Yarh Harlot Announces Date for Toronto Book Launch!
Indigo at Bay & Bloor (That’s the Manulife Centre)
Friday May 25th
7:00pm
I am so there. Any other Torontonians (or friends from out of town, perhaps?) want to join me? I will definitely be keeping an eye on her blog (& others) for more knitfun to be had that day as well.
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In other news, I’ve been doing some test-spinning.
First up we have the absolutely gorgeous, supersoft and slightly fuzzy mystery pencil roving (from KTE):
I spun it fine on the wheel (only about 1′ of roving) and plied it with the new small spindle, then knit a swatch with 2.75mm bamboo straights. I love it so very much! I contemplated dying the roving before spinning, but am inclined to go with Dru’s suggestion to not touch it since I’d have no clue what I’m doing.
Next there is some troublesome grey/brown merino roving:
I do not like how it is spinning at all. There are loads of fuzzy-bits (nepps? noils?) throughout the 1/2lb of roving, which makes it very difficult to draft: it goes too thick with lumps or pulls apart into too-fine lengths. I’ve tried both strips of roving and drafting from the fold, as well. Bizzarely, using the new little spindle supported (i.e. not dropping, just spinning on the floor like a top) I can spin a superfine single, and the fuzz-pills just seem to “fall out” of the thread, but I don’t really want to spin all this stuff that finely.
I did knit a swatch from this above single, though, and it knits up much nicer than I’d thought. It defintily displays a slant (being a single), but is cozy and soft. Should I just spin an ugly yarn and knit it, or does anyone have any advice?
Aemmeleia's Ephemera 
My wool from the Big Box o’ Wool has weird fuzzy bits too – they’re curly, like the sheep was trying out for _Annie_ or something, and carding doesn’t usually get rid of them. If I’m feeling insanely determined, I can straighten them out by hand, but mostly they just make funny bumps. Raven says it’s a “feature” of my yarn. (As in “That place where the ceiling isn’t level isn’t a mistake, it’s a ‘feature’!”) But lumpy yarn can be good, especially if it is soft and warm. Just think “what would I want to wear at the farm at christmas?” and you’ll be in the right frame of mind for things to do with lumpy yarn.
You totally need to dye. You know this. Or maybe I’m just projecting because I _really_ want to dye wool but I’ve decided to make a sweater for my brother in natural, so I can’t until I know I’ve spun enough.
Em, You’ve been tagged! Visit my blog for details…
I would like to hit the yarn harlot launch. I will see if Aspasia wants to go to. Maybe we can do a girly knit thing.