#using handspun yarn

[trashpandacraft]

finished that spin! hopefully i'll get it skeined off today and washed up tomorrow 🤞

my supervisor doesn't look totally convinced, but he gets mad when the wheel stops moving, so might have just been sulky

the yarn inspector, who is allowed to look only with his paws and *not* his claws or teeths, seemed more satisfied

and that's it for that one. given that it was slightly thick and thin and i didn't weight out the fibre before starting, i think the five metres difference in bobbins was very good, actually. (the purple yarn on the purple bobbin and royal blue on the blue are leaders.)

excited to see how this goes once it's after being washed.

[milkweedman]

We are on the cloth beam ! Yes, it took like a week; havent had a ton of time for weaving recently.

Also, finally found a name for my loom :3

[alanaisalive]

I got a small rigid heddle loom because sometimes weaving is more appealing than spinning or knitting, especially when it is hot out.

It is not going what I would call well. The chair I had my warping peg clamped to fell over. Once I got that mess sorted out, one of the warp threads on the edge slipped off the paper and wrapped itself around the thingy instead (the axle? I don't know). In the process of fixing that, the tension of all the warp threads got messed up and it's all coming out looking a bit like a funhouse mirror image of tartan and houndstooth.

Starting a new craft is always an adventure in finding new and interesting ways to fuck it up. I'm really off to a great start on this one.

[amimere]

tdf day 4 / first rest day

even though i was tempted to say fuck it and start on the gray batts im staying true to my words about not spinning anything for the main project on rest days

instead i have tested some different ways of spinning pencil roving in preperation for spinning the nice colorful stuff i got in estonia!

[image ID: 3 small samples of light brown handspun yarn on a wood floor, the samples are marked #1, #2, and #3, and are all of different thicknesses /end ID]

everything ive done has been noted down so i can go back and look at the samples and notes when it comes time to decide what i want to spin

[briarpatch-kids]

I am in love with this color and texture!

[exculis]

cute boys that own alpacas or other wooly animals please turn your location on

[bookshelfdreams]

pfffff BULLSHIT

that's never how it works.

come across indie yarn store. just take a peek inside because it looks so cute. come across a very pretty yarn that you're pretty sure you'll use for - something. eventually.

have project in mind. go shop for project. don't find the perfect yarn but find something else that could work. buy that. end up not doing the project, but use the yarn 3 years later for something completely different.

have project planned out, be full of determination to do it. hunt around the internet until you find the perfect yarn. have a look around the rest of the website (oh no!). get your perfect yarn, do the project, toss the rest of the pretty things in the stash.

think of something fun to do. it is 10pm on a saturday, and you must. start. now. look through your stash, find the perfect yarn that has been sitting in there for years and moved house with you twice. have project finished by monday.

this person just took a shovel to my face

[handweavers]

recent work using my handspun wool to weave a piece in deflected doubleweave. thinking about interconnectedness, indian nondualism, grief and loss, the sacred grid, and the spiritual & meditative value of hand-work. the white yarn is spun from a blend of mill end wool and some icelandic wool i got during my residency last year, and the green is spun from shropshire wool.

[trashpandacraft]

wip wednesday: project shaming edition

i finally remembered wip wednesday, and it's even still wednesday! great job, me, very proud of you.

first, the good. i have yet to spin the second bobbin of my first pipy project, but that's fine—treadle wheels are mostly a weekend thing for me, and i felt crappy last weekend and barely got out of bed. i feel like it'll get done this weekend, no worries. and i'm going to ignore that realistically, i'm going to start spinning up the polwarth i dyed basically as soon as i can, because i'm greedy. surely the limit is one active spinning project per wheel, right?

anyhow, starting 'as soon as i can' is, basically, after i finish this set of socks.

are these socks exciting? no. am i enjoying knitting them? they're fine, i guess. i'm not sure that i love hobbii's sock yarn, and it wants desperately to spiral, for some reason. but the socks will serve their purpose, and that's why i knit socks with novelty yarn, so whatever. i'm getting a lot of very important youtube videos watched.

unfortunately, that's it for the good, and next up we have this hideously orange jumper. it's so orange that neither my phone nor my computer can figure out what to do with it. when it looks right on one, it looks red on the other; when it looks right on the other, it looks like bizarre orange that's both too bright and too dull. this picture looks equivalently bad on both devices, so it's what i'm using.

it's just a mindless no-pattern raglan with hobbii unicorn solids. it looks small, but it's just squished on the needles—it's adult sized, and the body will be something like 470 stitches around. this isn't really sparking joy, though it is, again, good television knitting, and i think that it will be well loved when i'm finished. which might be 2025.

