fetching with homespun
I've decided my first plyed (or is it plied) homespun yarn wants to be fetching (from knitty last summer [link])
The pattern calls for a cast-on of 45. My yarn measures, based on wraps per inch, at worsted to heavy worsted (with some sections more like dk, it's my first hand spun yarn y'know) so I thought maybe I'd need to go smaller. I tried 40. It was too big. So I dropped to 30 and it fits, but quite snugly. But I wasn't in a mood to frog and go up to 35, so 30 it is.
I'm knitting on size 5 dpns, pretty much following the pattern except for the stitch count. I thought I would need fewer rows between the cable-y cuff and the thumb, but repeated try-ons are telling me to keep knitting. I have finished knitting the first smallish ball. I have another ball this size and a bigger ball so I'm pretty sure there is enough yarn.
A question for the spinners among you:
Part of my process for getting this yarn off of the spindle involved winding it onto my ball winder. So I have nice little cakes of yarn. After plying, the yarn is fairly balanced, so I went back and forth on whether I "need" to do the make a skein and soak and weight thing. And I wanted to knit it, so I skipped the skein-soak-weight. Is that really bad? I don't know whether "need" is a "really need to" or a "if you want to" need or a "most people do, so they think you need to". Help please. All opinions welcome.
Labels: spinning fetching
posted by Jeri at 9:59 AM
3 Comments:
I am clueless on the soak/weight question, so with you, I will await responses.
Your fetching sure is pretty. But you give me concern that I will not be able to spin 4 ozs of wool into anything resembling enough yarn for my size socks.
7/28/2007 11:30 AM
I never washed and weighted my handspun, once I stopped spinning in the grease. Spun up a bobbinful from pencil roving or a nice batt, wound it into a cake with my ballwinder, tied the two ends as one to some scrap yarn on a fresh bobbin, and plied it up. The little loop at the end was wonderful when I needed to add yarn in the middle of a knitting project; I just tucked the new raw end through it and kept going, knitting in that little tag on the next round.
7/28/2007 9:10 PM
Just catching up. Your Fetching is gorgeous! I can't wait to see them completed. FWIW, my daughter's Fetchings are a little snug. (I went down a needle size to make them smaller. With the larger needle, they were huge! Even I couldn't wear them!) She loves them though and found that they loosened up a bit with wear.
I'm not a spinner, but I heard that the soak, etc. was to set the plies of the yarn. (I've read lots about it but am continuing in my firm belief that I. DO. NOT. need. another. hobby! (Of course, with you spinning such lovely yarn, this resistance may break down fast.)
7/29/2007 8:46 AM
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