So many hobbies!

Getting closer

On the bobbin is the last of the Merino/mohair for the edging of my shawl.  In the bag is the last 8 ounces of the Polwarth/kid mohair blend I'm using for the shawl.  I've finished the last swatch but I haven't taken the time to count how many yards I used.  Last night was Spin Night and tonight I pretty much concentrated on finishing spinning up the Mer/Mo... and reading the cable book I got from Amazon, Cables Untangled.  Ooo, it's a good one.  I'll have to do some practicing with scrap yarn but I don't anticipate any problems knitting the center, cable panel for the shawl.  It really doesn't look difficult.  I want to start on it NOW but it'll have to wait for the weekend when I have long stretches of uninterrupted time to spend knitting.

Swatch #2

I'm trying again with size 9 needles (size 5's on the first swatch) and I like the fabric they're making.  I'm thinking I'll go back to my orginal plan of knitting the center panel first, which has the cable, using size 5 needles then, using larger needles, pick up stitches along the side of the panel and knit out to the corners.  This will let me have the nice firm cable in the panel and still (hopefully) knit the entire shawl using the yarn I spun.  I haven't finished my second 4 inch swatch so I still don't know how much yarn I'm going to need and if I'll have enough.

I find I'm really enjoying trying to solve the puzzle of how to take the shawl from a sketch to a finished object.  I've always like jigsaw puzzles and this feels like the same deal.  I'll figure it out eventually.

Shawl edging

I haven't given up on my shawl.  This will be the edging once I get enough yarn for the body.  It's 70% Merino/30% mohair.  It took a bit of predrafting to loosen it up after I dyed it but once predrafted, it spun very easily.

The shine is amazing and while the color is more blended than I wanted, I think it's beautiful.  It's going to be lovely knitted up as the border.

So here's a question for more experienced knitters, particularly shawl knitters.  The full amount of yarn needed to complete the body of the shawl will weigh a bit more than 2 pounds, then add the weight of the edging to that.  Yes, I know it will be heavy but it will also be warm, which is the whole point.  I'm not the lacey shawl type of person.  I want something that will be warm.  My question is, will that much weight stretch the shawl out of shape?  I find it hard to believe that women of the past didn't wear heavy, warm shawls.  Do I abandon the yarn I've spun so far for this project and spin something lighter?   

The swatch of death

This is the swatch that killed my dreams.  The swatch that told me that even after buying the last 8 ounces of an expensive custom blend, I will only have about half of the yarn I'm going to need to complete my shawl.  I was doing so well, too.  I consulted with Google and found the formula I needed to determine the area of a triangle.  I worked out a story problem, in my head - and got it right! - until my poor overworked brain screamed for mercy.  Hell, the story problem alone should have bought me enough karma points to make everything turn out okay.  But no!  The Universe isn't kind and gentle and an English Major successfully working out a story problem involving Geometry just isn't enough to tip the scales in my favor.  Bad words were spoken.  I'm at a loss.  I'm still under the influence of a cold bug so maybe tomorrow I'll have some ideas.  Here's hoping!   

New roving

This one is very close to Calypso.  The purple has more red in it and the yellow is more gold.  I'm not sure if I'm going to put it up for sale or spin it then post it.

This is BFL roving in Black Raspberry.  It's another one-of-a-kind crockpot experiment.  I like how it turned out except there's a bit more black than I wanted.  This will make a beautiful yarn.  It'll be in the store tomorrow.

I'm afraid I'm not very exciting tonight.  I have the cold of the week and I'm not feeling very witty.  The lastest snow storm has started and I'm trying to ignore it.  I suppose it's fortunate that I'm sick and won't be going to work tomorrow.  I'm just going to sit inside with all the blinds down and wait for it to melt.  When I'm not sleeping tomorrow, I'll be watching movies that take place during the summer.  It's got to come around eventually.

Proto shawl

I didn't get as much dyeing done this weekend as I'd planned.  I spent most of the time spinning this.  It's almost 200 yards of Polwarth/kid mohair for my shawl.  I doubt this is enough but I don't know how much I need.  I've never designed a shawl before - or knit one for that matter.  I suppose I should start with the measurements of the shawl (right now, it's just a sketch on a piece of paper) and then knit a swatch to determine gauge and how much yarn is used in a 4-inch square swatch.  Once I have the amount of yarn used in a 4-inch swatch and the total area in inches that the shawl covers, I should be able to determine the total yardage needed.  (Will that work, Yen?  You know how I am with story problems.)

So while I didn't dye as much wool as I'd planned, I did get some dyeing done and I've got some roving soaking.  I dyed up some Ming and a new colorway that may be a little too much like Calypso.  I dyed up a one-of-a-kind roving in the crockpot I'm calling Black Raspberry.  It's drying.  And, I cooked up this:

7.5 ounces of Merino/kid mohair.  Look at that shine!  This will be the border on my shawl.  After I spin it that is.  I'm loving the colors and I can't wait to spin it up.  (Speaking of spinning, tomorrow is Spin Night so I may not post tomorrow.  It depends on when I get home and how tired I am.)

The weekend is never long enough.  In a couple of weeks, I'm taking a 4-day weekend and I am SO looking forward to it.  I should have all of my shawl yarn spun by then and I can spend some concentrated time knitting.  Does anyone remember how to determine the area of a triangle?  I'm sure there's a formula...