I finally settled on the Feather & Fan Comfort Shawl for this mixed up bunch of handspun. This skein will be the fourth out of five skeins. I'm actually really looking forward to starting this project. I'm just trying to get the knitting on Halfobi finished first.
There isn't much new with this spinning project to talk about. I didn't try any new techniques, I'm just trying to make sure the weight of the yarn matches what is already spun up. The colors aren't too exciting or anything, but I like the pink and brown tones of the yarn. I think it works well with the green, brown, and blue colors I have waiting.
Details
Brand: Geddesburg Handspun Yarn
Content: 100% Bluefaced Leicester
Fiber Source: The Fiber Denn on Etsy
Skein Weight: 4.5 ounces
Skein Length: 286 yards
Spinning Ratio: 10 to 1
Plying Ratio: 9 to 1
Other Details: 2-ply, hand wash
Halfobi is more that half done now. I'm in the home stretch and knitting the second side. I'm hoping to give a really good try at finishing up the knitting this weekend. I know need to decide what to use to seam it up and to use for the edging. The pattern calls for a crochet edging around the outside. I've always been led to believe that Noro isn't that great for seaming because of the strength. So I'm going to need to haul this thing to the LYS or something to find something appropriate.
I have done some spinning too. I spun the batts from Loop into two singles yarn. I original decided to spin half of the fiber and mix the colors and spin the other half with the colors separate. So, I started the first bobbin by mixing the colors and decided that was really the way to go. To make the separated colors work well, I thought that each color would have to be its own separate ply in the finished yarn because each color is actually a different fiber. I don't think that would have worked well with the quantity I had.
I started out with a package of size 1 diapers and rolled them up and secured then with a little light blue yarn. These diapers had a very colorful print and I think that added to the cuteness of the cake. The other cake I did was primarily white and pink and had an overall different look to it. Once all 100+ diapers were rolled up, I gathered them into four progressively larger round layers and secured each with more yarn. Ribbon could be used too, but I had baby blue yarn on hand. Rolling up all the diapers is where most of my time was spent.
I cut a circle out of cardboard and covered it in foil and stacked the cake layers on top of each other. There is a paper towel tube running through the center of the bottom three layers for a little stability. Next up was attaching all the little doo dads. Some are just resting on the cake and others are tied on with ribbon or yarn. Diaper pins are another great way to secure things to the cake too.
The hardest part was transporting the entire thing to work and hiding it in my cube until the party. I think overall the mommy-to-be was surprised with the shower and pleased with the cake. We are looking forward to meeting her new baby soon.
I won a Blogoversary Contest over at the 
Take a quick look at what the 
This was nice to spin up actually. It was beautifully dyed and well prepared so drafting the fiber was easy. The yarn is nice but a little rough and scratchy. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. I'm just enjoying the colors for now.
I've also picked up my little Silk Garden Halfobi and have made some more progress. I'm almost done with the ribbing on one side, only a row or two more and I'll be knitting the back. This thing is knit flat in one piece and then folded over and stitched together. You can kind of see how it is starting to take shape now.
I've also been spinning. I have some new handspun yarn to post on Friday and I've finished all five skeins I'm going to put together for that shawl I've been talking about. I'm hoping to start the shawl after I finish up Halfobi. Remember those 
This lovely fiber is what is up next and it is from 
This crochet was done by my grandmother quite awhile ago. Last year she was cleaning out a closet and gave this to my mother. My mother showed it to my while I was visiting. We had a fun time trying to imagine my grandmother sitting in a chair using the small, no, tiny, steel hooks that were still inside the box. The pattern and extra crochet cotton were still there although both have yellowed with age.
The tablecloth was something my grandmother started as a deal with my grandfather before they were married. If she finished the table cloth, he would get her a dining table she wanted. Well she got the table but the tablecloth never got finished. The pattern shows some crochet between the circles and there were some circles in the box that were not attached to anything.
This is the second of five skeins of Bluefaced Leicester for the handspun shawl that I am planning. I love the rich browns and green highlights in this skein. I think it spun up very nice; I like the color distribution I got. The roving is from the same dyer and was very nice to handle.
I've been trying to decide what shawl to knit. I've seen several nice versions of the 
I'm also continuing to work on my little Silk Garden jacket. I hap a slight mishap. I knitted the marker right into the jacket! I just need to go out to the garage and find the wire cutters to extract it! I thought about unknitting the rows I need to get to the marker. In the end, I decided that just cutting it out and remaking the marker will be much quicker.
I'm also looking ahead to my next spinning project and I think I 'm going to try spinning from a fiber batt this time. All of my spinning up until this point has been from combed top or rovings, but the fiber above is in batt form. I haven't figured out quite how I want to divide them up to start spinning. These batts are from 
I've been editing and reorganizing the posessions in our house to get rid of things we don't use or need. Anything that is nice enough gets donated and the rest gets pitched. I'll eventually be going through all my craft supplies and yarn stash too. Now, I'm not getting rid of all my yarn or even a lot if it, but I don't thing I need a three drawer trolley filled with rubber stamps.
So I've decided that might as well start with the yarn in this basket since I want the basket for something else. There is no need to put this yarn in a storage container and put it into a closet. Decisions will be made today! Some of the yarn will be purged, a couple things might go back into the stash, and some of the yarn will be put into a bag and put beside my knitting chair to be knit up into baby hats.
BFL is a longwool English breed that had a fiber staple length of about 3-6 inches. I think that length is part of what makes it a nice wool for beginners to use for spinning. I did a little reading and found out that the blue face comes from their bluish black skin covered with white hair. They have no wool on their head and neck. An entire fleece will typically weight 3 to 6 lbs., with a fiber diameter of 56s – 60s count, or 24-28 microns, creating high quality luster yarns with beautiful drape.
I do have plans for this yarn already. This skein is destined to be part of a shawl. I have several colors of the BFL that seem to coordinate very well so I am thinking of putting them together into a feather and fan comfort shawl. I've got five colors I think will work - but I need to get them all spun up to make sure. I've also got to be able to spin each skein to a somewhat consistent thickness. I'm really excited about the idea of an actual project out of my own handspun.
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