Finally, The Handspun!
It has been completed for nearly ten days now. Well, completed in terms of mechanical input, but it still required skeining and washing when we left for our mini vacation. But, it is done now and I’m in love!
My first truly fingering weight yarn - at least I think so. I’m really excited to get this swatched and see what kind of gauge works well with it. I’ve been fooled before because my handspun tends to be much debser than many commercial yarns. The sheen is gorgeous, I think the color changes are going to look nice in the final fabric, and the yarn still has some elasticity to it despite the hard spinning and the 40% bamboo content. The color is not as masculine as I hoped, but more so than I feared. It is still higher contrast than I have hoped for when I asked for a shaded solid. I think Drew would gladly wear it, but many men wouldn’t - though those men only like boring black/gray/brown socks. So I’m undecided on what sort of design I’m going to knit with it - male? female? unisex? Fortunately I volunteered to be bumped so the deadline for this has eased by a few months, giving me plenty of time to swatch and really do the yarn justice.
Fiber: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, 60/40 Merino/Bamboo, Atomic 6
Weight: 6.7 oz
Drafting Method: Short Forward aka “Inchworm” (Worsted)
Wheel: Majacraft Suzie Pro
Ratio Singles/Plying: 15:1 (both)
Yardage: 650-700 yds
Ply: Traditional 3-ply
WPI/Yarn Classification: ~17 WPI/Fingering
TPI: ~7 TPI
This was a very pivotal yarn. It was my first real yardage of 3-ply at my preferred sock gauge. It was my first skein over 4 ounces. It was my first time spinning to a deadline (which got lifted, but I made it anyway). It was my first time spinning BMFA fiber and I have to say it was a real pleasure. It is remarkably consistent despite some worries I had at various points in the process. The spinning of the skein forced me to fix some ergonomic issues that had gone unnoticed previously (and yes, I swear I’ll cover that soon). I learned a better plying set-up for me when plying in the basement. I used my highest ratio from start to finish and still felt at times that I was “running” on the wheel (note to self: look into the higher speed whorl option). I got to try the Majacraft skeiner and overall it worked okay, though I was pushing the capacity, even though my bobbin wasn’t quite full. I *love* this yarn and definitely feel it is my best to date. Now, where are my needles?
Actually, now that the real FO deadline has been lifted some other projects require my attention first. Unfortunately…
1. Atomic 6 Handspun, 2. Atomic 6 Handspun, 3. Atomic 6 Handspun, 4. Atomic 6 Handspun
