Playing with Color

For a while there this past weekend, I was knitting nothing but handspun, and it was a fun thing. I managed to finish up the prototype shawl, which was knit in a handspun gradient spun from a Loop batt several years ago. I really like how the stripes worked out, though if I'm being honest, I'm not completely thrilled with the very top section, where the color got a little murky. The yarn in that section was a bit thicker than the rest, but I can only blame myself for that. The fiber was a blend of merino, bamboo, and silk with some sparkle, and the finished shawl is really delightfully fuzzy and soft.

Now that I've worked out more or less what to do with the pattern, I've started knitting the actual sample that I'll photograph for the pattern itself. This is being knit in Malabrigo Sock in Indiecita, a really lovely hand-painted blue/green/purple colorway. I love how the colors are mixing up just enough to give depth to the stockinette but not so much that there's any ugly pooling (and I certainly hope that will continue). I am working on this at lunch and in the evenings in the hope that I can finish it before we go away next weekend to visit family.

Incidentally, I think I should mention that I'm currently running a contest in my Ravelry group to come up with a name for this new design, so please do check it out.

I realized I needed a small project to tuck in my purse, so I cast on for a new pair of socks on Saturday night. I'm using some handspun Falkland that I spun up earlier in the summer. You may remember that I split and spun the fiber in order to have almost striping yarn. So far it's working out very well.

I'm really enjoying this effect in the yarn, and I think it might be a good way to spin up a lot of the multicolored fiber that's in my stash and suitable for socks (though I suppose it could be used for other items as well). If I have pseudo-self-striping handspun in my stash, perhaps I won't be so tempted to buy self-striping sock yarn!