April 18, 2012

handspun handknit

Finished, blocked and on my shoulders at this moment, my very first handspun handknit is done. It's a peculiar feeling, this making first the yarn and then the knitted up item thing. It feels (as silly as it sounds) almost miraculous. It was a braid of wool and now it's a shawl.
The wool and silk combination is light and airy and feels worn in already, nice and soft and cuddly. To be totally honest, I don't love the pattern. The lace wasn't interesting enough to be fun but was not simple enough to be mindless and easy. I should have followed the chart instead of the written directions, which is how I have to do cables (so I should have known better). Lesson learned.
I'm spinning up some boy yarn right now, full of browns and blues and greens. Hopefully it will yield enough to make a pair of trollish socks for the smaller boy feet in my life (I'm not sure I could spin enough to knit socks for Will's ginormous feet!) And in a few weeks I'm heading to the Maryland Wool Festival for the day where I fully intend to load up on fiber, try out as many wheels as I can get my hands on, and generally have a good old time amongst people who don't find the fact that I can't leave the house without some form of knitting or spinning in my bag odd at all.