29 November 2020

It’s been two months.

I’ve done a lot of work, so I have some catching up to do.

Some years ago I knit this mitten out of handspun yarn in the Swedish technique of twined knitting or tvandstickning. It is knitting done with two ends, and the yarns are twined around one another after every stitch. This creates a firm double layer of fabric to make a dense warm mitten. I did the trim of of the handdyed kid mohair at the left. These two yarns got separated over the years and only recently reunited, so I selected this UFO to complete. I had to dig out the book and reacquaint myself with the pattern, but the mittens were soon finished.

I enjoyed this knitting so much that I proceeded to knit another pair out of yarn that I had dyed and spun especially for this technique. Twined knitting requires yarn that is spun in the opposite direction of the usual handspun. This blue yarn was from wool from the Vermont Shepherd dyed with acid dye.

My next UFO was to finish a pair of socks that had been sitting around for far too long. The knitting was completed, but I had to weave in many, many ends and then shrink by felting the second sock to match the size of the first.

The weaving in is done, but I have yet to do the felting which will require me to put on the sock, put my foot in a bucket of warm soapy water, and rub the sock down until it conforms to my foot. This was a kit from Knitpicks, and it knit up very large and oddly shaped. Felting is my fix.

My next UFO involves ripping out a project that I have abandoned and salvaging the yarn. The only problem is this is kid mohair which is nearly impossible to unknit. This is a careful stitch by stitch effort with the scissors close by to dislodge the clingy ends.

Tooken was my mother-in-law, and she loved pink. This project got derailed, Tooken is gone now, and I am going to salvage this beautiful yarn for another project. I have made progress in the undoing, but a lot more to go.

I spun up a skein of handdyed corriedale singles yarn.

I finished my knit linen tank…

I tied on another warp for more Washington Hotel fabric. This warp is a 12/2 Durene (mercerized cotton) with a 10/2 cotton background weft in avocado. The pattern weft is a variegated handspun silk.

I wove off seven yards of this fabric and wet finished and pressed it.

I carded two batches of wool for spinning.

I warped up and wove four cottolin towels on my Macomber loom.

I put an 8/2 red warp on the Harrisville loom and wove two overshot table toppers.

I put a 2.2 cotton softball warp on the loom and wove up seven yards of this twill:

I have been tieing together thrums (warp ends) to use as weft in a zanshi cloth. I have two big balls, and I am winding a dark brown 12/2 Durene warp for that project.

I have been knitting Scrappy Hats out of leftover commercial wools for the homeless for Christmas. Here is my first hat. I am currently knitting my fifth.

And I put on a small warp for Birdseye mug rugs which have been fun to weave.

I finished spinning one of those batches of carded wool this morning.

I don’t know what this wool is, and it wasn’t especially enjoyable to spin, but it has made a surprisingly pleasing yarn in the end. I’ll get that washed up soon.

I really shouldn’t wait so long to blog next time… I blame my mania on the election. We’ll see what this month brings