In Which the Pirate Finally Finishes a Spinning Project.

It’s taken a concentrated effort, but over the weekend I finally finished the combospin that I started for last year’s Tour de France. It’s all spun up, plied, and skeined off – The Woolee Winder on the Sonata makes plying so much faster and easier! I ended up with roughly 700 yards of three-ply yarn from two pounds of a variety of fibre. I’m sure it will poof up and lose some yardage once it’s washed, which I’ll do later today.

Now the question is, what to do with it? My original plan was to spin for a sweater, but I don’t think I have enough yardage to make that work. Probably I should have gone for a two-ply rather than three, if I wanted sweater yardage. And, if I’m being honest, I’m not 100% thrilled with the overall colour. I put the yellow in for a pop, thinking it would be too dull without it… but it’s too much contrast, too much of a barber-pole effect.

Maybe I’ll like it better once it’s knit up? I’m considering making some treadle covers for the spinning wheels. I often spin barefoot, and wouldn’t that be nice and soft and squishy!

Meanwhile, I started knitting toe-up socks from a different handspun yarn, this chain-plied merino that I spun a few years ago. First I tried knitting on US 2 (2.75mm) needles, which gave me a fabric that was slightly too loose. Then I switched to US 1 (2.25 mm), and I’m getting a very firm and stiff sock… but that’s okay, these will be hiking/boot socks. And since the yarn isn’t superwash, I expect it to get softer and stretchier with wear and time.

Because they’re so firm, though, I’m trying a new kind of heel. I started working increases about an inch and a half before where the heel should start to make a small gusset, and then more increases will get worked into the short-row heel wedges. This should be interesting at the very least, and if it doesn’t fit right… well, maybe this yarn wasn’t meant to be socks after all. I have 500 yards or so of it, so there are lots of possibilities.