and then the...mixed emotions. i spun this yarn. i'm knitting it into a shawl for my wife. i love both the yarn and the wife. but i'm a little wary of the project itself, because it's not great for mindless knitting (or at least isn't great yet), and also, frankly, i'm so aware that it's silly, you know? will anyone ever wear this shawl? i honestly have no idea. but here's the yarn.

that second picture is one strand of the yarn, one of sewing thread. the yarn is one ply of handspun rambouillet and one of commercial silk, plied loosely together. i went with this because while this is by no stretch of the imagination an orenburg shawl, galina khmeleva says that this is how they're traditionally done: loosely plied, one ply cashmere, one ply commercial silk. i figure if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me—and also, ok, easier than spinning another 1200 metres of singles for this.

i've started the very beginning of the shawl, and have every intention of finishing it, but haven't gotten far. you can just see the lace on the outer panels starting to form.

i love this shawl. i'm going to finish this shawl. now that i'm thinking about it, though, it might be more of a summer knitting project than a winter one. i'm putting off starting a cowl, which would be a little more practical in the immediate future. i'll see how i feel when i'm done the socks, i guess.

[milkweedman]

Handspun warp for a scarf. Still havent finished the warping board so i cant do a nice long warp for a bunch of dishtowels like i want to, but its not too hard to do a scarf length warp on the door handle and a chair, so.

[tiuhtaviuhta]

Harju, 2023

Woven from undyed wool from heritage sheep breeds (Kainuu grey & Finnsheep) and coffee dyed Finnsheep wool using clasped weft- technique

The question I’ve gotten most about this blanket is that is it an art piece or a usable blanket. I reject the notion that it can’t be both. I inherited some handspun wool late last year - the warmer grey yarn and coffee dyed portions of the blanket - and wanted to do something special with it to pay a homage to the crafter who spun the yarn (and other very beautiful things like it)

[guardevoir]

Fiber Arts Update Time!

Oh boy, where did I leave off last time?

OH, RIGHT.

Fine Merino yarn has been plied

(I figured out how to cross-thread yarn while plying so I can use the hooks on both sides of the flyer; I can still only get maybe 40g of plied yarn onto this tiny bobbin, but that's still better than 30g, barely)

(I deliberately over-plied this quite a bit! I figured with how soft the singles were, I had some leeway until things got too ropey, and that worked out pretty well)

and wet-finished

(by fulling; five minutes of hot water, five minutes of cold water, aggressive thwacking. This yarn has to be sturdy when it's done!)

And the end result is amazing

Best yarn I've made so far, hands-down. Springy, squishy, incredibly soft, but substantial and sturdy. I'll have to make a batch for myself at some point, too.

Next step: the dye pot! Once I stop being a chicken about it, anyway.

Also, remember this stuff?

My amazing crocheting friend (for whom I'm also making the white merino yarn) has gotten around to turning that stuff into a shawl!

This isn't technically the first wearable made of handspun that I have - I also made one single fingerless glove months ago, as a test - but it's still beyond exciting to see such a big project fully finished.

Next project: more purple glitter merino, for a headband for my mom.

Also, found a prospective Tour de Fleece project: pride flag colored merino for a Pride Flag Virus Shawl. Crochet friend is on board, all that's missing is the fibers and some math.

[appleteeth]

Hey, don't listen to him you're a vicious, terrible beast!

Knife Turtle from our Flag Means Death!

Made for the UK/Europe cohort of our server group. The shell wool is my own handspun (using Ashford Woodland Peppercorns silk/merino blend) and the limbs are scrap yarn from my stash.

Turtle pattern here

Knife pattern I adapted here

[a-bit-knitty-gritty]

The Storm Cloud Shawl, a self drafted pattern made with handspun yarn.

I really wanted to use the Old Shale lace to play with the shifting colors and I think it turned out really well.  I need to block it to open the lace to get it to show better, but even as is, I’m pleased.

[bluebelltheoraclefurby]

Knitting for furby book outline

At this point, I have gathered a pattern outline for this e-book.

As of right now, I have five items drafted (not final or written mind you) and plans for one more that'll serve as an easy starter project for complete knitting newbies to learn about stitch gauge (really important for furby items), how to cast on, join in the round, knit, and cast off in a shorter period of time while still having an end product for your furb.

