I started winding that pretty brown “Gulliver’s Travels” JMF yarn today.

Which went smoothly enough until I got this huge tangle near the end of the second skein. I got it unravelled, but it took me about 10 minutes.

I realized right away, though, that I was going to need to wind all four skeins at once. Since these are all hand-dyed, there’s a lot of variation from skein to skein, and the first two I wound happened to be the furthest away on this little spectrum of variation.

The skein furthest on the left is the darkest and has the most touches of black. The one all the way on the right has less black and more greenish kinds of accents. I don’t mind the variation, exactly, but want to at least use them in a specific sequence while knitting to avoid any dramatic jumps in color.

They really are all a gorgeous shade of brown, though, and the yarn is deliciously soft and springy. A pleasure to handle.

I even started the sleeve of my next sweater. Unfortunately (not surprising) the gauge doesn’t match my swatch. BUT (this is surprising), it’s actually smaller than expected. I should be getting 14 stitches to 4″, but this sleeve cuff, which is 36 stitches around, is actually measuring 8″ … meaning 18 stitches over 4″. So, first of all, I need to tear this out and start over.

Don’t be TOO shocked, though. It’s not like the Juniper Moon Farm yarn is the one called for in the pattern, so variations are bound to occur.

Oh, and spinning? I just finished another bobbin, meaning I’ve gotten 12 ounces of that green corriedale spun … about 10 of it in the last week. 4 more ounces and I’ll have all the singles done–unheard of speed!

Chappy got his first walk since Monday today, too. (It’s been so darn hot, you understand.) Mom and I opted not to go out for coffee because it was thunder-storming all morning. Chappy was very relieved to have us home to protect him, and we were just as glad to stay dry. The storms were past by noon, though, so we took him out for a walk around 1:00. Compared to the weather of the last week? Lovely (if a little damp around the edges).

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading the new Sharon Lee and Steve Miller book in the Liaden series, “Saltation.” I was so excited to get my copy the other day. A couple years ago they actually wrote it live, online, posting a chapter of the draft each Monday, and soliciting donations because of a financial disaster with their old publisher. They promised that IF the book ever came out in paper, anybody who donated $25 or more would get a signed copy. Well, I did–for both “Fledgling” and “Saltation“–but they ran into problems with this one with their new publisher, problems getting the number of copies they needed for us supporters, so even though the book’s been out since March, my copy just came on Thursday. That’s okay. I’m enjoying it anyway! And, speaking as a writer, it’s fascinating seeing the differences between the first draft I saw on my computer screen a couple years ago and the final product now.

Tags: Knitting/Spinning // 1 Comment »