Ponchette Redux

I don't know that there's many things worse than scrambling to finish a project only to find that you've managed to screw the whole thing up. From cast-on to bind-off, the brick-colored ponchette was an anomaly of sorts ... a seemingly simple project that was anything but.

The photo in my last post showed it taking up nearly a full twin-sized pull-out sofabed. That's right, it was pretty big. At first, I assumed that I blocked too aggressively, but the bottom line is that it was just doomed from the beginning.

Damn hemp.

A devil fiber if ever I met one, hemp is a nightmare to knit with. No matter how tightly I caught the stitches, they were still way too loose throughout. I should have known something was amiss when everyone who has knit this project finished in less than a week. Me? It took nearly as long as a blanket.

The good news is that it's not a total wash; it's a nice rectangular shawl for someone for the holidays.

Even better news: Two days ago, I headed to the LYS, picked up two balls of SWTC Bamboo, and pounded a newer (and more appropriately sized) version out in less than two full days of knitting. Here it is blocking on the same pull-out sofa:


So why the rush to get this done?

You see, I'm getting ready to leave for a business trip on Wednesday morning to Ottawa. It's chillier there than here, and for some reason I had set a goal of having this ponchette completed in time to wear it if I go out and about. It's made of soy silk, which in my experience can be pretty warm if it needs to be. So I figure I can take a long-sleeved shirt and a short-sleeved shirt and wear whichever suits the weather.

I wanted it in brick, but I'll settle for this gorgeous turquoise. As long as it dries as planned, I should be able to seam it up tomorrow and toss it in my tote!

Mass Production

So August is over, and so is the race to complete UFOs. I feel like it was a pretty productive month: Pi was blocked, Charlotte finished, two socks, a large ponchette (which will become a rectangular shawl) and quite a bit of progress on the Sheep Shawl. All amid a busy month with vacation, a business trip and the first day of school for two elementary schoolers. I'm happy with the progress and considering myself at this point quite content.

Like so many other luxuries in life, casting on a new project is one that we all take for granted until we can't do it. There's nothing like picking out a new yarn, a new pattern and sitting down in solitude and putting the stitches on the sticks. I'm so glad I'm free to do it again.

Pictures will come later.

Home Stretch!

A blocking ponchette ...


Hemp takes a long time to dry, so I'm in a waiting game. Hopefully, I'll be able to seam it up tonight. It turned out bigger than anticipated, despite my getting gauge early on. Oh well, tis the season to be gifting ... if in fact it turns out too big.

The widdershin is in the cuff stage, so I expect that to be done soon too.

Knitter Down!

I feel cheated. These past few days were supposed to be filled with endless evening knitting, as my children enjoyed the joys of farm life for four days (they come back tomorrow). But my mouth had to take this opportunity to go all foul on me.

Late last week a filling that I had replaced in June (lost half of it while on my work trip to Atlanta) decided it should start to abscess at the beach. That's right, on Thursday cool beach air sent me to depths of insanity I had never felt before. When we got home that night (thankfully this happened at the end of the trip), it started to throb.

Anyone familiar with the movie version of Frank Herbert's Dune? Picture Paul Atreides with his hand in the box. I had my tooth in that box for four days. I couldn't head to the dentist on Friday because it was Oldest Son's birthday and we took him out for the day. Saturday things felt only slightly better, but Advil really helped. On Sunday, nothing helped. But I had to trudge on, and take my children to my family reunion on the Eastern Shore and then fight three and a half hours of beach traffic for a trip that only takes 90 minutes on a good day. Pain abated long enough to fall asleep, only to wake up in absolute AGONY at 4 a.m. Saw the dentist right when she opened and then I had the pleasure of experiencing a first in my life.

A root canal.

Now it's my understanding that root canals have a bad rap. So I was naturally apprehensive. Tons of little files scraping my tooth's innards for the sole purpose of making way for a dental death ray in there? Ick. But again, I was a trooper and had it done. Went to work afterward, even.

