Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Alpe d'Huez yarn

Finally I am able to show you my adventures of about a week ago when the Tour de France hit the Alps and I needed a challenge to spin along. I finally tried plying with thread and it was quite simple really!

I first dyed some roving with kool-aid orange and strawberry. Then I spun thick and thin (but mostly thick) singles alternating between plain white, kool-aid roving, and some heather grey mill ends. Then I plied this yarn with some sturdy gold thread made to sew up blue jeans. I'm happy with the results and in person the yarn has a lot of energy to it.

So naturally I went out and bought lots of thread to play with. I've got variegated, metallic, and some plain and useful. I vow to spin more singles and thread-plied yarn as soon as it cools off a bit.

In knitting news, I cast on today for the knucks! I'm using Classic Elite '03 Tweed from my stash and it's similar to the Rowan Felted Tweed they suggest. Whenever I knit from the stash I feel like I am being a good girl (like eating leftovers) while in the back of my mind I'm harboring a desire to replace the yarn with new yarn. Specifically, I'm entertaining the idea of returning to a certain store I went to last week that had a massive sale and I didn't buy anything there...STOP!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you are a good girl you can go get some new yarn

Harlem Purl said...

I love the kool ade dyes yarn. Reminds me of a dreamsicle.

When you ply with thread, is there a specific type you use (like nylon) or can you use just regular sewing thread? Just wondering.

Brewer said...

ditto the thread question. I have used crochet thread some too.

Wendy Stackhouse said...

I need to try some novelty yarns, I just haven't had time so far. I did finish my Spunky Eclectic singles yesterday, though, and if I don't have to work tonight I will ply them up.

Now to resist the call of the Yarn Garden (why didn't I just spend the other $11.50?).

Anonymous said...

Coming out of lurkdom finally, I just wanted to say I truly love your creations. You totally inspire me to keep with this spinning thing.

Necia

Star said...

Oscar - I like they way you think.

Harlem purl & Weaver - I don't really know the answer. I have heard people use any old thread though I have only tried the blue jean thread myself. I started with a heavy thread because I was scared it would break. I am going to experiment with other kinds too and will post the results.

Kool aid is fun!

Star said...

Soprano, I am haunted by thoughts of yarn garden. You were being good, that's why you held back.

Necia, I am smiling from ear to ear. Thank you so much for the kind words! In August it will be one year since I started spinning. I used a spindle for 6 months and then got a used wheel on ebay. I am just now feeling comfortable with it but I have a lot to learn. I really hope you stick with it too. It's addicting!