Wednesday, January 11, 2017

fo: Foxes and Fireweed - My First Handspun Project!

In November, a friend of mine taught a class at my shop.  Only one person had signed up and, despite having a list of things to do during the class approximately 1.6 km long, I abandoned it all to join the class.

What class was it, you ask?

First Handspun Project
A drop spindle yarn spinning class!  I had so much fun learning a new skill, and I got a bit obsessive with it.  I wound up spending extra time at the shop - long after I should've gone home, spinning away on my little drop spindle.

First Handspun Project
It didn't take long before I'd gotten the whole roving braid spun up into a single ply ball.  I'd considered plying it into a 2ply ball, but the yarn changed a lot from start to finish, from short colour changes, over-spun sections, and rapid extremes in yarn thickness, to long consistent colour lengths and generally more consistent yarn thickness (though I still had some really fat sections in it).

First Handspun Project
The yarn ranged from lace weight to super bulky everywhere - it was hilarious to knit up!  And yes, I knit it up immediately.  I wanted to spin some more, but I was itching to see how it knit up.

First Handspun Project
I decided on a simple cowl design and, pairing it with some Briggs and Little Lite n' Fancy in cream to ground the wackidoodle handspun, I knit a striped cowl with seed-stitch edges.  Here's the Ravelry project page, if you're curious. Folks, while my Northman Mittens are my absolute favourite knit of 2016, this cowl comes close to following it.  Probably because I'm seriously in love with my cooky handspun yarn and the lovely Briggs and Little yarn I paired it with.  I wear this thing almost daily - it's nice and warm on our freezing winter mornings, and the combination of yarns are super soft against even the most sensitive skin!  :D  SO DAMN PROUD OF MYSELF.

First Handspun Project
In case you're wondering, I named the yarn (and thus the cowl) Foxes and Fireweed because of the colours in the roving braid itself.  It was dyed by a local artist, and it just makes me think of foxes darting around a roadside teaming with fireweed on a sunny summer day.  Ridiculous imagery, maybe, but a common one here in the Yukon.  :)

First Handspun Project
Now that I'm finished with this project though, my fingers are itching to spin some more.  Though I'm taking another class tomorrow with this same instructor - this time on frame loom weaving - so it might be a while before I do so.

When was the last time you learned a truly new skill?  I feel like it's been yonks for me.

7 comments:

  1. Love! Love love love!! Those colors are amazing :D I understand most of the theory of spinning on a drop spindle, but I never actually sit down to do it, so you're way ahead of me!

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    1. Thanks!! Oh gosh, it was so fun. I had a hard time grasping this technique before - tried to teach myself a few times, but couldn't ever get it. The class was awesome and it finally clicked! Though we'll see if I can do it again...

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  2. Aaargh, so jelly! I yearn to do some weaving, and weaving funky hand spun yarn would be amazing. Are you using Ashfords spindles and frames? They seem to be exported all over the place. That would be RAD.

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    1. Haha I actually carry Ashford products in my shop (though I only do spinning wheels and looms on special order). For our weaving class though, we built our own frames. I'll probably blog about that soon, as soon as I figure out my camera situation and HAHA find some time... :D

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  3. If I didn't live so far away I would have signed up for that class. However travelling from the Southeast corner of Saskatchewan to the Yukon in the winter could be a bit daunting. Love the hand spun yarn.

    God bless.

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    1. Well, we will probably offer it again, so send me a message if you're ever headed this way! :)

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  4. Oh, I love it! I am battling hard with a desire to learn to spin. (Made even more ridiculous by the fact that I don't knit---I would want to spin to weave. And down that road lies madness... 😂) good work!!!!

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