This colorway is exactly up my alley, and I love its name, as well: Sargasso Sea... reminds me of "The Wide Sargasso Sea," which makes me think of Jane Eyre, which is very nice train of thought.  Spinning this on my new spindle - BFL is just lovely. I want socks - sock yarn is my goal.

 

Swatching the finished yarn; it knits up at 30 stitches/4" on a size 1 needle.  I am getting, I think, about 19 WPI with the yarn.  (Not exactly convinced that I'm measuring WPI right... I feel like I get a different result each time, which is why I was eager to swatch - I'm more confident getting information from needles and swatches, I guess.)  The fabric is nice - elastic, soft, and with a slight pretty halo.  While plying, I was a little sad that similar colors were meeting up so often (I thought I wanted a more barberpole look), but I really love the way that it stripes in the sample swatch.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to get all 4 oz. of fiber to turn out like that when plied, but if I happen to luck out, I might jump for joy!  Now to start the spinning in earnest.  I have a little more yarn from my sample skein in case I get a vibe about a stitch pattern and want to try it.

I do want to say a huge hello, and a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has welcomed me so warmly on Ravelry, commented here, sent me emails or Ravelry messages - it's just so nice I don't have the words... and that's rare for me.  I'm smiling a lot, I'm learning a lot, and I'm having a wonderful time diving in to work, and loving Ravelry more every day.  Thank you!!

Plied, washed, dried, and cuddled up in a bowl of depression glass (another Tulsa thrift store score).  Pretty little yarn ball.  Slow project.  I have a fiber bracelet around my wrist when I'm at home these days; sitting, walking around, wandering and tidying up and spindling all the while.  I like the freedom of my Little Si.  I used an official wool wash (Meadows Wool Wash) for the first time (I've always been a lavender Johnson's Baby Shampoo fan for my knitblocking needs) and I love it - the Penny Royal scent smells fresh and - this really is the best word - pleasant.  I notice online that it comes in Patchouli too, which I find very tempting.  But isn't there a saying, "if you wore a trend the first time around, you shouldn't wear it again?"  I'm not much of a rule-follower (or -carer) when it comes to things like that, although Patchouli, specifically, makes me worry a smidge.  I guess it begs asking:  if I spent some of my formative years spinning (um, dancing, not yarn) at Dead shows and hung out in Phish concert parking lots making hemp necklaces, quite possibly wearing as much Patchouli as my mom would let me out the door in, do you think perhaps I should pass the baton and let someone else wash their handcrafts with Patchouli?  I'm conflicted.

More pictures of handspun....  I feel like, as I learn to spin, I'm learning more about knitting as well.  This fiber is Superwash Merino, and is as squeezable and springy as I would expect any Merino yarn I would pick up at my LYS to be; perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised at this, that the springy-ness must come from the fiber itself - that it's there, in the Merino sheep - but I was.  Don't you love those "oh... of course!" moments that you get when you learn something new?

When I saw Adrian's French Press Cosy, I knew I had to have one right away.  It's so cute!  I love my French Press... well, loved it, I guess.  I broke mine this morning while I was drying dishes.  It was not a pretty moment.  Let us not speak of it again.  I'll get a new one later today, because I love French Presses and am very much dependent upon cranky without used to having my coffee made that way every morning.   But I didn't have the right yarn to make the cosy; everything was either too thin to really insulate, or was slated to be another project already, or wouldn't be washable (um, I know that for most people this wouldn't be an issue, but trust me... it will need to be washed, I'm sure of it... note the story of how I drop things while doing simple tasks... ok I'll come right out and say it:  I'm clumsy!  Now you know.).  That's when the lightbulb went off - spin it myself!  Of course!  I know I'll use the cosy every day, so making it "from scratch" is a blast.

