I spun a bit more of my new purple roving and plied it. I thought you might like a pre-wash shot of it in all its glory. The shades came together in a striking tweed-like way. It's even better than I could have hoped.
A bit more after the bump
My brother and his girlfriend are in town visiting. We haven't seen too much of each other because of scheduling conflicts, but we've seen enough to swap gifts. Matt got some Hooray For Me Gloves and Jess got the Dragon Hoodie for her little girl.
But they came bearing gifts for us. So sweet. Jess brought us a huge basket of gourmet yummies, many of which Leo and I have already consumed, partially or fully. She even brought Miss Panda some cookies. And Matt, a man who referred to my knitting as "sewing" at one point, got me this.
It's about 11 oz of beautiful purple merino/silk roving. It's soft as a bunny a stunning color. The image isn't a perfect representation, the color is really a pretty deep purple with shades of burgundy, lilac and everything in between. He got the roving from Shuttles Spindles and Skeins in Boulder Colorado. I love it. It's so sweet that he walked into a fiber shop, looked for the perfect roving and came back with something so great.
That spindle shows what I've spun this morning. It's working up very nicely. The color becomes richer and the various other shades sparkle through.
I had enough time to make a few spots for the little Dragon Hoodie, before the gift was due to be received. I really like how they look in front.
The back of the sweater, and notes on this version of the pattern, after the bump.
Well, I took the comments to heart and I decided two things,
And here's what I think I want to do for spots. Instead of patches, like the original has, I'm doing bobbles. I used Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments as a reference for the technique. I think it'll be cute and much faster than trying to get full sized spots knit before this afternoon when the recipient's mom arrives.
I'll, of course, have a final picture for you when it's done.
That green merino silk roving gets even better after a wash and hang.
It really seems to even things out a bit and make the yarn look slightly less "hand spun." Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of the fact that I hand spun it, but I don't want it to be too obvious.
I plied Panda with belly rubs to get another shot of her donning my handiwork.
In fact, she is mid belly rub in the picture.
Can you hear her? "Oh, the suffering, the indignity, the....a little to the left please."
And do you see her bucket of toys and treats in the background? Yes, that's only one of two. Don't even get me started about the whole cabinet full of treats for the little pooper. She lives a hard life.
