Over the course of this month’s spin, I had the opportunity to spin out on the patio while the kids played in our wading pool and sand box. They were slathered in sunscreen, wearing bath suits and laughing until they cried. It was great fun and I found my mind wandering to the summer months ahead. How perfect that this month’s club was named ‘Daydream’.
© Rachel Smith / SweetGeorgia Yarns 2016
This month’s fibre club was on Panda, which is a Merino, Bamboo and Nylon blend that is great for socks. It can handle a lot of twist for hard-wearing socks and drafts like butter. The colours of Panda, once spun, often heather due to the Bamboo, which doesn’t absorb any of the acid dyes, which are used on wool. The lovely heathered-effect creates a beautiful knitted fabric afterwards.
© Rachel Smith / SweetGeorgia Yarns 2016
After receiving my braid, I chose to sit back and think about how I might spin this month’s fibre. I examined the colour repeat and decided to try a heavily variegated yarn and a gently variegated yarn. I broke the braid in half horizontally and spun one half of the braid end-to-end with a lot of pre-drafting to blend the colour changes as much as possible.
© Rachel Smith / SweetGeorgia Yarns 2016
© Rachel Smith / SweetGeorgia Yarns 2016
© Rachel Smith / SweetGeorgia Yarns 2016
The other half of the braid, I striped vertically twelve times to create a heavily variegated yarn and also pre-drafted as much as possible for even colour changes. I loved chain-plying this bobbin due to the constant colour changes!
Leftover from the braid when I separated it initially was a complete repeat of the purple-coral-purple sequence. At first, I wasn’t completely sure what to do with this little bit but over the course of the week, I decided to strip it down as much as I possibly could and spin it separately. This created about 90 yards of yarn that I’m going to use for contrasting toes and heels in a pair of socks with this yarn.
I’m not completely sure how I’m going to knit the socks. At this time, the thought of knitting the body of the socks in a 3×3 alternating stripe pattern between the two variegated yarns is completely intriguing to me! I’ll keep you posted!
Have you delved into May’s club yet? How are you spinning it? Please share over on the Ravelry group or Instagram, and tag your projects with #sgyclub and #sweetgeorgiayarns.
Until next month – Happy spinning!
