Twisp of Fate

Before I left for spinning camp in late February, I realized I had never finished up spinning and/or plying some of the projects we had undertaken 2 years previously.  Ridiculous!  That year the theme had been “Spinning for Traditional Knitting.”  We spun different kinds of fleeces different ways, to make yarns suitable for Cowichan style sweaters, traditional Aran knitting 5-ply, and Icelandic lace.

We had worked from 5 or 6 different Icelandic sheep fleeces, in a range of colors from white to gray to brown to black.  Judith showed us how to use the electric carder to de-hair the locks, then the undercoats were carded into spinning batts.  The goal was to produce a 2-ply yarn suitable for lace knitting, in a variety of colors.  I had prepared all the wool and spun some of it, but still had a number of batts left to spin.  So I finished those up and plied them all.  Before I left for Orcas this year, I went through a number of my knitting books, including the wonderful Three-cornered and Long Shawls by Sigridur Halldórsdóttir (in Icelandic with an English translation provided, and available from Schoolhouse Press).  I liked the look of those shawls, but knew I didn’t have enough yarn for something that large, nor was my handspun yarn that fine a weight.  Then I remembered seeing a wonderful scarf which is a free pattern on Knitty:  Fleece by Kieran Foley.

So here is my version of Fleece, which is written for a sock weight yarn.  I cut the size down by 30 sts (one full repeat) as my yarn was a little heavier and I had a limited amount.  I changed the colors whenever it seemed time, with the goal of using up everything I had!

I had also spun, but not plied, the wool from a Clun Forest sheep (a down breed).  We were supposed to make a 5-ply for aran knitting, to get a smooth rounded yarn that would show cable and other stitch patterns well.  Before this year’s camp, I went to work on plying it up and knitting it into a hat (I have to admit I cheated and only made a 4-ply).  I didn’t have quite enough for the whole hat, so made the initial ribbing from a charcoal gray handspun I had laying around.

The pattern is Crown of Leaves by Faina Goberstein, available from Twist Collective as a PDF download.

I made the largest size, and also added one additional cable repeat at the beginning of the crown section, so the hat would be a little taller.  It fits me well and is my new favorite hat!