WIP Wednesday and Why I'm the Root of All Evil

I think it's time for an update, don't you?

Today after work I went to the knitting meetup at the Steeping Room. While I was there, I finished my first Wickerware Sock and cast on the second one. I never finish a sock unless I can start the second one right away. Its a surefire way to prevent Second Sock Syndrome.

Also, a night or two ago I finished spinning the Merino pencil roving that I got at The Knitting Nest. I decided that I like it as a single, so I tied it up so I could set the twist.

I debated about whether or not to put a weight on my other handspun yarns. Considering how kinky this one was when I took it off the Niddy Noddy, I think it will definitely need a mug when it comes out of the sink.

Once again, I used hot water and with a little Eucalan. It seemed to work fine with the other Merino. And so far, there's no bleeding.

Patton Oswalt says I'm the Root of All Evil

Earlier I saw Patton Oswalt argue that bloggers are The Root of All Evil. Apparently, the world will end with a Twitter. I would say that proves that Twittering is the root of all evil. Bloggers like me are keeping hope alive by writing in complete sentences. Sometimes.

(There are clips at the Root of All Evil Website.)

Tour de Fleece 2008: Finished!

I did it!

I achieved my goal for the Tour de Fleece goal. I turned all my soy/wool roving into a skein of Navajo plied yarn.

I also set and plied the other yarns I was working on in the process. I have three handspun yarns to add to my Ravelry page.

It's a good thing, too. I was running out of mugs.

Can you tell that the yarn bled? The picture on the left is before setting the twist, and the one on the right is after setting the twist. I think the difference is more pronounced in real life, but it still looks good.

After setting the soy/wool yarn, I set the Corriedale single. I didn't have to worry about it bleeding. Even with the mug, it's still a little kinky.

I think it's pretty even for the most part. The beginning is slubbier.

This is about six ounces of naturally gray Corriedale in a single. I'm still debating what to do with it.

(There are more pictures of the Corriedale here and here.)

The merino did leave a tinge of blue in the water. However, after the debacle with the bleeding soy/wool, it didn't bother me at all.

I'm really proud of the merino. I plan to make a simple ribbed hat out of it soon.

This is about four ounces of merino total, two in indigo, and two in periwinkle. The two colors were plied together.

There's more pictures of the merino here and here.

I'm so excited. And next year, I'll set an even bigger goal.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

There was no yarn in the sink when I took the picture above.

My yarn bled. Like a stuck pig. *sigh*

I saw what happened as I was finishing up my last entry, where I mentioned that I was worried about felting. Bleeding didn't even occur to me.

According to this Ravelry thread I'm not the only one who's had problems with this roving in the "Mermaid" colorway. I wonder if the company knows. (I'm not sure who's responsible for the dying process, Louet or SWTC.) I know this is not the first time a yarn or fiber that's been commercially dyed has had problems with bleeding. But I think it's important that the manufacturer knows so they can fix it. I know Schaefer Yarn and Brown Sheep have taken steps to fix bleeding yarns in the past. I hope the company knows so they can make changes. I may send an e-mail later.

I know hot water is the way to go with bleeding yarn, so it's probably good I didn't go with lukewarm. I did add a couple of splashes of vinegar to set the dye after I saw what happened, but I was impatient and antsy, so I didn't leave it there too long.

After splattering indigo water all over the bathroom sink. I did take it outside to "swing the dead cat." I got into spinning out some of the excess water. In fact, I got a little overzealous and started whacking it against the fence around "porch." (Anyone who's been to my apartment knows why I put porch in quotation marks. The only thing that makes it a porch is the fence around it.) Of course, some walked by at the exact moment I was whacking. I went back to swinging the yarn around. I thought swinging somehow made the whacking seem less insane by comparison, or at least put the whacking in context. (As is the woman walking by could even see that it was yarn. It was after dark.)

After spinning and whacking, I put the yarn on a hanger in my bathroom and tied on a coffee mug with some spare embroidery floss. I'm letting it sit there overnight, creating a purple splotch on the edge of my bathtub. I'm not worried since the sink cleaned up pretty well with some Clorox Wipes. (Actually, it was the store brand equivalent, but you get the picture.)

As you can see, my yarn certainly isn't ruined. When I first saw the indigo water I was worried the color changes would be lost, and I'd be left with a murky mess. The yarn is much lighter and more muted than before, but it still looks nice. However, I'm still a little disappointed because I really loved the deep, rich colors.

And the good news is that it seems like the whole twist setting went ok. Maybe it's my imagination, but the twist does look more even than before.

And the yarn didn't felt.

Setting the Twist

I have a ton of photos and stuff to blog about, but for now I'm sharing this one photo. It's hard to tell here, but I'm setting the twist on my Tour de Fleece yarn.

On Saturday I finished plying my merino, Navajo plied my Tour de Fleece yarn and skeined both, along with my Corriedale single. You can see the original roving for all three here.

I've heard mixed advice on how to set the twist. For now, I'm listening to my Mom and soaking it in hot water with some Eucalan. Afterwards I'll probably swing it, and maybe whack it on a hard surface once or twice. I know whacking is supposed to be fun, but it's late and the only good place to do it is against my shower wall. I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that. After that, I think I'll hang it and weight it with a coffee mug. I know some people use larger weights, but I don't think mine is kinking that much.

In Spin to Knit they say to wash it in lukewarm like you would a handknit item. I've also heard mixed reviews on swinging versus whacking and weighting versus not weighting. I might try other techniques later. I think the soy/wool blend I'm doing now probably won't felt as easily as the 100% merino. I'm not sure if I'm willing to go with hot water on the merino. Any advice or opinions are welcome.

I'm also looking for opinions on the permanent name for the Broken Scarf. I finished it last night, but I'm not posting an official FO post until I have a name and a pattern to upload to Ravelry. Carly riffed on "Broken Scarf" and came up with "Broken DNA." Amy took it a step farther and came up with Helicase and Topoisomerase. However, all the DNA talk got me thinking about Gel Electrophoresis. I think the scarf most closely resembles Gel Electrophoresis, but I need a shorter name than that. I may do a poll later, but for now, I'm still taking suggestions.