Special Requests

I love knitting.  It has always been my sanctuary, someplace I can slip away to one stitch at a time.  For this reason I try to stay away from obligatory knitting (read: no holiday knitting).  Nothing harshes my knitting mellow more than knitting something that doesn't inspire me and has a deadline.  I am very happy to make things for friends and family as long as I get to make it on my time schedule.  Sound selfish?  Maybe, but it keeps knitting fun for me.  Plus, I prefer to think happy loving thoughts about my loved one with every stitch rather than think about how much I would rather be knitting something else. 

Every rule has an exception.  When one's 90 year-old grandmother requests a handknit garment, it is best to get to work right away.  She saw me wearing a shawl and admired it.  It was a chilly day and we were out and about so I lent it to her for the day.  It was just the thing to keep her warm on a blustry day.

Blue is her color.  I have been lusting after some black Blue Faced Leicester I indigo dyed.  This was the perfect project.

Six ounces of black Blue Faced Leicester in the Indigo colorway yielding about 380 yards of 2-ply. I spun it modified long-draw.  The singles were about 24 wpi; the 2-ply yarn is 15 wpi before washing.  I spun the singles with moderate twist and plied with a bit more twist to make a squishy yarn. 

I love how the yarn has depth and color texure.  Dyeing over colored wools is so satisfying.  I can't wait for the yarn to dry so I can start knitting it.  Do you think it will dry faster if I check on it more often?  We celebrate her 91st birthday in less than 2 weeks.  It would be wonderful to have it done by then.  I better go check and see if it is dry yet.

In my last post I showed you the yellow and red fiber from my Happy Accidents dyeing.  Here is is spun up with a few friends.

Orange: 15.5 micron Merino

Red: Alpaca-Merino-Tussah Silk blend

Purple: Targhee (love how springy it is!)

Tannish: fawn Alpaca-Tussah Silk dyed similarly to the orange only less saturated.

All are chain plied and about a DK weight. I am thinking of making some sort of modular knit.  A scarf or shawl maybe.  The idea is still perculating.  More yarn will be required for anything other than the smallest of scarves.  I'm thinking of yellow and maybe something dark like a natural black or dark brown.  What do you think?

Comments

[Jennie]

Wow, that blue is so gorgeous--even more gorgeous, spun up. I need to twist my plies more tightly, I think.

Lovely stuff!

[Charlene]

Wonderful to see you and your beautiful spinning/knitting back! Enjoyed reading about Rabbitch. I met her last year at our fibrefest in Olds Alberta. How's the gardening going? Pond?

[Miami refractive surgery]

I love knitting too, its my way to disconnect and feel good and also to create something nice and useful for my family and my friends. And the pleasure is bigger when my work is appreciated by others.

[Birdsong]

How did your present for Grandma turn out? I felt much the same when shopping last month with my MIL; she had never seen Noro and its long color runs, and kept pulling me over to look at something made from it, so I had to buy a skein in her favorite colors. Better to knit for someone who will really, really appreciate it!