I was supposed to take loads of photos of WIPs and FOs last weekend, but forgot and took shop fibre photos instead. This is why I didn’t post during the week – I really don’t like just posting text.

However yesterday was sunny and I remembered to take photos of both shop fibre and all the other stuff.

I’ve made good progress on my Ivy League vest.

My guage is a bit off – 32 sts instead of 28. But I think it’s going to be OK.

I was between portable projects last week so I decided to make a quick hat. I cast on for Jared Flood’s Relm beret in the leftover cascade 220 from my garter yoke cardigan.

I ran out of yarn half way through the decreases at the top (despite ripping back the two swatches from my cardi) So I had to rip back the hat to the main pattern and work one repeat less of the cables. The beret is un-blocked in this photo and it’s currently blocking.

I also started some new socks. These are going to be for my Father-in-law for Christmas. I created a new colourway called ‘Stringybark‘ aiming for a colourway that subtle enough for a man, but also with enough variegation to prevent the knitting becoming boring.

This is the bottom of the foot – I’m keeping the pattern a surprise. If I like how this sock works up, I’ll probably publish the pattern.

I also took some photos of the blue mystery socks finished, but I’ll keep them for a separate post.

Another upside of having five part-ruined braids to spin up has been that I’ve been able to experiment with spinning the same fibre with different methods.

This is how the ‘Meadowbank’ grey merino looks as a braid:

The skein below was spun using the ‘fractal’ method. I split the length of top in half and spun one piece with no further splitting. The second piece I split in to 3 or 4 pieces lengthways and spun those with shorter colour repeats. Yarn produced with this method seems to stripe when knitted (or woven) but in a more subtle blended way (as seen on my liesl)

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For the second skein, I drumcarded the fibre once in to an un-blended batt and spun low-twist singles.

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This third skein is navajo plied using the technique I linked to a few weeks ago.

I let the singles rest for almost a week but a bit longer would have been better. I used my tensioned lazy kate which helped control tangles. I plied slower than usual but these still ended up a bit over-plied. I think I will try a lower ratio next time. I tried to spin very fine singles and was aiming for a sock yarn thickness but this is probably closer to ’sportweight’ and I was a bit disappointed with the yardage – only about 90 metres. I really like how the yarn looks plied this way though.

And it’s been really nice to be able to compare some different methods of spinning. I still get surprised at how some colourways look once spun – I don’t get the chance to test-spin many colourways.

Pattern: B-Side cardigan by Laura Chau

Yarn: Sublime Angora Merino

Needle: 3.5mm Knitpicks Harmony

Mods: Worked a larger size at a guage of 25 sts instead of 24 (as specified in the pattern) and knitted sleeves from the top-down (vaguely outlined in this post).

I worked the fluffy yarn at a tighter than reccomended guage to try to control the fluff factor and prevent it pilling too badly. I’m not entirely sure how successful this is going to be. This yarn doesn’t just have a halo – it’s more like an aura.

I’d only worn this for a couple of hours on Saturday night before taking these photos yesterday morning and you can see it’s starting to pill slightly already.

Despite that I’m incredibly happy with the finished item. It fits almost perfectly and I love the collar.

It kept me lovely and warm on the station platform while I waited for my train this morning!