Fiber Fridays/ Handmade Holidays #5

I finished my very first knitting project last weekend, and it's destined to be a Christmas gift. I hope it will be cherished for years to come, despite some inconsistencies and a clear growth of technique from on end to another. It sure is soft! I used some of the first handspun for this project and have been repeatedly tempted to just keep it for myself. I can't wait until after Christmas when i can start spinning and knitting for myself!

How are your handmade holiday gift projects coming along? Will you be finished in time?

Fiber Fridays: My First Knit Hat!

I'm totally excited that i finally finished my very first knit hat. I have suitably called it "The Hat of Many Mistakes" and have learned a heck of a lot about knitting from start to finish of this little project. I cannot count the hours it took me to finish this hat and i did not follow a pattern as i am still unable to decipher the jibberish that are knitting patterns. I do know, however that i am super proud of my feat: i spun the yarn with colors chosen specifically for my husband, i spun the color pattern specifically chosen for the hat, and i struggled my way from band to point - and it even fits!

Yes, it looks like a Hershey's Kiss, but it's warm and i think he likes it. What more can you ask?? I think it will look a bit more even after I wash it, but it will always bear plenty of little quirks and 'mistakes' that will make it even more well loved as the years pass: as my very first knit hat.

Do you love the foibles of a "first?"

Fiber Friday: Knitting in Progress

I am an absolute beginner knitter. At first i found it INCREDIBLY frustrating, but i persevered. I find casting on delightful, and the stockinette stitch makes me squeal with delight. I never thought i could possibly learn this two-needles-at-a-time skill, but i have and i'm loving it!

My very first hat project, without a pattern, destined for either the hubs or the step-daddy. That's my handspun, by the way :)

I can't really express how rewarding it is to spin yarn and then turn it into a cozy garment for someone I love, or myself. It's pretty darned rewarding, that's all i can say. I still mess up and drive myself crazy, but i feel it's only a matter of time before i'm busting out sweaters and mittens and socks and scarves and leg warmers and......

Fiber Friday: Projects

A while back i attempted to create some evenly striped yarn which turned out not even at all.

I loved it. This pattern is now my new thing: sometimes the colors are plied together, sometimes they're 'barber poled' and sometimes they're transitioning. It looks awesome. I'm going with it.  I spun another skein of some grey/lavender fiber and am working on more combinations in different types of wool. It looks beautiful in a skein, but i've just started my first hat to see if it looks as cool crocheted into something as it does curled up by itself.

Skein before washing

I learned 2 new crochet stitches last weekend: front post double crochet (fpdc) and back post double crochet (bpdc) which i'll be adding to my normal basic hat "pattern" to create (i hope) some textured stripes around the bottom like an old school ski hat.

Same skein after washing: see how bouncy and smooth it got?

Check back next friday to see the finished hat. I hope it looks nice, and i hope i have enough yarn! I have a hard time telling exactly how much yardage i have (my count is mostly an estimate), but mostly i don't really know how many yards my average hats require. All part of the learning process!

What's your favorite hat pattern like? Do you follow a written pattern, or just crochet in the round until it resembles a head covering?

Spinning a Yarn!

Clementine and I have been productive lately! Spinning singles, plying doubles, cleaning and skeining, I've even been experimentally crocheting (secret Christmas presents) with great success! Now, I just need to learn how to accurately measure my skeins so that I know how many yards are there... and to properly plan projects so that i know what to do with what.

My very first ball of plied handspun - spun and plied on a spindle

Increased productivity!

My first wheel-plied yarn, still unwashed and on the niddy noddy. Washing brings out the beauty and softness!

All washed and evened out. So bouncy and soft!

  Pretty, ay? Not bad for my first month on a wheel! I think i'm a natural. Hee hee. Lots of room for improvement, though. I can't wait for my first, almost totally evenly spun and plied skein. For now, i'm rocking the hand spun look of handspun, with some thick and thin action.

I'm not sure what critter this creamy white fiber came from. I procured a lot of nice fiber for a lady out in Henly, TX before I moved, and not all was labelled. It was nice to spin, and is very bouncy and mostly soft. I spun a bobbin full of singles, so i ended up with a bobbin and a half or so of plied yarn with a length of singles left over to add to something else. I have a feeling i'll have a lot of 'bits and pieces left over' to work with from now on. This skein is about 4.5 ounces and the other is a little less. I may dye one of them if one of my nice spinning friends hosts a dye day, hint hint hint. Or, i might try the koolaid method - i just prefer natural looking colors so i may just leave it as is.

What do you think, knitters and crocheters? Would you like working with this yarn, or is it still too lumpy and uneven for your tastes?

This post is part of the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop!