Friday, April 25, 2008

Handspun Friday - Portobella

Another fiber spun up; and this one is from Fat Cat Knits. I love her fibers. She does a great job dying and picking colors. If you are in the market for hand dyed spinning fibers or yarn, check out her shop.

This time I started with two 4 oz braids of combed top this time. So far I've mostly spun up 3-4 ounce chunks at a time and I think that amount is good and a nice way to try out new fibers. But I'm starting to wonder what I'm going to do with all these single skeins of handspun yarn. I've got to get better at coordinating my choices of these small fiber purchases. Or, I can go ahead and start buying fiber in larger quantities.

This time I ended up with two skeins about about 400 yards. I think I can get a nice sized scarf or a hat and mittens set with this yardage. I love the softness of the merino. It was very nice to work with and I'd pick it again anytime. I have the skeins sitting on the little table next to the chair I use for spinning and everyone in a while I pick them up and give them a quick squeeze.


Geddesburg Handspun Yarn
Content:
Merino
Fiber Source: Fat Cat Knits
Weight: 4 ounces each / 8 ounces total
Fiber Preparation: hand dyed combed top
Yardage: skein one - 204 yards; skein two - 210 yards; 414 total yardage
Spinning Style: worsted / long draw
Spinning Ratio: 10 to 1
Plying Ratio: 9 to 1
WPI: 9-10
Other Details: 2-ply, hand wash, air dry

13 comments:

Monika said...

I like her fiber too, but the delivery takes so long, but I guess that's because of the border. The roving looks a lot lighter than the finished yarn, which is once again - beautiful! How far you've come in just the short time you've been spinning!

Lauren said...

Your spun up yarn looks really than it did in the braid, I love it!

Anonymous said...

I love the look of the combed top. I really like the yarn too but the top is so yummy the way you have it set up to photograph it.
PS Those lambs are so so cute!!!

Lazuli said...

Beautiful! Both the yarn and the top, which looks to me like scoops of luscious edible ice cream... or gelato. Mmm. I would say go for the larger amounts, except I've been spinning up 12 oz. really, really thin for the last - who knows how long. I have 4 oz. left and I want to finish it all already so I can three ply and get back to smaller amounts of fiber!

Unknown said...

Another hit! Why not buy larger quantities? I can't quite get over how quickly spinning goes; I imagine it's faster on a wheel.

Thanks for the good advice: drafting, not holding too tightly, and remembering not to attempt to draft after the roving is partially spun will be challenging for me. Is there a spinning equivalent of frogging?!!? I have let thicker sections "unspin" but it doesn't look so hot.

Thanks for your great fiber sources :)

Anonymous said...

That's just gorgeous!

We have the same problem. I'm hoping that at some point, I'll have enough coordinating smallish handspun skeins to make a large project - like a blanket! I may run out of room in my house first, though...

Deb said...

Love the colors in that. I haven't spun in a while. Husband is out of thown this weekend so maybe I can steal some time away....

bockstark.knits said...

wow, that's gorgeous!!! it's interesting that in the roving i see lots of greens, but in the finished yarn i see more purples! you can always make small things - hats, mittens, fingerless gloves, etc. or you can just send them my way. ;)

IrishGirlieKnits said...

I love those colors! Gorgeous! Great job, again!

gilraen said...

This is my favourite so far!!! I love it :)

It is all Amethyst and Gold :)

Georgeous :D

Anonymous said...

So pretty!

Batty said...

I love purples and browns together. So pretty!

The Kelly Green Rogue said...

that looks good enough to eat!