This is Juniper Berries from Spunky Eclectic, another almost-solid colorway.  It is the perfect type of greeny-blue color, I'm just a nut for greeny blues and bluey greens; I think that's been documented pretty well here on this blog!  I bought 4 oz of this fiber, which I know is more than enough, but I want as much left over as possible (to spin some finer yarn for something... a hat?  Another La-La? Fingerless gloves?) so I'm spinning as I go... spindle spindle spindle a thick-and-thin single, Andean ply it, admire the colors, wind, wash, dry, knit until I run out of yarn, set aside, repeat.  I'm on my third and possibly last cycle right now, spinning the singles. I probably wouldn't go about most projects this way, but for a funky French Press Cosy that I just had to cast on right away, it works!  I've been knitting away on two bigger projects that I'm really enjoying (my Stranded Colorwork floral-yoke sweater and a giant Manos afghan) but they don't fit on top of my bathroom cabinet AKA my new favorite picture spot - my Kermit-green bathroom gets much more light than any other room in our apartment - so I'm itching for a chance to set up pictures outside.

First!  I want to say a big, huge thank you to all of you lovely folks who commented and emailed and called me and sent your best wishes my way when you read my great big news.  (Big, great news?)  Thank you, thank you!  And also... thank you!   You guys are awesome.  I could go on and on about the unexpected community that I've found in the craft blog world... another post.  But truly:  thanks.

Second!  I have finished two projects so far this year - an as-of-yet-unphotographed pair of wool socks for Jacob (can't have him getting cold feet now, can we?  Ba-DUM-bum!) SORRY for the dumbest joke ever - but come on, it was right there! - and a gifted scarf, made with my very own handspun.  Yes, I have now knit with yarn I spun myself.  And the experience was the knitting equivalent of the mascarpone cheesecake I made for Jacob's birthday (which was the best cheesecake I've ever tasted in my entire life, ever).  This whole spinning thing?  It's brilliant.  Just brilliant.

Every single step of the spin-to-knit process is so scrumptious to me.  I can't tell you how many times I went into my bathroom just to give the yarn a squeeze while it was drying... it was many, many times. 

 

The entire time I spun up the New Black BFL I bought from Spunky Eclectic, I pictured knitting a fun little shawlette: a small, triangular scarf, with a ruffle at the bottom. While spinning the fiber, I was really focused on learning to get a thin, even-as-possible single; then, I couldn't wait to ply it to see how the beautiful colors would meet up. My spinning got a lot thinner (and mostly a lot more even) as I worked my way through the fiber, and I thought a ruffle would be a great way to make use of the thicker parts. Then Nonnahs gifted me with some Almost Solid Azalea BFL, and the pinks went so well with the New Black pinks (thanks, Amy!) that I knew I wanted to use them together.  By that time, I was able to keep my spinning (more or less) consistent and set off to match the New Black I had already spun, and to find a cute pattern for the shalwette I had envisioned.  Enter: the La La Scarf.

The pattern for this scarf is by the fabulous Kat Coyle; you can find it in the book Greetings from Knit Cafe.  I love it.  I would like to make 40 or 50 more of them, and wear them everywhere, and picot bind-off into the sunset, forever.

The finished yarn is very, very soft - didn't want to stop knitting with it soft - no, make that can't believe I spun it myself soft - and frothy light.  Since the pattern starts at the center back neck and grows, I jumped right in with the azalea 2-ply, knit until it was gone (omitting the pattern's elongated stitch rows because I wasn't paying attention, liked the way it looked anyway, and kept on truckin'), and then lightened  up the ruffle with some kidsilk haze (which is what the entire lovely original La La Scarf is knit in).

 

I made this for my friend Ajla's birthday, because I knew it would look like a million bucks on her.

I was right! Granted, everything looks like a million bucks on Ajla, but whatever.  For the record, Ajla had the exact reaction I think we all dream of getting when we give away our handmade goodies... the reaction we should get... tears, people!  I got tears.  Yay friends! 

By the way, lovely readers, your indulgence with my inability to choose a limited number of photos for this post is much appreciated... this is the first thing I ever made that started out as fluff!