Fractal fun

Move over, Noro!

Last week I took a spinning class in fractal spinning at my local yarn store, Uniquities. Loads of fun! We learned how to manipulate the roving to get self-striping yarn a la Noro.

I got this progression-dyed roving from Wild Hare Fiber which I divided lenghtwise into two halves. The first half was spun across the web onto one bobbin. The second half then was divided into fourths, then spun one after another onto the second bobbin.

Then you ply the two bobbins together.

The resulting yarn is a self-striping one, with parts solid, parts tweedy with colors flowing into each other. In other words, gorgeous.
And the fun continues with the knitting:

I want to try three-ply fractals next.

A tale of two pairs of socks

Labor of love indeed.


Last year Carl asked me to knit him a pair of black socks.

"Plain black socks," he said. "Solid. Simple. So I can wear to work when it's cold."


Plain black socks, I grumped.


Plain black socks.


I cast on a pair in February. Plain black socks. With a little ribbing thrown in to keep me from dying of boredom. Nine stiches to an inch, 32 rows to an inch... plain black socks.


The socks got knited, millimeter by millimeter, in between a dozen other projects, until August was rolling to an end and it dawned on me that Carl's birthday is next week.


I'd better finish those darned black socks.


Finished them I did.


Not only that. I said to myself: Now that I knitted him a pair of plain black socks, how about a pair of plain brown socks to go with them?


Plain brown socks, eh? Not on your life.

The black pair was knitted in commercial yarn. Took me six months.

The brown pair, on the other hand, was hand spun and hand-knitted. Took me six days.

Labor of love indeed. I must love the man.