Wednesday, October 21, 2009

How To Spin My Posy Toes Batts--Sweet Peas final



Hey! Remember this photo? It seems to have taken forever to get these socks finished. Wrapping up the outside work for the winter, getting samples ready for the October Phat Fiber Sample Box, preparing for a workshop on Textured Yarns that I'm teaching, yadda yadda. The socks are finished, washed and sitting in my sock drawer--yah!



Now for the techie stuff. This method of spinning yields a mostly-worsted yarn, which means I got more yardage out of the same weight of fiber--406 yards, to be exact. The size was the same, 16 wpi, but the yarn was less lofty and I had 158 yards remaining. The yardage used for these socks was 248, while I used 246 for the Snake Plant socks. Same pattern (You're Putting Me On socks by Judy Gibson), same needles (maybe).

So the difference in yardage can only be attributed to the spinning method. I have to say, the Snake Plant socks feel much thicker when wearing them in my Birkies! I think somewhere in the house move I switched needles? It looks to me like the left sock is thicker (US #1) while the right sock is rather wimpy and long and thin (US #2). Or perhaps my spinning changed in the 1-2 months between sessions? They feel just a little bit different when on my feet, which is a lesson on not letting your sons/friends pack and move your precious fiber and yarn!



Next up is the Caladiums batts, which will be spun in the third and final method recommended on the instruction sheet included with the batts. Since we're entering the holiday stretch here in the US, please have patience. I host all the holiday dinners here in addition to trying to keep my Etsy shop stocked. Speaking of Feistywoman Designs, I contributed to the Phat Fiber Sample Box for the first time in October--some of you who bought boxes may have already received yours! I've blended up a series of hand-pulled sock rovings especially for the holidays because, well, I just love wearing sparkle on my feet during the holidays and I thought some of you might, too! Here's the Snowdrift socks I just finished (fiber available Thursday) .....

7 comments:

FeltersJourney said...

Lovely colours - VERY pretty!
:o)
Deborah

Doris Sturm said...

Hello there - nice to hear from you again :-)

I don't understand anything about spinning, but I do love the color combination of lavender/pink/purple...my favorites!

Hope you're doing well!
I have been busy with my Pet Costume Contest on my blog. Today's the last day to enter and everyone gets a prize!

Love,
Doris and Gizzy!

WonderWhyGal said...

I loved seeing what you did on your bobbin and the final sock. It's so fun imagining the finished product. I hope to be knitting socks in the next few months and now that I'm spinning I find that I walk into the yarn shop that I walk out empty handed because the project I want has my handspun written all over it.

Thanks for sharing the difference in your socks too.

Alpaca Farmgirl said...

Beautiful! That is cool, I'm glad you shared that with us. Hope you get a great response from the box. I keep wanting to do that...

Anonymous said...

I love the socks, the spinning and the color!! Makes me want to dye something and start spinning..right now. - MaLinda

Emily said...

Oh gosh I just love handspun sock yarn! Your socks are so gorgeous, I love how the colors are random-yet-stripey. Feel free to send them to my house! ;-)

MonikaRose said...

G'day and thank you for visiting. I like the cuff myself. I do not go through front or back loop. This is single crochet, if you look at the wrong side of the stitch, just below the back stitch there is another one you pick up. Hard to explain. But if you go to Teresa's video on how to make the fingerless gloves she shows that. I will try and take picture and put on the blog. Thanks and enjoy your day. :)