The Wheel Goes 'Round & 'Round

 

•  I've been taking advantage of this winter's recent inclemency by sitting near the wood stove with my spinning wheel. Last week I spun up this hand-painted BFL top in Lord of the Mountain colorway I bought at last year's Black Sheep Gathering from Crown Mountain. I love, love, love Crown Mountain fibers. The hanks are soft and a joy to spin, barely needing pre-drafting. Each bump of fiber is like a mini-painted masterpiece. I wanted to stretch this top to make as much yarn as I could from it, so I spun it up in a fine singles (fine as I can make, anyway!) using the top as-is (no splitting or dividing). 

 I delved into my substantial stash of naturally dyed fiber (all of those experiments add up!) and pulled these, which somewhat matched the colors in the Crown Mountain top. I spun a singles using long stretches of each color, one after the other, hoping to create a yarn that will have some subtle striping when knit up.

I love how the finished yarn looks. I find that "barber pole" yarn is a beautiful object in itself. As far as knitting it up, it tends to give a tweedy appearance, blending the colors even more. Next time I'll try to spin my singles even thinner, and go for a triple chain-ply, which will keep the colors rather more separated.

My plan for this yarn is to knit a tradition Danish tie-shawl. I've been wanting to make one for ages; I'm attracted to the way the shawl wraps around and ties at the waist, making it practical (& cozy!) for daily use when working around the house. 

I'll be adding in some stripes with this charcoal grey recycled yarn. I've got a huge hankerin' to cast on NOW, but I'm trying to hold off until I make more progress on a top-down sweater I'm working on (my first full-on sweater!). It's been so chilly this winter, that I've been mighty inspired to knit up plenty of warm coziness. I just hope I get them finished in time to give them a bit of wear before the cold weather leaves!