Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Is this what you pictured?

Is this what you It is slightly greener than what I had wanted.  I still need to felt it and form it but it is almost done!  I will have a wool hat made from the first wool that I spun and made my own yarn.  Dale picks on me that I don't finish many of my projects.  All that this one needs is to be washed (felted) and it will be done!
Trisha models hat!
The yarn that I made ended up making 3.4 ounces of yarn. (I am going to walk through this a little bit backwards.)  I ended up knitting two threads together.  The two-ply that I made was thick enough.  That was not the issue.  The issue was .........
Knitting two threads together
My winter jackets are usually either green or blue so I wanted to create a hat that could be worn with either on. But anytime that you dye with homemade colors, you need to be willing to go with the flow.  These three sections all looked about the same.  1/3 plain, 1/3 green and 1/3 blue.  
Coloring yarn blue and green
The largest of the three rounds of yarn didn't color correctly.  The blue lifted and left a purple and blue combination (more purple than blue).  So that I would not have a blue chunk and a purple chunk, I knitted two threads together. Luckily, the small and medium rounds of yarn was very close to equaling the large round.  The purple then blended in nicely with the blue and green.  But it did leave me feeling a little bit of green remorse.  I was hoping that the blue would stand out more.
Where is the blue?
As I knit with my hand spun yarn, I couldn't help thinking.  WOW, I made this yarn.  I can't believe that this is my creation from beginning to end.  I spun it, plied it and dyed it!  I want to do some more!
Hand spun yarn
The two balls of roving (un-spun wool) created 3.4 ounces of finished thread  There was slightly more variegated yarn than the white single ply yarn.  So I will have a little bit of single ply available for use on a future project.
Finished plying the yarn
I was dedicated to the goal, I even carried the lazy Kate in my carry on bag and worked on plying the yarn while waiting for the plane and even when I am on the plane.
Lazy Kate worked well on the plane
I am sure that I will buy real bobbins for my spinning wheel when I get it.  But for now, I used the inexpensive homemade bobbins with leftover plumbing material.  "Think outside the box!"  
Home-made bobbin

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