Fixation

It's called a fix. No, it's not a fix like being in a jam... or coming up against a problem. Not exactly. This fix is a good thing. For a knitter, it's the nourishment gained from being in contact with yarn. Okay... you say. Still, countless other knitters will only tell you exactly the same thing--- that there really is something profound that can happen when woolly string is worked in the hands. After all, a yarn knitted has the power to take on significance well beyond its elemental properties. And a knitter denied her yarn fix can be quite a serious thing indeed.

Just look what happened to poor Tracey Ullman when she discovered her precious yarn speeding away in a hired limousine, as she still held the knitted end hopelessly unraveling in her hands:



Her rather vocal distress activated a concerned bystander, who immediately joined her in chasing after the car for several London city blocks. When the do-gooder finally caught up to the vehicle and discovered the driver to be harboring not an abducted child but a measly ball of yarn instead...
"Bloody actresses..." was what Tracey recalled hearing several onlookers mutter.
Hilarious--- and a true story, too. So it's fitting that her book (co-authored by her friend and owner of the Los Angeles knit shop, Wild Fiber) is where I should find a pattern to knit the output of my recent handspinning *ahem* mania.



Even though the sweater on the cover looks a bit crazy, there are actually some seriously pretty patterns and worthwhile projects compiled here. And of course the commentary is pure Tracey. She expounds on subjects that range from 'masculine knitting practices in the Middle Ages' to 'why she prefers knitted dreadlocks to hair extensions.'

This is the Luxe Neckwarmer I picked to knit mainly because I saw that the pattern only required 130 yards of yarn. Lately, I've been able to spin about 150 yards from 4 oz. of roving.




Here's the thing I'm finding about spinning: there's definitely an element of surprise involved when starting a portion of roving. I could end up with a thicker yarn or a thinner one, depending on how wobbly my revolutions are on any given day. And the exact saturation of color generated from variegated roving can certainly be a challenge to predict as it will vary depending on the wheel's uptake. Lastly, there's the ply factor. If a single strand happens to have a varied sequence of color, it may randomly oppose or compliment the yarn it's twisted together with; once again changing the overall appearance for better or (I won't say worse, just) different results than may be expected. Below, the roving as I saw it pictured on Etsy at Rainy Days and Woolly Dogs:




After much suspense and anticipation... spun and plied to about worsted weight, 150 yards:



First handspun project, knitted and blocked with a good deal of yardage to spare:



And thinking about the next fix:


To be continued...