b r o o k l y n t w e e d
Winter Spinning
Don't ask me when, but at some point this winter I found some time to do a whole bunch of spinning. This was a while ago, but nonetheless, I've amassed quite a little army of handspun and it's so beautiful and well-behaved, sitting quietly on the shelf, knowing it will probably have to wait much too long to see the needles. So far they've all been happy to sit for portraits - and there lies our compromise.
![Low Country Shetland (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d) Low Country Shetland (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sVtSBBWz8Kbf7NN_ObSOHlBetFBh5nODDhh46n2U0_WiZ0jLYKYw27QFFIzf7poYGyMrmAImj-CoK1g8W9Sx44OaJXFPD8WSrZ1YiMqnLte1svy5Z4AAEmet9dEbmizu4=s0-d)
The photo above is probably my favorite skein - it's shetland wool dyed at HelloYarn in Boston, MA. I had never spun shetland and loved it way more than I anticipated. I was expecting scratchy and sticky, but it spun wonderfully and fluffed up to my ideal specifications. Note to self - spin more shetland. (Here's a picture of how the fiber looked pre-spinning).
![Charmer (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d) Charmer (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vdfxNKnYmcTjd5b2hgQD7Cd4uxCPjBRneQCyaptAZTtH_WE8UWpmZGU9cqASPNr_cGUcK08aBLiJEm8KXCl1FzTfM1O8S6tEPkR9LUiAW6iT5aY_Wgsjhgbeins7dwUtc=s0-d)
Corriedale 2-ply in "Charmer" - another of Adrian's. I've been sampling small batches of various wools, which also means having fun with small batches of crazy colors.
![Bulky Corriedale (Skein #2) (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d) Bulky Corriedale (Skein #2) (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vLx5Bkde-z5hlwK1bLKF7KuKRlyINMxkaR2lFhLA9M6mU_KOkifEB6jaL6KIdoHGG5fqQG0s_b33z9wXl5kwwffQXkW5DoTcr9yo-juNdESWgKOaT_foaqYw-oh6XYkxA=s0-d)
I got a huge bag of white corriedale wool with my wheel and started spinning bulky singles (very instant-gratification) with hopes that I'll have enough for another wooly blanket for next winter. Hey, it's good to have (unrealistic) goals.
![Mushroom Swatch (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d) Mushroom Swatch (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sei--OzEnCoX-1pdvf4PtJvuUZrONaU8WbqF8HlVGeYDnY1E9SxIN0RNIfmqDj6trujH35KrtovTUQG2eJngd-bf5NgPVHgGqpmH7x22Hn5dahjhlPefeEkXm5FkLA1g=s0-d)
![Forest Handspun (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d) Forest Handspun (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vWmALsPvyXoU6czMW-UGIFDS-mkWYFugxI6Kj1Xv4HTKYw-DT-J0yQ-p3DDtKHSBrJ3lfqkpvtpODeStcom3dHmJW5YR36tilSSUQg4qCRXY_gLvN-zg1MMQZP7J_Ysic=s0-d)
Both of these beauties came from Pigeonroof Studios in California. Wonderfully subtle and tweedy yarns - I'm quite partial as you might expect. The yellow/green batch is fine shetland, spun from this (and already occupying half of a BSJ). The brown/pink batch is South African Fine wool, spun from this. That Krista is quite a dyer.
And if you haven't gotten enough juicy spinning pictures, pop on over to my 2008 Spinning Gallery to get your fix.
There's been a great amount of knitting and some new projects are brewing. I've slowly been wooing my knitting mojo back into my corner (he abandoned me for a bit there) and great things are happening. More to come very soon.
Handknit Hats
I guess it's never too late to share Christmas knitting, is it? As I promised before (this long silence), I'd show a few quick little knits that were distributed under the tree this year and now live far far away. Today's hats both reside in Portland, Oregon where wool's water-resistant qualities are highly appreciated.