The good news is that my tooth feels better. I'm taking a gnarly antibiotic (the tooth, apparently, was really gross) so I'm not worried about infection. My problem? Where I had to get the needles -- right where my gum meets my cheek. I look like I had a wisdom tooth extracted, all swollen and puffy. This is why I do not like having dental work done. Those damn post-operative injection sites in my little mouth really hurt. The tooth? Well, it feels a little weird, packed and all, but no real pain. Where I got a slew of needles? Raw and sore and begging for relief ... which nothing seems to be giving. But I go on to work today.

And so my knitting has suffered for the past three days. Fortunately, the ponchette is easy, steady and without charts. I can nearly do it with my eyeballs closed. Being so easy and not having to think, I'm done all but the last two or three points, which I hope to finish today in time for blocking tomorrow. As long as my mouth doesn't get any worse I can probably do it. Then all I have to do is seam it up.

I just have to get my mouth to agree with the plan.

Since there are no knitting pictures, here's one from the beach:

TYS had a great fascination with the sea this year. I caught a glimpse of him doing this from far up the beach and rushed to photograph. He was showing this seaweed to his father, but methinks he looks a bit like Perseus holding up the head of Medusa to turn the Krackin to stone.

Widdershins!

Those of you monitoring me in this race are aware that I did abandon a single sock very early on. It was my feather and fan sock in Claudia's Olive Navy. I really wasn't happy with the way it turned out and wasn't willing to waste a skein on the match just for the sake of finishing a pair of socks that I hated.

Instead, I opted to finish one other sock in Claudia. To make things interesting, I decided to try the Widdershins pattern from Knitty. It's a toe-up sock that has nearly all the makings of a traditional sock (except the Kitchener stitch). You start with a magic cast-on, increase to full foot diameter and then knit until three inches before the heel. Then you do increases for the gussets, the heel is done, and you wind up with a beautiful heel flap that's way more sturdy than the short row heel I was previously in love with. See?


Yes, I now it's hard to see, but for the schooled sock eye, you can see the heel stitches running almost perpendicular to the stripes on the foot. This is Claudia's "Black Walnut" colorway and I love the patterns as much as I love this pattern. Now I just have to knit until I have just enough yarn to cast off and I'll be done.

Why I love this pattern:

1. The toe is nice and mitered. Ordinarily I cut myself short doing short-row toes with the crochet cast on because they are time consuming. The result is a stocky toe that doesn't taper as much as I'd like. On a similar note, the fact that there are no stitch pick-ups necessary to avoid holes makes it even better.

2. No holes at the gusset area. Just as there are no holes at the end of the shrt-row toe, there aren't any at the gussets, either. The invisible increase gusset absolutely rocks, and it flows beautifully into the heel flap. No pick-ups necessary along the slipped stitches.

3. Sturdy heel. Traditional heel flap. Enough said.

4. Well-written pattern. Brooke Chenoweth did a great job with this. I found no problems or struggles at all.

5. I still don't have to worry about running out of yarn. This is my No. 1 problem with the traditional sock. I detest not knowing how long I can make the leg without risking a severe yarn shortage. Yes, I know that if I know just how far I can take a skein of yarn from experience that's different, but what about when I've started a new sock with a brand-new yarn? Then I need to make an anklet only to find I have enough left for a partial foot. This way, I'm good.

I know that everyone has their own particular preferred means of knitting socks, but anyone who has tried a short-row toe/heel pattern and hated it ought to try this pattern.

Eleven days left this month and I'm chugging along. Today, I take the boys to my aunt's farm for four days and my knitting time should increase at least a little bit for the next few evenings. I'll be chugging along on the leg for the lone Widdershin (the mate will be cast on Sept. 1) and the Hemp Ponchette. I'll do as much as I can on the Sheep Shawl as well (I did a few more rows last night, but like the ponchette, progress is hard to see).

