Hi Knitters,The Knit Girllls are having a spinalong/knitalong on their Ravelry group that I joined. Cloudlover Yarns is the maker of the roving or yarn that was sent out to the knitters joining in. I love her stuff so much. This colorway is called the Haunted Vineyard. What a great colorway name. To join in you could either get the yarn or the roving to spin. Then The Knit Girllls pick a wide range of projects that you can make for the knitting of the Cloudlover yarn or roving.
The roving was so beautiful and I really wanted to try a different spinning technique this time. I ran across this post by Jillian on the Knitty Blog about a technique called the double marl. I ended up doing the double marl spinning technique on my Haunted Vineyard roving.
Along with this new technique I wanted to try to spin a bulkier yarn. I switched the whorl on my wheel to the largest size to create a heavier weight yarn. I was so pleased with the results. The double marl distributed the colors in a fantastic and interesting way and the roving was easy to prepare before spinning. Plus, it took such a small amount of time to spin up 4 ounces of fiber. Sometimes you need a quick project and this was it. I had just finished up spinning 8 ounces of fingering weight which took forever. I will share information later on this.
In the end, I got 130 yards of a yummy, squishy, chunky weight yarn. One of the patterns for the knitalong is the Thorpe hat by Kirsten Kapur (one of my favorite designers) and it happens to be free AND it happens to require 130 yards of a chunky weight yarn. How could anything work out better than that? It couldn't. I can't wait to cast on. I have all of December and January and February to complete the Thorpe hat and still be within the guidelines for the knitalong. I can easily make that.
(photo by Cloudlover)Here is what the roving looked like before spinning. Isn't it so gorgeous? Cloudlover has yummy yarns and tons of other roving choices and a fiber or yarn club. Be sure to check it all out. You will love it.
One more time:
Click here for The Knit Girllls! If you aren't watching this video podcast you should. You will be inspired.
Have a good Friday, Knitters. Into the weekend we go...
best, susie