Spinning's Made Me Loopy

(Got my thinking cap on; all pics enlarge).

Hey there folks and welcome!

I've been spinning too long now to start from the beginning; therefore, the inaugural post of my new spin blog will intro y'all to the present doings, like this foofie hat. As to how I became totally enthralled by spinning fiber–– the beginning of all fabulousness––is something you can read in the sidebar.

I've been spinning by both hand and wheel so much that it's made me a bit loopy, but in a good way. You see, knitting puts me in a zone of pleasant concentration, but concentration just the same. Spinning however, especially on the Maja*, is like wh-e-e-e-e––a protective covering of absorption. And being able to create your own stash is something akin to godliness.

I can fully understand process spinners now. But at some point I have to make something, and there's nothing like a cold head for incentive.

Process with a purpose

Losing the first the first hat I made like this, processed me to make it again. It's a 3 ply ribbon yarn I taught myself to spin from the beautiful book Creative Spinning (Lark Books). The yarns are: one end of dark BFL top**, one end CVM top˚ (thanks Jayne!), and one end of a lovely space-dyed mohair from A Touch of Twist.

The first 2 singles were each spun Z using a backward draw, at a twist angle of 33º at a ratio of 11.5 : 1. The w.p.i. is 20. They were then plyed S at the same ratio, then Z again, including the mohair.  I plied by eye, forming the ribbon cross with the mohair. 7 is the final w.p.i.

The Knitting

As I get further entwined into the essence of yarn construction, I try not to confound its beauty by using the gordian stitch patterns I favor in knitting; a 2 x 2 ribbed fabric was enough. I made the pom-poms first (if you're a pom-pom lover like me, this is always the first step). After making a small gauge swatch (always the 2nd step), I knitted the hat on 16" circulars, size 8.  Once I felt I had enough height, I folded the top and closed it with a 3-needle bind off. On went the pom-poms and voila´––foofieness!

Folks, this is just the beginning!

*Majacraft spinning wheel. **Blue-faced Leicester. ˚California Varigated Mutant.