Nirvana 6″ double pointed needle set.

Look at this gorgeous set of ebony sock needles from Nirvana Needle Arts! We reviewed this set in the current issue of Knitty and thought they knit as wonderfully as they look.

Here’s what Carla had to say about them:

Knitting with wooden needles makes my heart sing. They are warm in my hands from the moment I pick them up. I may have squealed when I saw this set (which includes 5 double pointed needles in US sizes 1, 2, and 3). The case is made from happy, flowery fabric and lined in bright red (there are several different fabrics to choose from). There’s a flap to keep the needles in place and an elastic band to ensure nothing falls out and plenty of space to add to the collection.

So, they’re gorgeous…but how do they work? Beautifully. Aside from the warmth, they have just enough give to keep my hands from getting tired. I can imagine after years of use, they will fit in my hands with a slight curve to them. No splitty needle tips here either. I raced along on a sock with no split stitches or half-caught yarn. The soft finish slowed me down a bit, but again, after years of use, they will be shiny, a little slicker, and among my favorite needles.

Our friends at Hiya Hiya who distribute Nirvana have offered us set to giveaway. Need a set of ebony sock needles in your life? Leave a comment below for your chance to win.

Each Nirvana Needle Arts Sock Gift Set contains 6″ double point needle sets in sizes 1US/2.25; 2US/2.75; and 3US/3.25 packaged with a 7″ Needle and Hook Case.

Our usual giveaway rules apply. Leave a comment on this post between now and midnight eastern time, Friday July 9th, 2017. One comment will be chosen at random to answer a skill testing question. If the commenter answers correctly they will win the Nirvana Needle Arts Gift Set with 6″ needles.  Giveaway value $66.

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Vacation crafts, just a little bit.

How many of you guessed I would do almost no crafting on my big trip? Ding, ding, ding! You win! That over there on the left is the sum total of my crafty endeavors for the 12 days I was away.

20% of a sock and a woven bracelet. We were busy! There was much sightseeing, chatting and freely flowing German and Czech beer from noon on. None of that is really conducive to crafting.

What’s displayed in the photo is really only a portion of what went into the crafting. For the first time I read and followed all of the directions when using something new (the Purl & Loop Bracelet Loom). I wove with corespun yarn and it’s spectacular. You’ll be seeing many bracelets in the next few weeks. And I have ideas for other things too, maybe even a class with handspun odds and ends.

With the socks I did two things. I relearned casting on two socks on two circs. It took me 5 tries (please see the flowing beer statement above). Eventually I had to run and hide and do it in solitude, but I got it and love it. I used to knit socks, usually only one, so the two circs method is perfect for me. I have a crazy loose gauge and use 000 and 0000 for socks, even though the gauge is the same, somehow it’s distressing to use such tiny needles. I also have large calves and sock never fit. Soooo I read Kate Atherley’s most excellent book Custom Socks:Knit to Fit Your Feet and did all of the measuring. I built myself a custom sized pattern and am happily knitting. My gauge has changed (of course) so I’ll have adjust my numbers slightly.

While I didn’t do many crafts I sure dug deeper into the ones I did.  I’m calling that a win.

Sheepspot Fiber Club!

The Sheepspot fiber club sign up is closing today! Sheepspot is one of the few spinning fiber clubs that teaches you in depth about breeds and gives a choice of colors (or natural). Choices are my favorite thing!

Sheepspot!

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Electric or treadle? Yes!

Spinners ask me about electric wheels all of the time. The good, should I get one? And the bad, why would you have one?

For me it’s not an either/or. I find my treadle wheels and my electric wheel (I have a Hansen, version 1 ) happily coexist in my spinning and my spinning heart.

I use my treadle wheels when I feel like treadling (duh) and when I’m sampling with a lot stops and starts, or when I need to pay closer attention to drafting or plying. I’m not saying that starting and stopping and detailed viewing of your yarn can’t be done on an electric spinner, I just don’t do it that way. I also like to use my treadle wheels for art yarns.

I use my treadle wheels the most, partially because I have more than one and keep different projects on each one. A treadle wheel was my first wheel and what helped me really fall for spinning. I don’t think I’ll ever be without one. But I wouldn’t give up my Hansen either.

I use my electric spinner when I am spinning a lot of yarn, especially the type of yarn I can just get into a groove and go, spinning through a whole season of something. If I’m spinning for a sweater, a couple of pounds of fiber, I put the WooLee Winder on my Hansen, twiddle my knobs until I have my the correct settings for my yarn, find something British with murder on Netflix and I’m off. I usually mark my settings right on the wheel in pencil, or sometimes on a sticker. I also use my Hansen to ply, I love plying on that machine, effortless and steady.

I like to travel with my miniSpinner; I fly with her and I even take her camping. Sometimes I get tired of sitting, my hips, knees and back start to complain. Then I put my spinner on a stool or a counter and spin standing up. That was a revelation for me. When I got achey from sitting and spinning before my spinner, spindle spinning was my only option, and I’m not a very productive spindle spinner.

If you are deciding if you want an electric spinner, try one. Try more than one, there are many on the market now. I know that the SpinOlution Firefly is another very popular electric spinner, but I haven’t tried one yet. You’ll know, just like a treadle wheel, if it’s a wheel for you or not.

The answer to why I have an electric spinner is, of course, variety! Just like I like to spin a whole lot of different yarns, I like to spin on a range of wheels. And i like spinning on it, it feels right.

Please don’t make me pick between the two types of wheels!

Do you spin on an electric spinner and a treadle wheel, or just one?

Have you seen the new Knitty? More specifically have you seen the spinning in the new Knitty?

There is the fantastic Bosco cardigan by Mari Chiba, knit from Manos del Uruguay Clara, with a handspun yoke from Manos del Uruguay Merino roving, spun by Stefanie Goodwin-Ritter. The yoke only takes 140 yards of handspun singles! A great way to incorporate your handspun without having to spin for a whole sweater.

Bosco! Commercial yarn + handspun.

In my Knittyspin column, I talk about my adoration of overplied 2-ply yarn. It’s been my default yarn for years, but I just discovered something new about it.

Balanced 2-ply and overplied 2-ply. Fiber is Threewaters Farm Springing for Green on Merino/silk

I hope you enjoy this issue, happy spinning!

Drafting together on top, blocking on the bottom.

In the latest Knittyspin column, Spring+Summer 2017, I talked about lightening a colorway at your wheel. I used a variegated colorway Godwood on Falkland by Into the Whirled, and lighten the colors a little by using white Corriedale from Louet.

One of the ways I used was drafting together Godwood and the white corrie to make a marled singles that I then plied together for a double marl The other way I used was by blocking, spinning first the colorway and interspersing white every so often in the singles that I then plied together.

The samples looked lighter over all, with varying amounts of flecks of white Corriedale. I used a combination with high contrast so I could really see what was going on in the yarn.

Top: One ply drafted together with white, one ply colorway plain.
Bottom: One ply colorway blocked with white, one ply colorway plain.

I keep thinking about these samples and wondering what would it look like if I used one ply of the manipulated yarn (drafting together or blocking) and one ply of the colorway by itself. It’s been bugging me for months, and I finally did it.

I like it. I think I like it better with this high contrast combination. It’s not as jarring, visually, but I’m not one for high contrast marls in general.

Drafted on top, blocked on bottom.

Here’s a closer peek. What do you think? Is it something you’d add to your dyed braid spinning tools?

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