Beach Bums

It's funny how hotels at the Jersey shore don't have internet access. I suppose folks take the word "vacation" too seriously for bloggers. I could have trucked to the internet cafe on the boards, but knew everyone would understand. After all, I was on a beach vacation with my husband, two boys, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, quasi-sister-in-law, her daughter and her daughter's friend. Tons of people, tons of confusion, tons of contention. Enough said.

But progress was made, believe it or not. While everyone slept each morning, I hauled The Yarn Sniffer to the pool every day and knit. Then we either hit the beach or the boards.

Here's Sock enjoying the pool at the beginning of the vacation:



And here it is at the end.



Not much progress, but that's because work commenced on the Sheep Shawl.


It's very hard to see progress here, but I'm completely through the Sunshine Lace chart and I'm on to the Orchard Lace chart. After this, I need to make it through the Village, Sunflower, Sheep and Grass charts, with a four-stitch increase on each pattern. I'm really starting to worry that this isn't going to be done by the end of the month. However, if necessary, I will designate my finish line to be the end of the chart I'm working on closest to the end of the month. Had I not been preoccupied with Charlotte, this might have been done. Oh well. It's a Christmas gift, so as long as progress is smooth and steady ...

Consider what I found in our hotel bathroom one morning to be a tremendous stumbling block.


That's a washcloth for scale. ICK!!

Pi, Here's Your Close Up

Jennie has asked for a closeup of Pi's stitches. I'm flattered. Really flattered.

Basically Pi is from EZ's almanace and it's done as the shawl with concentric holes. I threw a homemade pattern in when the knitting got REALLY boring, then went back to a straight-knit two sections before starting the acursed edging. Here's a better shot (a bit blurry, but it was either that or wash it out with the flash):


And that's all the blogging for a few days. I hope to make lots of progress and bring photos of knitting relaxing on the beach. To acquire internet while at the beach would bring (believe it or not) a compulsion to do work, so I'm opting to avoid if possible. The weather should be great, and both boys (three, if you could Husband) are all very excited. Me? I've been up since before 7 a.m.

Have a great week!

Pi R Blocked

Yesterday, I had myself a blocking extravaganza. And you can count off one more of my marathon targets.

Pi is done. All blocked and beautiful.



(Photo courtesy of The Yarn Sniffer, who is also treating us to a self portrait complete with a very dirty face from the last day of summer camp.)



I'd show you a picture of the actual blocking, but it was happening on my bed and our paisley comforter really interfered with the Zephr. You just couldn't make out much of the patterning of the shawl. I can say this, though: My homemade lace pattern didn't turn out half bad.

Now, in other marathon news, I've gotten a bit more done on the sheep shawl. I also finished one of the Claudia socks. Problem is, I hate what I did with the cuff so I really need to abandon this sock. Since I reserved the right to start a new sock in August (and not start anything else), I started another to take its place. The goal is to complete one full sock and meet the August goal (though I hope to come out a sock ahead and get a pair done).

Progress is a wonderful thing.

P.S.: I'm lusting after that Swallowtail Shawl in the newest Interweave and that's gonna be first on the sticks Sept. 1!

Some Shawl!

She's terrific, she's radiant and she's humble. I cast off the edging this morning, while the men in my house were all sleeping (even the dog). It's a shame I couldn't let out a big "Whoop!" She's beautiful.

I cast off the outer edge last night and immediately started on the edging. Here it is, all done before blocking.



I really should have done this edging on the pi shawl. This edge only took me a few hours to complete. Yet another lesson learned from Charlotte.



Granted, I only used three skeins of Koigu (remember, I didn't want anything big -- and I really only cut out the last two pattern repeats), but this project went relatively quickly. The bonus? I have two skeins left and can make matching socks!

My vacation officially started today. We head out to the beach on Sunday, so I have Mommy things to do. But this afternoon, I plan on sitting down and hammering out a few more points on the ponchette ... maybe that one's almost off the needles too?

I'm saving the sock and the sheep shawl for beach knitting. In the meantime, I leave you with Charlotte, blocked and drying. Let me know your thoughts!

