Dyeing Rovings

I had not dyed rovings in a long time, but found my inspiration again. I am fascinated by the process of dyeing already naturally colored rovings. Shetland, Coopworth for example come in a range of browns. The rovings are not uniformely brown, they also have lighter and darker fibers mixed, which means that when you play with dyes, you can get stunning heathered effects.

I have added some heathered rovings to my Etsy store, but I might just have to grab one to do a little bit of spinning tonight...

Knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest

Yes, I am finally knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest! I started yesterday afternoon. I actually started with the left front. (I know you should start with the back, but I just felt like knitting the fronts!)

The left front is finished and I have marked the location of the buttons in order to place the buttonholes properly on the right front. (I am looking forward to making the buttons, they are crochet buttons!)



The detail on the vest is beautiful. I love how Pam Allen worked the bottom edge. It is so feminine, and the waist shaping will be so flattering. And the way my red handspun Shetland is knitting up is making me so happy!



Before I go, I wanted to tell you Mr. SockPixie loved his Moth Mittens, and wore them for the first time today!

Swatching

I worked on Mr. SockPixie's Moth Mittens last night, and then I knit a swatch with my newly spun red Shetland roving...Yum...I thought knitting the yarn would be bliss, and it definitely is.



My yarn is a little finer than the yarn called for in the pattern, and so I will be making some adjustments, but that's just part of the fun, isn't it?

I am off to finish the mittens. I might just be able to put in a few minutes of knitting before I teach French Conversation in the Brookline adult ed tonight. Tonight we are discussing campaign financing in France! There is nothing like the calming effect of knitting before discussing a hot topic like campaign financing!

Plying Brings Me One Step Closer to Knitting

I just finished plying the first skein of the red Shetland roving for the Floral Vest. I chose a simple worsted 2 ply .



I think the color is even more striking in its final form, the heathery tones just glow.

Knitting the vest is going to be pure bliss!

Done!

I am happy to tell you that I was very good yesterday! I finished Mr. SockPixie's Shetland socks. Mark Twain was right, the best way to deal with temptation is to yield to it.
I yielded, I spun some of the delicious red roving, and then satisfied, finished the socks!



To recap the socks were made from my handspun, 2 ply, light worsted Shetland in a natural chocolate color, and some left over handspun 2 ply Romney (a left over from the EZ's mitered Mittens) also a light worsted. The socks were knit on US 5 dpts.

There are really no words to tell you how much I enjoyed the whole process of spinning the yarn, and then knitting the socks. Complete is maybe the word that comes to mind. That's it, the experience felt complete...even if I do not...yet... raise the sheep that will produce the fiber, that I will spin, to make the yarn, that I will knit into garments, that my loves will wear...

Tempted to Spin

I was resolved yesterday to finish Mr. SockPixie's socks before starting to spin the delicious red roving for the Indian Floral Vest... The best I can say is I tried...

In my defense I will say that I turned the heel on the second sock. That counts as a good effort right? But there was all this Shetland fiber sitting there next to me, tempting me...

So there, I started spinning, but only a little bit...



I have a perfectly rational explanation, I needed to spin to get going on my swatches, so that I could start spinning the yarn for the vest as soon as the socks were done, and... like the great Mark Twain, I deal with temptation by yielding to it! There!

More Shetland Spinning

A few posts ago, I said that I would continue spinning some Shetland before I moved on to another breed of sheep. My plan had originally been to spin more of the deep natural chocolate color, some of the butterscotch color, and to knit a fair-isle project.

You know what happens to good plans? They get changed!One day, I was just browsing the Interweave Knits website, and in their pattern store found this pattern. The SockPixie girls were sitting in my room next to me, and as they saw the vest, the room filled with oohs and aahs!



This pattern called the Indian Floral Vest was designed by Pam Allen and published in the Winter 1999 Interweave Knits magazine.

I have not been dyeing yarn lately (I will explain later). But at that very moment, the urge to dye was too strong. I rushed downstairs, grabbed the pots, some yellow and some red...I stood next to the pot, staring at the roving, but not stirring for fear of felting... the color gradually saturating the already deep butterscotch.

I only pulled it out when I was sure the color even after drying would be like a jewel.



The color exceeds my expectations. The butterscotch undertones give a unique glow to the red... I could go on and on, but I'll keep it short: "ooh...aah!"

I can hardly wait to start spinning. Of course I will have to test spin a little, to get the best yarn possible for the project.

This means I must hurry and finish knitting Mr. SockPixie's Shetland Socks before I get all wrapped up in this new adventure.

The Shetland Sheep

As you know, I recently read the book In Sheep's Clothing, and gave myself the crazy goal to try and spin from as many sheep breeds as I can. The more I think about about it, the more I love it. With each fiber, there is a new experience, exploring, and learning about a breed and sharing my experiences with you.

The socks for Mr. SockPixie are growing, and I am hoping to make great progress today.
My Romney Mitts are still awaiting their thumbs. ( I have work to do today!)

I have spent a little bit of time reading about the Shetland sheep. The Shetland sheep as its name indicates is from the Shetland Islands. The Sheltand sheep is part of the Northern European short-tailed breeds.Today's Shetland sheep, is pretty much the same as its early ancestors. The only real difference, is that the sheep are raised on the Shetland islands, and throughout the UK, as well as Canada and the US, which I am sure EZ would object to, as Shetland should only come from the Shetland Islands! What makes the Shetland sheep fiber really attractive is that apart from its silky hand, it comes in an incredible array of natural colors. If you want to knit fair-isle projects from handspun yarn, Shetland fiber is the answer. Or if fair-isle is not your cup of tea, you can just create the most amzing marled yarns by plying different colored singles together!

Just look at these colorful little guys!



I am going to spin a little more Shetland before I try another breed of sheep, because look what I have...



Chocolate and butterschotch... a fair-isle beret perhaps... and why not a couple skeins of marled yarn for another manly project?

Shetland

Today I bring you Shetland! The Shetland fiber is the second fiber I decided to spin after reading the great book In Sheep's Clothing.
I picked the most luscious, richest, sensuous chocolate color that Shetland sheep come in.



Isn't nature amazing? As a color lover, I am simply in awe...

I spun the beautiful roving over the fold into singles, and then plied two singles to create a light worsted weight, which I think has become my favorite weight.
I love the density of the Shetland fiber. Shetland has more body than Romney, less crimp, and therefore seems to be less fluffy, and a little rounder. I find it easy to spin, fluid is a word that comes to mind.



I was holding the yarn in my hands, pondering what I should knit, when Mr. SockPixie said: "Hum, nice, I would like socks..." One quick smile was enough to convince me...I grabbed my Us 5 dpts and took my new yarn to knit night. In my bag was some leftover Romney from the mittens, so I decided to stripes the socks. Mr. SockPixie deserves a little whimsy!



This is the progress I made at knit night, and during homeschooling today. If I can finish the sock tonight I might be able to reclaim the needles to do EZ's thumb trick on the mittens. Wouldn't some mitten surgery make a fun post!