I tried a little bit of plying earlier and it did not go well. I think that if I take my time and do everything properly I should still end up with some pretty decent yarn from my first attempt at spinning but just one yard of yarn plied direct from the spindle was enough to make it quite clear that that was not the way to go. So, new plan. I'll spin up the rest of the second single, then skein it and wind both skeins into balls, slowly and carefully. I can then ply from the ball without (hopefully) too much entanglement as was occurring earlier when I tried plying one ply from the skein and one from the spindle (did I mention the words hopelessly naive in an earlier post?). I'm still not sure that I'll achieve such desirable things as evenness of twist and nice interplay of colour but it won't matter because the yarn will be for myself.
Yes, as hinted at earlier, I have ordered emergency sock yarn for my Sockapalooza socks (the relief is almost tangible - time's a wasting and I still haven't knit a single stitch!). My sock pal wasn't too specific about colourways or fibres, only stating a disinclination for wildly variegated yarn and a vehement dislike of purple, which is a shame because there are some great purple socks yarns out there (and indeed in my stash!).
However, I took another peek at her blog today and discovered that she's very much into aqua at the moment and is yearning for cooler climes. This then, in the colourway Ocean Forest, should be perfect. I'm quite excited about knitting with this as I've not used Fyberspates before and it looks absolutely lush**. Pattern ideas are nudging rather than leaping out at me but the gauge looks like I should get plenty of stitches to the inch which makes for plenty of choice.
Talking of patterns I want to knit, I have finally bought the yarn with which to make me a pair of these (which I have been coveting for ever so long). Whilst I was online buying the Sockapalooza yarn my hand 'slipped' and I also purchased a skein of Colinette Jitterbug (another thing I have been coveting for some time). It's in the colourway Velvet Plum which just sounds gorgeous.
Finally, some yarn that I already have my sticky mitts on and some actual knitting.
I popped into the my LYS to see if (by some strange chance) they'd started stocking any sock yarn other than Artesano Alpaca Hummingbird (which is lovely but a bit hot for summer in Florida). They hadn't but I got into conversation with the owner and between me not managing to say "sorry, you don't have what I'm looking for" and feeling guilty because I'd come in a few times recently without making a purchase*** I ended up buying two skeins of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk with the idea that I could possibly use it for the socks if the spinning didn't work out. I know, what was I thinking??
However, it is lovely yarn and I think it would make a beautiful open lace scarf for someone (not quite sure who as yet), possibly in the Chalice or Oriel lace pattern from the Harmony Guide vol. II.
And a sneaky look at the second half of POTW.
I'm 11 repeats in with 10 to go. I still haven't done the maths on how many stitches I'm going to have to pick up along the long edges for the border but there's still plenty of time to work that out.
* Alas I only read Katie's rallying pep talk (in the comments on the previous post) after I'd bought the yarn. I totally appreciate the support but really I'm very relieved to be off the spinning treadmill and also rather excited about the new yarn arriving.
** Very excitingly you get 425m in a 100g skein - that must be enough for two pairs of socks surely. It's the gift that keeps on giving!
*** It's a small shop so not the sort of place in which you can browse anonymously, it's usually just you and the owner which starts to get embarrassing after about the sixth time you go in without making a purchase. This is why I love Get Knitted (that and the free lollies etc.).
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