feeling that I need ~3 more skeins to complete the body of this sweater.  Which means I'm feeling much better about how much of this yarn I have available.

I'm continuing to toy around with how/when to apply the other colored stripes.

I love that it's starting to look like it will be a sweater one day.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater, part 2

Since mid-December (12/8/24), I've finished the first skein of yarn 

I'm putting these photos here so I can remember about how much one skein makes... I am in to the Sleeve and V-Neck increases here.

I also added a short thread marker to make it easier to see the end of each skein.

Even though my habit is to buy one more skein than I think I need, I am feeling insecure in the amount of brown yarn that I have available... I have a couple of ideas on how to use the other colors in the stripes, in order to conserve the brown.... and also possibly doing the button band and collar before starting the sleeves.  We shall see how I'm feeling after a few more skeins.

While working with the second skein... I have completed with the Sleeve and V-Neck increases and am nearly complete with the body increases.

I have 4 rows to go before I divide out the sleeves.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Oak Beanie, part 2

 At last post, I had just returned with a second skein of this pretty pinky-purple, super bulky yarn that was miraculously the same dye lot as the first skein...

At the half-way point... 24 of 48 rounds complete, I have 106 g of 200g in the first skein remaining.  I may not need the second skein, but as I said last time, it's going to be close.

The hat is currently 5.5 inches tall (12/19/24)

It's always interesting how the color changes when the light changes... the first photo is more purple and the second photo looks a bit orange.

I completed the hat with 25g remaining in the first skein.

I forgot how the cables tighten up the fabric.... so this may have to be remade, but for now, it is complete.

I also added a cute rabbit pom-pom...

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cozy Stripes Sweater

In early April 2023, I bought the yarn and set this project up, so it was ready to start when I finished a few other projects.  I was planning to use US0 needles, since it's the same yarn as the Inigo Socks... although, I thought I would go up to US1 to make a more flexible fabric.

It took some time to get started, but I did finally did swatch and cast on last month in November.  I am using US4 needles.

So far, I have the top/shoulder area completed and am working on the increases for the upper portion of the V-Neck and Sleeves.

After being focused on socks for the last couple of years, I'm expecting that this will be my primary project over the winter.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!