Saturday, December 27, 2008

More Spinning Adventures

I had meant to post about spinning earlier, but Young Mr. SockPixie, one of our sons, gave us a little excitement. The few trips to the emergency room from early evening until the early hours of the morning forced me to reorganize my life for a few days. On the positive side, I was able to knit a hat, and of course, the hat was promised to the sick boy.
Now that everything has returned to normal, I can resume my blogging.

The soy/wool roving was spun, and as I am a new spinner, I found it a little harder to spin than the BFL. Again, it has a lot of the charm of a new spinner's hand! The soy made it incredibly silky. The colors seemed to glow, and I could not stop spinning.



Then came my favorite part, the plying. I am not kidding, I just love plying. I like to see the two strands twist together to create the richly colored and textured yarn that I know I will soon be knitting with.

I am really happy with my choice of colorways. The Petunia and the Madame d'Haussonville really flatter each other.




The yarn had just finished drying after being set when it became clear that I would have to take Young Mr. SockPixie to the hospital that night. I stuffed the yarn and needles in my pocket, and off we went.

As I was sitting there, casting on, Young Mr. SockPixie expressed his undying love for purple, and whether the hat could be his. How could I say no? There he was, sick and scared. The hat was promised to him. Between you and me, he really deserved it, as he proved to be so courageous all night, even as the doctor came with scalpel in hand!

I did not finish the hat the first night, rather I finished it on our second visit to the hospital the following night.
By the time we went home, in the middle of the night, as a gorgeous blizzard was transforming Boston into a snowy paradise, the hat was given to Young Mr. SockPixie.

Here is a picture of proud Young Mr. SockPixie wearing his first handspun, hand-dyed, and of course hand-knit hat with our snowy world in the background.

11 comments:

Daisie said...

Lots of love for young master sockpixie and wishes for a speedy recovery!
The yarn is beautiful and the hat just yummy!
XXX

infinityexplorer said...

The colors are fabulous! I love that combination! Happy Day!

Monika said...

Lovely picture! I'm glad Young Mr. SockPixie is looking so well.

When I first started spinning, I liked plying best too, but not so anymore. :o)

Anonymous said...

I'm sure glad to hear that Young Mr. Sock Pixie is back in the pink - and purple. The hat is lovely!

No matter how much I spin, I still consier myself a beginner. Each fiber & each spinning experience is different. The only thing that changes is my expectations. Still, I love it all.

Akhila's Handblog said...

I'm glad young Mr SockPixie is better - and who wouldn't with a beautiful hat like that! Well done. Just lovely.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Look at those eyes! Hope he is well again.

Bishop Stone said...

That wool is so lovely. I think you have inspired me to start spinning again.

Anonymous said...

I love the yarn and the hat is charming. It makes me feel like pulling out my roving and getting spinning on something. It's really encouraging to see another beginner spinner making such lovely yarn so quickly.

Anonymous said...

Wishing Health to the boy, he has been a trooper.
There is a webste called Smartflix.com that rents educational vidios similar in principal to netflix. I mention this because they have several fiber related vidios including a good series on spinning that I rented. watching those and spinning along really clarified some of my begginer questions about yarn structure and unusual fibers. Could also be good for the home schooling. :)

Wanna said...

So sorry to hear about the sick kiddo! Good to see that he is doing better.

Your handspun is Gorgeous!!! Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Handsome boy. I am always inspired by your work. Good job on the handspun.