What I'm Learning from Charlotte's Web

As a child, I loved this E.B. White book, and believe it or not, learned quite a bit from everyone's favorite grey spider-writer. To this day, it's one of my favorites -- I'm the proud owner of the annotated Charlotte's Web, an original pressing, my own childhood copy and even a t-shirt of the "Some Pig" web, complete with Wilbur looking on. Charlotte A. Cavatica teaches about friendship, about the power of even the smallest, and just how fulfilling having a goal in life can be. It seemed only natural that I would do this project for myself, and this was my last-minute cast-on for the marathon.

That said, lessons from Charlotte -- the shawl, not the spider -- have been ongoing since the beginning. So ... what have I learned?

• I hate to purl. Yes, I knew this going into the project, but thought that forcing myself to purl WS rows might give me an appreciation for the stitch and even perhaps speed up my purling. I was so terribly wrong that it sickens me. But, in the interest of the marathon and my insane desire to wrap myself in this koigu, I'm slogging on.
• I really do like lace knitting. The only real lace projects I've done have been simple patterns on socks and the concentric circles pi shawl. I haven't yet experienced the miracle of blocking lace (sorry, pi, your turn is coming) but it's fascinating to knit a lace pattern.
• I can knit from a chart. For some reason, patterns with charts have freaked me out for my entire knitting career. Charts just make things look, well, complicated. Especially when there is more than one to follow. Lucky for me, there's just one for Charlotte.
• There is such a thing as a crappy chart. When I bought the Koigu pattern at MS&W way back when, I eyed the chart with extreme contempt. I even opened the document to see if the lace pattern had been written out inside. It was, and so I purchased it. As it turns out, I've been using the chart more than I thought, so I'm intimately familiar with its nuances and it's over-complicatedness. The folks who designed this shawl really made it much more difficult to follow than it needed to be. And if you scour the blogosphere, I'm not the only one saying it.

There you have it. Lessons from Charlotte. I'm actually only 20 rows from being at the edging stage, and my plan is to do a simple crochet edging without the fringe (I'm not a fringy kind of girl). I'm actually cutting the shawl one repeat short to keep it at a decent size (I'm not a big person), so I anticipate being done maybe by the weekend.

And the race continues!

Progress in Dallas

Well, I'm back from a whirlwind business trip to Dallas. In on Sunday (very late landing) and out on Tuesday (left very early) and I'm downright exhausted. Weary exhausted. The kind where you just can't think of sleeping so you drink more coffee until you black out later in the day exhausted. Oh well. To top it all off, I forgot to take my camera.

OK! As stated earlier this month (which wasn't long ago given that it's only the 8th), I'm teaming up with Knit and the City Wendy to have a very happy August. Happy to me this month means not casting on any new projects, or buying any new yarn from my local yarn store. From the get-go, I reserved the right to cast on new socks and possibly get a fabulous yarn at an out-of-town locale ... but ONLY if it was one that my LYS didn't have.

I worked most of the day yesterday, but found time late in the day to head over to the only yarn store in Dallas that was within walking distance of my hotel. I didn't walk though, because it looked like they were going to have one hell of a storm (if I had taken the camera, I'd be able to show you -- it was breathtaking watching the storm come in over the big Texas sky). As it turns out, my cab driver only took a few extra minutes finding the little gem of Dallas known as The Shabby Sheep.

It's a charming little store, in a little house that fits rather nicely into the cityscape. (Thanks to the owner, Rhonda, who told me I could copy the picture from their website and put it on my blog ... even after finding out that I am not Wendy of WendyKnits. But alas, their site has a lot of Flash and I can't get the photo. Do go look at the pictures. It's a really cute shop -- and if you're ever in Dallas, stop by. Ronda's little dog Abby will greet you by licking your toes!)

