When knitting attacks....

as the Knitmore Girls would say... Well, I suffered a knitting attack this week, my version of the Creekbed scarf, Caribbean Surf was going all wrong... What was I thinking... 

 stitch count was off on one end and I kept going... thinking that I could re-coop somehow, well not for long.  Yep, I frogged it...right down to the lovely white angora yarn.  Fortunately, I was able to pick up all 441 stitches and carry on.   Much better....

 I do feel good about the project now as I resume my Caribbean dream.

I like this description of "frogging" from Knitty.com:

"In the knitting world, however, frogs say "rip it, rip it." And that's the reason knitters use the term "frogging" as they merrily unravel their hours worth of knitting. Okay, it's not always a particularly fun thing to do, especially if you've found a glaring error and have to rip back something complicated like fair-isle or lace. But it can be incredibly liberating to admit that, well, this here just ain't working, while posessing the sure knowledge that you have the skill and talent to make something beautiful out of a monstrosity. "

Pygora

My spinning adventures continue with the Pygora goat.  The Pygora is a breed that originates from crossing the Pygmy and the Angora goats.   They have three distinct types of fleeces, "A" like an Angora, "B" blend like a cross between Angora and Cashmere and "C" like Cashmere.  The cloud of fiber I spun is a blend of A/B.

1 oz pygora cloud

I decided to spin this into a lace weight yarn for the "petite lace scarf" I saw in Knitting with Beads by Jane Davis.

hand-spun pygora

start of lace scarf

  Stay tuned.  This little scarf will be accented with a few beads....

Productive week for Keepsakefiber....

Yeah, it has been a fun and productive week for Keepsakefiber....

a couple of blog entries....spun a  few yarns...










finished the southdown longitudinal sock * one down, one to go*

BTW, the southdown machine washed and tumbled dried wonderfully.




Designed a sparkly yarn for the Creekbed Scarf by Stephen West.



It's been dreary here.... I dream of the warm, sunny beaches  of the Caribbean.

I did a little stash diving and came up with ....

to make this

2ply handspun, Caribbean

I will use this new yarn (Caribbean) with my handspun white angora  (Jasmine) and two commercial yarns.  Using the paint tool on my pc, I planned the color scheme....

 The yarns are ordered and I should be able to begin knitting my version of the Creekbed scarf (Caribbean Surf) next week.   

Southdown Longitudinal Socks

Southdown is the breed of sheep that other Down breeds were developed from.   The names comes from the South Downs, an area along the English Channel.  This breed was primarily raised for meat.  Over time breeders began improving the Southdown's bloodlines to increase it size and for fleece.  It is primarily a white sheep.  However, there are some colored Southdowns.

Down wool is springy, with great elasticity and strength, making it an excellent choice for hard wearing items. That's all I needed to read about this breed to come up with this project.   

I just finished knitting a pair of longitudinal socks.  I enjoyed the construction technique...a magic cast on and knit flat.  An easy knit.  However, I wasn't fond of the how the yarn I used responded to this makeup.  It sagged... I want my socks to hug my foot.  

So,

I took a little Southdown  roving - 

and a little MerinoTencel - 

splitting the roving into strips to make long stripes.   I spun singles and then made a two ply yarn.  

and the socks are under way.... 

 I'll model them when finished.  Perhaps, the photo will be better too... the striping is there...