Possessed to Knit

Cupcake Fiber Company Handspun Yarn

This is a 6 ounce skein of 3-ply sock yarn spun from Cupcake Fiber Company's Superwash Merino/Nylon batts in the Parasol colorway.  This fiber was absolutely delightful to spin.  The batts are divided into six 1 ounce "cupcakes".  I spun two ounces at a ratio of 1:17 on three bobbins on my Walnut Lendrum spinning wheel.  I used the plying head at the fastest 1:9 ratio and treadled a lot to add enough plying twist.  It turned out after I washed the skein that there were some underplied sections.  I put the skein back on the swift and added more plying twist.  I washed the skein and I was much happier with the resulting yarn.

The color deepened beautifully with spinning as the batts were lighter shade of lilac.  This 3-ply yarn is 16 to 20 wpi and will make a fantastic pair of socks.  I have Cookie A's Nebula pattern in mind for this sock yarn project.   

Handspun Socks Completed

These socks are knit with the 4-ply yarn I spun from 4 oz of Fat Cat Knits Merino Superwash Top in the Just Dance colorway that I bought at last year's MSWF.  I tried to keep the colors together, very challenging when making a 4-ply yarn.  I ended up with just over 270 yds of yarn and made my friend, Denise, these socks for her upcoming birthday. 

I spun the singles and plied the yarn very tightly so these socks are not very soft.  Hopefully, they will last better than my other handspun socks that ended up with a hole in the toe.  I used my 2.25 mm Addi Turbo needles for all but the heels and toes where I used my 2.00 mm Addi Turbo needles.  I knitted these socks toe-up and increased every row to 32 sts and then every other row to 60 sts after casting on 16 sts with the Turkish cast-on.  Now we just need some cooler weather for Denise to wear her new socks.

Orchid Thief Socks Completed

Here are my completed Dragonfly socks in the Orchid Thief colorway.  For the sock on the left, I used my Chia Goo size 0 circular needles.  They are very nice and do not bend like my size 0 Addi Turbo circular needles.  The first sock was coming out a bit small, so I made a German-style flap heel with the eye-of-partridge stitch and garter stitch edges and it fits my right foot nicely.  For my larger left foot, I used my 2.25 mm purpleheart Darn Pretty Needle dpns.  These socks fit well, but they do bag a little where the ribbing goes into the heel flap.  In the future, I would consider working some plain stockinette (5 - 10 rounds) before starting the heel.  I enjoyed knitting with the Dragonfly sock yarn, it has a nice spring to it.