In Which the Pirate Skeins and Washes.

I finished* spinning eight ounces of superwash Targhee in the “Invincible” colourway from Hipstrings, and finally got around to skeining and washing it. (“Finished” meaning there are remnants of singles on several bobbins that, if redistributed and plied, would be a decent mini-skein of yarn. So technically it’s not totally finished, but… it’s finished.)

I’d been going for a fingering weight yarn that isn’t too dense, and… I seem to have succeeded. I came out with over 850 (!!) yards of three-ply yarn, as recorded on my new yarn counter from EEW‘s kickstarter last year.

Given that kind of yardage, suddenly my plan for knitting socks was shifting to a new plan for knitting a sweater. Of course I’d have to spin another eight ounces of fibre, probably in a contrasting colour to make stripes – but whatever, that’s fine. I started to swatch. On size 3 needles (3.25mm) I was getting 30 stitches/4 inches and it felt pretty loose, so I put in a row of purls to delineate the needle change and tried again on size 2 needles (2.75mm). Now I’m getting 32 stitches/4 inches, which feels better.

It’s really nice to knit with – not coarse, not twisty, not heavy and dense, not biasing – just pretty.