Knitting Olympics Day 1 - Swatchless

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Knitting Olympics Day 1 - Swatchless
projects and patterns from a fearless knitter

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

My wheel is fixed–thanks to my dad, some long thin pieces of rubber, and locktite adhesive. This afternoon I carded and spun up two bobbins full, and navajo plied them.

I chose to make the yarn 3 ply since my fleece isn’t so uniform. There are lots of short fibers, and it’s still a bit greasy (not soiled though). Even though I carded it twice, and removed many small pieces, it still is riddled with “fluffy bits” when I spin it. Luckily when it is 3 ply, the fluffy pieces blend together with the thin bits to make a “rustic” yarn that seems to be worsted or aran weight.

This wasn’t really my plan, but that’s what the fiber does. These socks will be very thick, good for wearing in rainboots I think. Maybe thick socks will be finished quickly. If there is time, perhaps I’ll make mittens too.

To add some interest, I dyed one bobbin full of yarn a nice shade of green. I needed to use a lot of food colouring, and then I added green kool-aid, and some orange too, to dull the intensity a bit.

The colour in that picture is not very accurate. When it is dry, and in natural light, it will look better.

Now I’m off to bed to dream up a pattern!