Mt. Tango Targhee

8 oz of Top from MT. Colors

Spun 2-ply

Grafting the 2 ends in the middle
Blocking
Another FO!

Spinner/Knitter: Rebecca

Fiber: Mt. Colors Targhee in the Mountain Tango colorway. Fiber purchased from Woodland Wool Works in June 2006 and spun during 4 days in November, 2006. I came out with about 600 yards of maybe DK weight ~ I forgot to check wpi.
Knitting: Began on December 5th, 2007 and finished December 13th, 2007. The pattern is my own. I took the Lilly of the Valley from Barbara Walker and began two pieces on the same 32" 5mm needle, thus ensuring the two ends have the scallop that I love. I used the bobble only through the first three repeats and then left it out as it uses a lot of yarn and who really likes being slowed down by bobbles anyway? When I was almost out of yarn, I kitchenered my two halves together and waa-la! Wrap!

Snow Day

January 28th, 2008
Does it get any better than this?
No, not if you're in Seattle.

Wild West Shawl

Blocking

Closeup of bison and hoofprint

Draped nicely on Evanne

Knitter: Peggy
Fiber and Needle: Paternayan Crewel Wool on size US #6 needle.
Pattern: Wild West Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark, available on her website.
Project Notes: Using SRY* is always smugly satisfying. I had a big cone of the Paternayan which I used to bulk up some Jamiesons Sport Weight Tweed for my Braids Cardigan. I used three #8 seed beads at each point of the cast-off edge. Knitting began sometime in December, it took about three weeks and I finished before the end of 2007. The original version is larger, but this size makes the perfect scarf. I loved this pattern. Each section had a different graph which made it fun and kept my interest. I would definitely recommend the Wild West Lace Shawl pattern to beginning & intermediate lace knitters who like a challenge. Next time I knit it (and it will be soon), I'll use a warm, soft 'hairy' handspun yarn -- maybe some fine wool fiber with alpaca or yak or angora blended in. I have all of those just waiting for my spinning wheel to free itself from the current spinning project.

Note-to-self: Next project with Paternayan Crewel, use a larger needle. Maybe a #8.

*Stash Reduction Yarn

Yarn Search in Progress

Edited on 021208:

THANKS EVERYONE FOR SEARCHING
YOUR STASHES FOR THIS YARN.
WE FOUND IT ON (WAIT FOR IT...)
EBAY! Michale is extremely happy.
Now she can make a sock monkey sweater of her own.
Top Down, of course.

This falls under that wily category:
"Why didn't I think of this sooner?"

DOH!

See this sweater?
(not the little red monkey suit, the Sock Monkey Sweater!)

See this yarn?
It's Rowan DK Marl ~ Shade 822 Buttermint.
(The lot # doesn't matter as long as it's all one lot.)
I need more. I need 10 skeins more.
Help. Thanks!

This yarn is discontinued, has been for years. If you have some you don't want any longer please let me know. My friend Michale must have a Sock Monkey sweater and I told her I'd do what I can to help her find some yarn like mine. (She's buying, btw.) We've tried the usual searches, including ebay. No luck yet but we have our feelers out! Any leads are appreciated.

Artful Ewe Green Shetland

Roving and Singles
3 hanks of 2-ply

Spinner: Rebecca
Fiber: 100% Shetland, hand-dyed by and purchased from Heidi Parra of The Artful Ewe in Port Gamble, Washington. Heidi also has a blog, which has wonderful photos of her shop.
Results: Spinning began November 6th, 2007 and ended on November 18th, 2007 with 1600 yards of 18-20 wpi 2-ply. I'm stumped for a project to knit with it because that's a lot of yarn. It is probably the best spinning I've done and I owe it to the fiber, which was wonderful to spin. If you have the chance to get hand-dyed Shetland from Heidi, go for it. You won't be sorry. Hey! She's going to be vending at Madrona again this year! You could get some there, or you could stop in at her shop on the weekends, which is when she's open. Or you could just call her and find out what colors she has right now.

Targhee Drenched in Red

Targhee fiber ~ some good combed top.
One pound, white This 'domestic' targhee is called
"Mountain Top" and came from here
and is also available locally (Seattle)
at Village Yarn and Tea.

Then dye it.

In the light-to-medium parts the dye diluted
and the really dark bits are deeply saturated color.
I used Jacquard Dye in 4 different reds:
Crimson, Burgundy, Scarlet and Fire Red.

Dabbing the dry dye onto dry fiber with a damp chopstick and then submerging in water and a little vinager and heating, the process is more time consuming than difficult, although it's nice to have a guide the first time through. My guide this trip was Sandi, who is famous around Seattle for her hand dyed/hand spun merino. Sadly, Sandi has no website. Happily, we like it this way because if she did, none of us would get any ~ she wouldn't be able keep up with the demand. Bonus: she's happy to share her knowledge!

Spin
4 spools of singles
Ply
2-ply ~ it looks way pink!
4 Hanks
of
"Stabbed in the Heart Red"

Dyer/Spinner: Rebecca
Project Notes:
We left Seattle on June 21st, 2007 for the annual Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon, which began the next day. I acquired this fiber on June 23rd, 2007, dyed it in November at the Friday Knitters Dye Day, began spinning on November 22nd, 2007 and finished plying on January 1, 2008. Interested to see how far a pound would go, I'm very happy with the pre-washed yardage of 1550 in 4 hanks. It's about 13-15 wpi, 2-ply. It fluffed up with washing, is very sproingy and no doubt has less length now that it's dry ~ I'll have to measure again before a knitting project is chosen.