I was determined not to buy anything that I couldn't get at Cloverhill here in Catonsville, and so I was drawn to this:

This is Knit One, Crochet Two's Gourmet line, in Truffles. Not only does it feel like I want to bury my face in it and gobble it up like truffles, this feels like chenille, and it will be a scarf. I also picked up some Regia in a colorway that Cloverhill doesn't carry (again, it's for socks, so I don't count it. And it made me happy!)

I bid Ronda farewell after a long discussion about Charlotte's Web. I have made great progress (as you really can't see from this photo -- I will try to drape her over the pillow she adorned after Night One a week ago to try to give some scale. This is from knitting on a four legs of my round-trip flight as well as in my hotel room. I'm on the third skein, and had to stop shortly after taking off from Chicago to come home because I forgot to wind another skein and didn't want to run out mid-flight.

Happiness in August

Let's face it. When you're busy in every single area of your life, it isn't always easy to be as happy as you want to be (unless of course you're busy with things that aren't work). I find it even more difficult to be happy in this horrific August heat. Triple digits today.

But I'm going to try. While other folks are out there playing Sock Wars and defeating foes by finishing projects, Wendy over at Knit and the City is putting a happier spin on things. She's going to finish six projects in August, which sounds like a good plan. The catch is that she's not going to cast on any new ones.

I think I'll join her -- though last night I had to scramble to get one last project on the needles. I have a bunch of things to finish this month.

Exhibit A: The Hemp Ponchette from LanaKnits. Here's a closeup of the lace pattern:


Exhibit B: The Fiber Trends Sheep Shawl (This one's a Christmas gift, though I do not wish to disclose the recipient's name at this time)


Exhibit C: Koigu "Charlotte's Web" Shawl (I started this one last night in a mad attempt to make sure I had enough to work on in August without having to cast on any other projects. I'm on row 57 already; this may not have been the wisest thing to cast on. It knits up so quickly and, well, let's just say I now know why everyone goes gaga over this yarn. I bought this back in May at MDS&W and haven't been able to bring myself to crack it open and use it for fear of not being Koigu-worthy. So I'm opting for a Koigu pattern and hoping I don't screw it up.


Exhibit D (not pictured): Feather and Fan Socks (I'm on the first sock's cuff; I'm doing them toe-up, so I don't have that much more to do before starting the second)

Exhibit B: The Pi Shawl (Note: The edging was completed on July 31, but I'm reserving this as an unfinished project because it still needs blocking and that's gonna take me some serious time.

And now, to start August off with a smile, I leave you with an example of what you find when you check on the Yarn Sniffer (who loves to swim) when he's in the shower:

I swear, I nearly wet my pants.

Random

From a quad skein to a hand-wound ball: 75 minutes.

Just a Drive By

I'm having a crappy week, but not for lack of knitting progress. Here's proof (of the progress, not the cruddy week):


A new sock, knit from Claudia's Handpainted. Luxurious to knit with. I'm enjoying just fondling it.



And more progress on the pi shawl. It's been a WIP since April. I'm nearly done. I figure I have about 50 more rounds and then the edging. For some reason, I'm working pretty quickly on this one these past few weeks. There's my hand included for scale -- I thought about putting it over the Yarn Sniffer's head for scale (as EZ promised, it's making its own little bag as I knit it), but he's still asleep and as usual, I'm in a hurry.



Here's a close-up.


And here's one of my birthday gifts: a quad skein of Morehouse Merino laceweight (gonna take FOREVER to wind by hand) to make Melody's Shawl.

Two Months Late...

Have you ever finished a gift and packaged it off so fast that you forgot to actually photograph it?

I did. For Mother's Day. And so, whilst throughout the blogosphere all the knitters were showing off their mother's shawls, I was left wrapless.

Until this weekend, at the family reunion when Mom decided to model the gift for me and become a blog sensation. Ain't she cute?



She was sick most of the time I knit it. Hospital sick. Couldn't breathe sick. I like to think that I sent her get-well vibes straight through the Tahki Cotton Classic. Maybe that makes it a prayer shawl?

