More Spinning!

Just checking in, still super-busy as I try to figure out the best times to take pictures of my stuff and then blog about it. I've been saving up photos for about a week now! I finished washing the bulky singles spun from Girl on the Rocks falkland wool in the Regulus colorway.



I've got about 200 yards... which is somehow WAY more than I expected, even though this was a larger top, about 4.6 ounces. It's super-squishy, though, and I love it. I've been sitting on two tops from the Sanguine Gryphon (caught in a Loopy Ewe update), and thinking what I wanted to knit with them and how I wanted the yarn to look. I've been trying to get sock-weight yarn a lot recently, and I think now I'm going to move back to loftier, fluffier yarns. I had an idea to do a super-low twist singles, and then ply with black sewing thread. It took me a few days for the idea to settle in and also to find my sewing kit. Here's the results:



Sweet! It came out almost exactly as I imagined. This was definitely inspired by some yarn I found on Ravelry (handspun fiber from Hello Yarn in the Maldives colorway). I love how the colors of the top are preserved in this yarn. It will make the softest, most scrumptious scarf ever. And maybe some fingerless mitts to match, depending on the yardage. Those are size 9 needles in the picture, and I just used regular old black sewing thread. I'm trying to decide if I want to go pick up a bobbin of higher quality thread before I start spinning the yarn for real... I guess we'll see how busy I get!

Finally, I cast on my yak yarn for the Bronte's Mitts. I've been slowly plodding along on the Honeybee stole and Pomatomus socks, and I wanted a quick knit like no one's business. These went REALLY fast! Here's where I'm at right now:



And here's what the finished one looks like on my hand:



I'm thinking I'll finish them tonight, and have them all blocked and ready by the weekend. They're very soft and extremely light. The yak was a very good choice for this type of project. And the best part? I'll definitely have some yarn left over. I might be able to squeeze another smaller pair of wrist warmers or something out of my skein.

The effect of the fractal striping got a bit lost due to the cochineal making friends with the rest of the light-colored parts of the yarn, and on the whole they're much pinker in color than I expected. But I cannot get over how soft this yak fiber is! I've even started marking the Etsy shops of folks that stock yak fiber, either in lock or top form. I would love to work with this stuff again, especially in the winter when it's nice and cold. A cowl out of yak would be divine!