A Little Behind

It's about time I posted the results of my first carding/color experiment, which I started back in May. When last we checked in, I had carded the four colors into batts that progressed from more peachy to more kakhi but had not yet decided how to spin them. In early June, I decided that I wanted to maintain the color progression, rather than mixing it up. Here is the result:


That's 4 oz of solid Merino top. I worked it up into 4 skeins of 2-ply totaling 226 yards. Don't see a hint of the blue in there, do you? I know—I was a little bummed, too. It worked to produce an overall lightening and "frosting" of the colors rather than holding its own even in small bits. Might not have turned out the way I expected, but I learned a lot—and that was the point of this experiment.

Given the low yardage, I had toyed with the idea of making C a tank top with this yarn, but what kid wants a wool tank top in 80-degree heat?! So we switched gears and now plan to make this into a skirt. The handspun will provide the accent striping for a modification of Hip In Hemp.

Even with C's tiny hiney, I'll need more than 226 yards for the skirt. A New Yarn provided the perfect to-go-with: a khaki wool with peach accents that looks as though it were made to accompany my handspun! Here it is:


I got three beefy skeins of this mystery wool, which I've wound into lovely cakes.


Next I will 2-ply the mystery wool to make the weight consistent with the handspun. Once I've done that, I expect to have about 700 yards total for the skirt. Then we'll knit. What with Summer of Socks and the Tour de Fleece... and the dissertation... I don't expect to knit up this project until September or October—but that's about the right timing for working on a wool skirt, don't you think?!