Here's a closeup of the pattern (the Perfect Pie Shawl from Weekend Knitting):



And as an aside, this is the kind of box that I love to find on my porch after a long day at work:



'Nuff said.

Proof of Knitting

Yes, I've been spinning like a madwoman. But I've also been knitting a little too. I'm in the process of finishing up some socks in progress (there's usually two in the mix at any given time; I have to start a second set now that I've finished one pair).

This pair was the first I've ever knitted with Regia. LOVE IT!



And I'm moving along on a pair of Trekking XXL's that I've had in the fray since April. I literally just finished short-rowing the heel.



That's all for a Saturday. It's Family Reunion Day!

Have I Mentioned I'm Out of Hand?

On Saturday, I popped on to eBay to see what I could find. I found an eight-ounce "sampler" of raw fleece. It actually arrived yesterday. I know why they mailed it so quickly and expedited it to me.

It um, smells.

Now I expected that. It's from a sheep, after all, who lives on a farm, which does not have any toilets or shower stalls for ovine use. I'm a farm girl at heart, so it really doesn't bother me.

But ... of course the Yarn Sniffer ran over when I announced that my wool had arrived. He promptly put his face right into the lot.

And ran screaming from the room.

He was thrilled when I washed some of the locks and carded them (someone find me a cheap set of cards, please. This is going to take forever on dog brushes) and they came out clean and sweet smelling.

Only 7.5 more ounces to go ...

Pretty Skeins All in a Row

Wendy, Wendy, please don't tarry
How does your spinning go?
With bamboo silk and oreo
And pretty skeins all in a row

A special thanks first to all the new visitors who commented on the spindle lesson. I was thrilled to see the comments! I hope you'll all come back soon.

In the meantime, here's what I was up to this weekend (yes, I know it's Thursday, but things had to dry!)

I finished a bamboo silk/wool 2-ply. This is designated for my husband's scarf this winter. I have another skein or two to complete ... and I must say that bamboo silk is a bitch to spin ... its very slippery. Here it is doing its impression of ramen noodles:

And here it is all dried and ready to knit once the whole batch is done.



And now, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you the most wonderful wool in the world (drumroll please...). OREO.



I found this wool at my LYS. Yes, it's true I need a 12-step program but I just couldn't resist this. I bought a whole 20 ounces and got down to it. I'm not even halfway done. But Oreo, who I believe is a Corriedale, is going to be my next sweater project.

The skeins on the top have been washed and hung to dry (see how they puffed up?) and the two on the bottom were just plied last night.

I don't think I'm going to have biasing problems this time because there's no extra twist that I could see in the drying process. Dummy me, I hadn't yet soaked that other wool before I started knitting it into that swatch. Then I read the new issue of Spin Off, which has a whole article dedicated to charged singles. I'm torn over whether to set the twist or knit it for a zig zag.

This One is for Wendy

No, not for me. For Wendy. See, she's having some trouble with her spindle. Since it's so rare that I can offer insight to uber knitters, I figured I'd give it a shot. You see, I want her to take her spinning to the same heights as her knitting. Maybe next year she'll have handspun yarn in her "flash your stash" photo (you've just gotta see it to understand).

OK. Let me first say that handspindling gave me fits and that my husband had to censor me more than once with bleeps when I was learning. But I got it down pat, and ultimately I bought the wheel (incidentally, I'm calling her Charlotte. As in Charlotte A. Cavatica.) And so I offer my tips for spinning.

1. Make sure you have a good spindle. I started with a bottom-whorl spindle I picked up on the web, and within 48 hours had trekked to the LYS and purchased an Ashford top-whorl. Having the right spindle makes a HUGE difference in learning to spin. The Ashfords are under $20, and, well, I mean, c'mon. It's what they do ... it's what they live for.

2. Start with a small bit of roving, not a huge piece. About hand-size oughta do it.

3. Pick a fiber that works for you. I tried spinning first with wool, and ironically, the results were disasterous. I had an awful time drafting it, and hated it. So, when I picked up my Ashford spindle, I also picked up some alpaca. My advice? If you can, try playing with some fiber at the store before bringing it home. It's much easier to start with something that has a smooth draft.