NOTES ON LEARNING TO KNIT

This will not be a 'learning to knit from scratch book' it is intended as a pattern book that is accessible to all levels of knitter and all budgets. I do intend on having a starting chapter that will walk through supplies, pattern layout, and resources for readers.

That being said, this pattern collection could be a good way to learn knitting as the items are smaller but with standard yarn. and the patterns going in order of difficulty should be helpful.

I am one for making it work so I also want to provide guides for yarn substitutions, altering pieces that are too big, and editing patterns to make completely new pieces.

ON TO THE PATTERNS

the first pattern is not drafted so this is patterns 2-6 ( more may come soon or these may be different in their final written form)

2. CHONK SWEATER

i have a few of these made in my handspun so they're p chonky, making it a quick knit even for beginners. there will be notes on measuring your furb and getting your stitch count based on your gauge.

3. CHONK shawl/ collar/ cape

This is also really simple and quick ( its slightly more difficult due to it being knit flat and needing to do some seeming. This is also in some chunky handspun and needs to be sampled again (this one is a tad small). I will give notes on changing the length to make this a collar, a cape, or a shawl to fit your furbs needs.

4. Worsted weight dress

This iconic witchy sweater dress is where the difficulty increases a tad, but the result is having more room to customize the garment. it is in a worsted weight so smaller yarn but not tiny. it does involve increasing and decreasing in ribbing which isn't hard but can have a learning curve. this pattern will include instructions on making the folded collar and accessorizing the garment.

5. Frilly Shawl/ cape/ collar

This pattern is a sister pattern to the 3rd pattern, it's the same garment type but is a bit more involved. it uses fingering weight and optional mohair for a fuzzy look. this starts flat and is joined in the round to do ribbing, and then stitches on the end are picked up and increased to create a frill/ floof thing.

6. Clown collar

this final pattern uses the same yarns, and techniques as the last pattern but in a different way. this pattern uses some seaming techniques and requires a folded hem (knit or sewn together). this can have as few as one frill and as many as you desire.

The mohair isn't held double so yarn subs will be a bit harder but not impossible. I'm trying to keep all of these yarns to ones that can be picked up at a big box craft store or an lys for accessibility but Mohair maybe the one outlier, but if the halo from the silk mohair isn't necessary for you then a fingering weight (4-ply ) should be okay.

Anyway thats the outline that i have so far, let me know what you think!

[clownsindresses]

Long fiber art post incoming!

Made my first ball of yarn!!!!!

So super excited about it, and perhaps the best part is that it was made completely out of scrap yarn, the reason I wanted to learn to spin in the first place

It's an acrylic blend, if not 100 acrylic because I couldn't find a few labels. It was so cool to make little rolags on my "carding combs" (dog brushes) and I think they look like cursed caterpillars

I learned a huge amount from this. I kinda got lazy in one of the singles so it's messy, and I had extra of the other single. But that just meant that I learned how to do a plying bracelet! I think I actually like plying that way more than just a normal ball. This also means that the smaller skein is made of the better, more even spun single

One of the singles also got to travel to Arizona with me when visiting family, where I also got some of my first truly ✨fancy✨ fiber that didn't come in my starting kit. It is so so pretty and I'm crazy excited to use it, especially because I've realized I really like the look of two separate colored singles plyed together, plus I got my first batt, which was super soft

The store was also my first experience ever being in a fiber shop. Everyone was super nice and they also apparently ship online which I'm super excited about, since I've been looking for a fiber shop and they seemed quite affordable with good quality. Plus they were super open to helping and talking about anything you needed or didn't understand. Also saw my first spinning wheel irl at a giant antique store. Way too expensive plus it would've been super hard to get home, but it was beautiful and I kinda wanted to cry about not getting it, even though I know it wasn't a good idea to buy it

I was hoping to find fiber or spindles there considering it was a huge place, but sadly, there was nothing. I did get some sewing patterns that were nice though

Lastly I want to ask for ideas. I have about 111 yards split between two skeins of my first handspun yarn, ( and , respectively), but no ideas of what to make with it. It's a nice combo of pastel green and pink with occasional brighter bits. It's generally thin, maybe a bit heavier than sock weight? But there are slubs and thicker pieces every so often, especially throughout the larger skein. I generally crochet amigurumi but I'm open to making most things. I'd love to make something to hold onto for a long time since I'm a sentimental person. All ideas are appreciated but Tumblr is glitched so I can't reply to any comments or make my own, on even my own posts, so reblogs are totally welcome since they make it easier for me to respond

Thank you for reading this excited, but very long, post! -Estar