![Jo's Hat (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d) Jo's Hat (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_u5v8KHRSUdxPeFQbeKtosAQm9kgoLlhJa4LyyGmIPod6wyFKRk6GvPzotV06gxwy_1fWT01B9scy0tcJACoINWk1ka6ZlbTF4JSTGXZMDyXj4Qy7wh5mlZiwD_33Jp33g=s0-d)
The first is an adaptation of the Thorpe pattern [PDF]. I really liked this pattern (it's knit from the top down, and you know I love that) but knew that handspun was in order so I decided to merge the two. The yarn I had on hand was DK weight so I just tweaked the numbers a bit to work - very easy to do when knitting hats from the top down. It turned out lightweight, fluffy and rather nice for a milder climate. Stripey too.
![Jo's Hat (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d) Jo's Hat (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vAU95YjEjpSPuAo01Y479YHT6Slcdfj5CcG-eZRe97lLNTLnvdGZggQ2Sc_yklchfSsN7SCJD2jJGMSVse9A3EEN-Sb7a7EyCjYjfRy-XU1k6WTpccPoUXIpkGu0sJ0A=s0-d)
The yarn is a 2-ply merino that I spun last fall with this particular recipient in mind. The fiber was handdyed in sunny California at Pigeonroof Studios and turned out to be a lovely little skein. I actually have enough of it leftover to knit another hat, so you may see this one pop up again in the future. Here's the unknit yarn hanging in the window.
![Lazy Daisy Drying](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uGJ1Fyy78m30hpPFI0lQHAz3EGQ3k3zTNjTaXI5FSR97HO1Q1ikzegZhQg0mmxSQCDnSVlSlJd4cudqQTJ6WMfuspo3I9_LEmwgvtHm_jISUaBowo1ZVicViQAa5vxqw=s0-d)
Hat number two was a little stashbusting creation. I had about half a skein of both Silk Garden and Cascade 220, both in neutral shades, both begging to be married. So I put them together and got this.
![Ryan's Hat](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vpx8jKj_E-R8ATDRCj3ieXqXjUPvEKfpFXyPHIAuVLtP5yJXMuQ5mH43BlERgerzd-2zzRRbcPl-LSnu6kHDij19-ebm7z6IOkzVQ7YPP7uDHQCL63_yUZlcf99H8G71g=s0-d)
The hat is just about as basic as can be, aside from maybe the crown. I really love how raglan-style decreases create a square-top on hats. I got to thinking of the stripes as circles and thought it might be interesting to throw some squares into the mix. I started thinking of this hat as squares-within-circles and really liked how it turned out.
![Ryan's Hat (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d) Ryan's Hat (by b r o o k l y n t w e e d)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sAY50pzl2QtuY81L9tRbg7BiHJHXjsDgeURSQI8LRw_vKBKazy50c8NLwtcg-kPMZrABkhzwa5ueGHO7vNjZa1wR58Ke_vnOp5ikY4Li3pUrAQCyhuUmzrzCjjBb_CwgY=s0-d)
The photos were taken on Puget Sound at Dash Point in Washington State. While we were walking the beach we saw a whole herd (school?) pod of Orcas (thanks everyone!) jumping off the coast - something I've never seen in all my life. And I grew up there. It was pretty great - and you can't beat that Puget Sound light!
![Ryan's Hat](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vQWW2jkwE7c-4D6pjk0wxj7mfpBoZ53XwD6UKgaZa33f0AWEfHvASAUCWQIecqaSkQ5a7jCj7IaKkSW-2XEYeeLDBzCD8UxoTHTZ9Z0z3d280sf6cFILHeX29flj473mQ=s0-d)
Knitting has been regretfully slow around here lately, but a few projects can pull you through almost any stress-ridden period (thank heaven for Baby Surprise Jackets!)... and when did February sneak up on us?
Okay, here's one more picture of canoodling handknits for the road.
![Ryan and Jo](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_u29oMU_PPtcHRj4Al2MQSCnyvmdNLD-uBYmJeQQE9dPzokJxY4bP2CmqxK8D4edjZM_29c2o6Ab2EB-4u5vJhXjrh9qKUpElEOXc6UKQ1JjXYBg65YhogYmt0r4_5rsFs=s0-d)
Until next time - happy knitting!