Multicolor tops all spun up and a sitting cat watching soccer

I've been accumulating pictures in my digital camera and finally, today, I put them where they belong: here!

First, while I was watching the World Cup two weekends ago, I spun up this multicolor merino top I dyed some crazy colors.



My husband and I kind of like the color combo even though it's really bright. Anyway, I left this as singles because I wanted to try out the energized singles scarf I saw in the Spring issue of Spin Off. But since the big move I haven't been able to find a lot of things, including this magazine. So, I made it up from memory. But with all things vaguely thought out and planned, the scarf pattern didn't turn out quite as I had envisioned. I still like the way it though. It looks and feels autumn-cozy.



Last weekend I decided that it was about time that I started doing something with the multicolor merino top I bought at WEBS in the fall of last year. So again, while watching the Cup, I spun it. Hey look who was sitting up and watching the tele with me!


(he's rooting for Brazil)

I want to make a quick lacy scarf with the wool (which, by the way, is Ashland Bay Sandalwood). So I made 2-ply yarn, heavy fingering, at ~350 yds for 100 gr.


and below is a close up:


It's fun to watch soccer while spinning. One thing lab work has taught me is to multitask. I try not to look at my hands and wool and just get a feel for the twist and the yarn that's being spun up. That way I get to see all that's going on in the game AND practice spinning by feel. It's very Zen (the spinning, that is, NOT the soccer--the latter is very stressful sometimes).

Moorit merino doily

I decided to use my sample skein of that pretty moorit merino fleece on a small project; a lace doily. I got the pattern from A Gathering of Lace book. I wanted to make sure I was spinning the correct weight for (eventually) a lace shawl.



This exercise was actually very useful since I now know that I want to spin a little thinner yarn for the shawl and add a bit more twist to it. The yarn above is probably at the borderline between lace and fingering weight. Anyway, the doily was a quick and fun way to learn some more about spinning and how homespun knits up. I also wanted to see how this specific moorit color would look as a lacy product. I like the colors even more now!

Another thing I did some time ago was to knit up the multicolor merino/mohair (50/50) yarn. I made a sock. Sorry about the bad lighting in the pictures...





The yarn is kind of irregular. I was sort of careless about spinning it (actually, I was in a hurry to get it done in time to catch a plane!). I think 50% mohair might be a little too much for my taste. But the sock is nice and shiny from it. I still have to make the other sock, though I must confess that I don't really feel very excited about that.

Merino multicolor top and mohair

Today I took a little break from work and visited the Mind's Eye Yarns shop for the first time. They are having a 25% off anniversary sale and I bought four ounces each of these:
from left to right: multicolor merino top in Hollyberry, hand dyed mohair, and multicolor merino top in Cassis.

I didn't know what I wanted to do with these when I bought them. I just really liked the colors. I remember seeing the multicolor tops at the sheep and wool festivals but was too distracted by the fleeces to take the time to look at processed fibers. Anyway, I am going to make socks out of the Hollyberry and hand dyed mohair. In fact, I spun about 25 gr of each and plied them together. The yarn is now soaking in hot water in my bathroom sink. I took a picture of the pre-plied yarn, but alas, it is night time and no sun shine lights up my yarn, just ugly yellow incandescent light.



Oh btw, the pattern for my brother's sweater is from Wendy designs: His and Hers Guernsey Style Sweaters. I used a little less than 2 lbs of roving, worsted spun, 2-ply at 12 wpi, and size 6 Addi turbo needles for a medium-large sweater.