WIP Wednesday – 07/13/2023

WIP Wednesday (for “Work In Progress”) is a meme where we share our current fibery projects. It was started by Nicole @ Book-Wyrm-Knits, who also reviews books at book-wyrm-reads. 

I know I’m a day late posting these, but it’s been so long since I did a WIP Wednesday post that I decided not to wait until next week.

Spinning

Beneath the Willows art yarn: Last Sunday, I took an online class on making art yarn with eco-friendly materials, taught by artist Gigi Matthews. Inspired by the class, I pulled out my bins of fiber and some scraps of yarn and fabric I have been saving, set up my blending board, and created a series of batts (fiber blended and layered) using a deep willow green merino top and an undyed BFL (Blue Faced Leicester, a type of sheep) humbug roving as the base. I added in bits of white silk top, undyed white wool of indeterminate origin, a few small strips of bright green merino, and yarn and fabric scraps in browns and greens. The colors reminded me of sunlight through the branches of the weeping willows I played beneath as a child; hence the name “Beneath the Willows.” I spun the artbatts up on Sunday, but I didn’t feel like it was finished yet. So on Tuesday, I made up and spun another batt or two; this time I included some brown mystery wool to simulate bark. (Photo #1 is from Monday; Photo #2 is from Wednesday, after the additional batts had been added to what was in photo #1.)

The next step is to ply this with a fine thread, to give it a bit more strength and texture. I’m going to try a fine white crochet thread and see how it looks. If I’m not happy with that, I’ll have to order some brown or deep green upholstery thread, or a laceweight yarn. I want something thin and not too noticeable, but it needs to be strong so it doesn’t break.

I am also spinning two traditional yarns. Both will probably be 2-ply yarns. I’m calling the teal-and-black yarn Geode (above), and the purple yarn Blackberry Jam (below.) I’m a bit farther along on Blackberry Jam than this photo shows, but the later photo isn’t true to the colors, so I posted this one.

And here’s the unspun wool I’m working with. I changed the name of the colorway in both cases. Geode was called “G*psy Fortune,” which is not a term I am comfortable using. It’s a blend of mohair and wool (of unidentified breed.) “Methods of Destruction” just seems too negative for such a pretty range of purple hues. The fiber is BFL (Blue Faced Leicester), and it’s soft and luscious.

Knitting

I have been knitting hats for EmpowerHouse, a local shelter and provider of services for victims of domestic abuse. Our fiber guild donated over 100 hats last November, so I decided I would get a jump on making them this year. This is hat #7 (in progress) for the year so far. (Or maybe #9? I think I have two others that used a different pattern.) The pattern is called “Basic Beginner Hats for the Family,” by Vanessa Kelly. It’s’re fast and easy, very good for knitting while watching TV.

My Bijou socks project hasn’t gotten much attention since I came home from New Mexico in May, but I’ll get back to them soon. The first sock is finished, except for closing the toe with Kitchener stitch. The colors are a little more subdued and have more depth than this photo conveys. The yarn is Wisdom Yarns Saki Bamboo, in the “Bidju” (Bijou) colorway.

Links:

NOTE: I understand that Ravelry’s site redesign continues to cause some users to experience significant visual discomfort and in a few cases even seizures. As far as I know, Ravelry has still not fully addressed the harm done to users, though they do now offer an option using softer colors and less contrast. (To minimize the risk, set your Ravelry settings to “reduce motion” and “freeze animations,” and choose the “Herdwick” light setting.) I will continue to clearly label all Ravelry links and provide alternate links when possible.

• Project: Beneath the Willows art yarn (links to my Ravelry project page)
• Project: Geode yarn (links to my Ravelry project page)
• Project: EmpowerHouse Beanies (links to my Ravelry project page). PATTERN: Basic Beginner Hats for the Family (available on Ravelry), by Vanessa Kelly. Ms. Kelly’s website is Cape May Fiber, where she sells yarns and patterns. This hat pattern is not sold on her website, and is only available through Ravelry.
• Project: Bijou Socks (links to my Ravelry project page.) PATTERN: 8 Stitches Per Inch sock recipe (Ravelry page) by Ann Budd, published in her book, Getting Started Knitting Socks (Goodreads link.)

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