4. Pre-draft the roving. When life gives you a big fat Sharpie, turn it into a pencil. That's right, take some time to draft the roving out to spinning width. Using two hands, hold the roving in your left hand and gently tug a little out at a time with your right hand. Turn that hand-sized bit into a long length of ready-to-spin fiber.

5. Start a leader. Instructions tell you to start with some handspun or commercially spun yarn as a leader. I prefer to use whichever fiber I'm working with. Don't ask me why; I have no idea. It just seems easier for me. Start the leader by looping about an inch of your under the hook on your spindle. Like this:

And then pinch the end in with the rest and give the spindle a spin. Don't worry if it's big and fat. It's the leader, after all, and if you start off making thicker yarn, then you have few problems with breaks early on. That said, spin that spindle and practice moving your left fingers back until you have three or four inches of leader. Use the "spin and park" technique. (When the spindle stops, park it between your knees.) It will stop rather quickly because 1) you're working with thicker yarn (which doesn't need much twist); and 2) you're working on a small drafted amount (it won't take the twist long to move up your drafted portion). Take a minute and make a leader and then wind it on your spindle.

6. Spin the spindle. Hold the spindle between your knees with the fiber in your right hand. Pinch the leader (what you already spun) with your left hand, (ignore the rest of the fiber for a minute) and give the spindle a spin. Then park it between your knees.

7. Let in some twist. You may notice at this point that you feel some tension in the already-spun yarn. That's the force of the twist building up. It's what you want to feel. That said, with the spindle parked and your right hand free, use your right fingers to pinch just to the right of your left fingers. Don't release your left fingers until you have pinched with the right hand. Then, place the left fingers a few inches up the fiber supply. You should be holding a segment that looks like this (I'm only using one hand here because I needed one to use the camera. Pay attention to the arrows -- the red arrow is where your right hand should be pinching. The green arrow is where the twist buildup should be, the blue area your drafted-but-yet-untwisted fiber and the yellow the rest of your fiber supply.)

Now, you basically want to do that same "sleight of hand" trick you did before to let the twist in to your segment. Keep your left hand pinching off the fiber supply. Release your right pinch, and watch the twist move up the fiber. See that? Voila! Yarn!

And now, you go back to the beginning of steps 6&7. Keep going until you have enough to wind on the spindle shaft. Wind it up, but be sure to leave enough above the whorl to have enough to work with.

Let me stress my personal opinion that handspinning on a spindle is more about the way your hands move than about the way the spindle turns. Learning on a handspindle REALLY helped me learn the basics that I was then able to transfer over the wheel spinning (which goes so much faster -- it's easier to slow the process for learning purposes this way). It also helps because you're working with smaller amounts of fibers and therefore you're less likely to ruin large amounts while you're learning. That said... GOOD LUCK!

Phenomenon

OK, so I've been crazily carding Sugar Pie up with a bunch of different other wools and yesterday I decided to spin up a few rolags and do a swatch. (Sugar Pie is a bit itchy so I really need to evaluate that before I do too much and end up with a garment that no one wants to wear...) I pulled out a pair of #6 needles and cast on. Did a few rows and discovered that the knitting was slanted. That's right, rather than knitting a nice little square in stockinette stitch, I was making a diamond.

To confirm my theory, I reversed (knitting the rows I had purled and vice versa) and sure enough, the swatch went the other way. Can anyone tell me WHY? And how I can STOP this from happening again? It would be great for a scarf pattern, but I just don't think it would work for a sweater ...


A bit dismayed by the resulting chevron, I decided to play a bit with that alpaca I spun right after I got the wheel. Cast on 20 stitches and did 20 rows in stockinette. There's a very slight tilt to the swatch, but nothing that a little blocking won't fix. If I had enough of this, it would definitely be a sweater. I wish you could touch it.