Friday 29 April 2016

Spinning for socks

I found a gorgeous hand dyed top at Fondant fibres and could not resist purchasing it. The hand dyed colourway is called deal and meaningful and it came in a stunning plait. I could not bring myself to actually spin it for a while so I had it hung up in my craft room so I could keep looking at its gorgeousness! I finally decided to spin some 4ply (weight not actual ply) yarn in order to knit some lovely colourful socks. The fibres were so smooth and soft to spin.
 
Here the fibre is spun into singles. I keep the twist high to give the yarn extra strength for sock knitting.
 
 
I plied the yarn 2-ply...
 
 
And here is what it looks like in a hank...
 
 
 
I love the colours, Fondant fiber have some really lovely dyed fibre and yarn. I might have have to purchase some more!

Monday 11 April 2016

Pacific blue socks

I am loving the sock knitting at the moment! The yarn I used was heart and sole shade 0164 which is basically blue, white and grey stripes. It is 75% wool, 25% nylon, so it it not the softest, but I have used it before so I know heart and sole washes and wears very well. I cast on 64 stitches on 2.25mm needles and made the most of the sock in rib. The heel is the half hankerchief heal and the toe is the long toe from the sock archetecture book by Lara Neal. I am very impressed with this book, it is well worth a look. I first heard about it from Danni from the little bobbin knits podcast. Which is also worth a look if you have not already. Anyway, here are my socks....  
 
This is more like the true colours, but I loved the background on the previous photo.