from beginning to end

Took me awhile, but I finally did it.
My second project using my own handspun.








Ravelry Links: handspun / project

Fiber: from A Verb For Keeping Warm (fiber club, April--The Candle's Nimble Flame, 100% Corriedale; spun as a single, then plied with a white BFL single)

Method: Over the fold

Spindle: Golding Midnight Sky spindle for singles; Golding lazy kate and Tsunami spindle for plying.

Resulting Yarn: 7.2 oz total wt, approx 350 yds, 13 wpi plied (sport)

Pattern: One Row Handspun Scarf, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Needles: US 9's (the green vintage straights)

Resulting Project: 5" wide, 67" long (unblocked and w/o fringe)

What I learned:
Lots.
~~~ Mostly about twist. I could have put less into the singles I think, and the resulting yarn would have been a bit more lofty. I definitely could have put less twist into the plying, and in the future I will probably try to use a spindle with a heavier whorl for that (I think. This is only my beginner's brain doing some guesswork. It will be a fun experiment, though.)

~~~ I thought the resulting yarn was going to be too inconsistent (thick/thin) for a simple pattern. That it would show up as looking sloppy. In actuality, I think that it makes the simple pattern way more interesting. In fact, I think my scarf has more character than some of the scarves I have seen in this same pattern that were done with commercial yarn (yay for handspun!).

~~~ I learned that I'm not quite there yet in pulling off a yarn that is suitable for making sock. But that I am very very close.

~~~ I learned that I was able to pull off getting my fiber to do what I wanted it to do in terms of color. I was aiming for long repeats of color and for the colors of the scarf to be "mirrored" from one end to the scarf to the other. I came pleasingly close, but not so close that I lost it's organic/handmade quality. I like :-)

~~~ I also learned (okay, I already knew this, so I guess I was reminded) that long scarves with simple patterns are ridiculously tedious knitting. But good for while you're watching television ;-)

~~~ I learned that I might just like wearing pastels after all.