Spinning Ginny Spins up new Handspun Yarn

This past week I've been very busy spinning up new handspun yarn for both my website and

my Etsy store. Earlier this week I posted about my Begonia Garden Merino, Harvest/Ruby Twist Merino and Teal/Tartan Twist Merino.

Now I'd like you to meet 4 newly handspun skeins. The first is my Navy/Olive Twist Merino. I took 2 singles of Navy and Olive Merino and spun them together to make this beautiful new wool yarn. This yarn is 2 3/8 oz, 64 grams, and 286 yards.

My second skein is my Maroon/Lavendery Twist Merino. I took 2 singles of Maroon and Lavender Merino and spun them together to make this gorgeous new wool yarn. This yarn is 2 oz, 58 grams, and 209.5 yards.

My third skein is my Navy/Pewter Twist Merino. Here I took 2 singles of Navy and Pewter Merino and spun them together to come up with this pretty new wool yarn. This yarn is 2 3/8 oz, 64 grams, and 220 yards.

For my forth and last skein is my Pink Peach/Passion Twist Merino. Here again I took 2 singles of Pink Peach and Passion Merino and spun them together to come up with this lovely new wool yarn. This yarn is 1 7/8 oz, 54 grams, and 192.5 yards.

The total of newly Handspun Yarn that is now listed on both my website http://www.spinningginny.com/ and on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Spinningginnys is 7 new skeins. I hope to add more new skeins sometime in the future. Hope you enjoy these new skeins as much as I enjoyed spinning them up.

Thank you,

Ginny

2 Newly Handspun Yarns

This past Tuesday I took two singles of Harvest Merino and Ruby Twist Merino and spun them together to come up with this new yarn. I then washed it and hung it to dry.

On Wednesday morning I took the Harvest/Ruby Twist Merino (as I call it) and rewound it to get the right yardage.

This yarn came out to having 197.5 yards and is 58 grams. I have added it to my website as well as on Etsy.

Later Wednesday morning I sat down at my spinning wheel with two more singles of Teal Merino and Tartan Merino. I then spun them together to come up with this new yarn. I then washed it and hung it to dry.

This morning I finally took the Teal/Tartan Twist Merino (as I call it) and rewound it to get the right yardage.

This yarn came out to have 247 yards and is 58 grams. I have added it to my website and Etsy as well.

I hope to add a few more newly handspun yarns to both sites soon.

New Handspun Yarn

Begonia Morning Dew Merino
Originally uploaded by virginiasaccurso@yahoo.com

Yesterday I was sitting in my spinning room looking at half filled bobbins of Merino singles. I got an idea and picked two bobbins one half filled with Begonia Merino and the other half full with Morning Dew Merino. I started plying them together and this was what I came up with.

After asking a few friends on Ravelry what kind of name I should give it. They all gave me lots and lots of ideas but, the main theme was that it should have something to do with a Garden. So the name of this yarn is "Begonia Garden".

This yarn is a 2 ply yarn and has 238 yards and is 62 grams. Its a one of a kind yarn.

Busy Week Ahead

Well, yesterday started off a busy week here at Spinning Ginny's. I started it off with making 6 new bars of Yellow Lemon Goats Milk Soap. Then I felted a new purse that I had finished on Saturday. Loaded pictures on my computer of my Pink/Peach Diamond Handwarmers, Pine Merino Scarf, and Felted Purse with Clutch Handles. Then I wrote about each of these in my blog.

Today I need to knit on a new pair of socks that I started on last night. Then I need to wrap up my new soaps (that I made yesterday) and label them. I will also be spinning today on my drop spindle. I have the 4th batt almost spun up and need to spin up the 5th and last batt before taking it off and winding it up on my niddy noddy into a skein to be washed.

Wednesday, I will be carding up some new batts, spinning wool, and knitting on socks.

Thursday, I'm taking the morning off to take 2 of my dogs into the vet for their yearly shots. Then when I get back home its back to spinning and knitting.

Friday, and Saturday I will be spinning and knitting too. So you can see why I am saying that its going to be a busy week ahead.

Felted Purse with clutch handles

After finishing up the Pine Reversible Scarf, I wanted to knit something different, that would allow me to use up leftover yarn. So I went looking through patterns on Ravelry and came across a pattern for a Felted Purse with Clutch Handles. I thought it was was very cute and thought I'd give it a try, using some of my leftover handspun yarns.

I pulled out my size 10 circular knitting needles and rewound some left over handspun Pine Merino and White Blueface Leicester wool. I then started casting on with the White Blueface Leicester yarn first for the handle portion of the purse. After finishing the white portion of the front side of the purse I changed over to my Pine Merino and continued following the pattern, decreasing where needed for shaping of the purse. When all the decreases had been made for the front side, I knitted with no decreases for a few rows for the bottom of the purse. Then I started up the back side with some increases where needed for shaping. When I finished all the rows that were needed for the Pine Merino, I changed back over to my White Blueface Leicester and started shaping the handle for the backside of the purse. Once I finished that I sew it up and then placed it in my washing machine with some very hot water to felt it. I had to wash it twice to get it to felt to the right size I wanted. Then I sewed a snap to the inside and added a few embroidered flowers to decorate it up a tiny bit.

I had a lot of fun making this purse and will probably knit up a few more.

Pine Merino Reversible Scarf

On February 15, 2010 I started knitting up this Reversible Scarf. I started it late in the evening, so only knitted up 1 inch of it that night. The next morning I picked up the scarf and started in knitting on it and managed to memorize the pattern so didn't have to look at my computer copy of the pattern.

I used a size 10 circular needle as I didn't have any straight size 10 needles in the house. When I first started knitting on this scarf I was using a size 8 but the gauge wasn't coming out right and so I went up in needle size. After 3 days and 1 hour of knitting I finished this scarf. Its a very fast knit, But I had lots of interruptions, dispite the fact that my children are all grown up. LOL

Anyway's after finishing this scar I noticed when measuring it for the length and width, that the width wasn't 5 inches wide like the pattern called for. Instead its about 4 inches wide. Oh well, guess my 2 ply handspun yarn is much thinner then the yarn that the pattern called for. Still the scarf turned out pretty. Its very soft and definitely will keep you warm. I also knit tight despite the size needles I'm using so maybe that had some to do with the width as well.

Knitting 4 myself first in 2010 (Third Project)

When I decided to knit some items up for myself this year, a pair of handwarmers was one of the items. I had just recently knitted up a pair of handwarmers for a customer and really liked how they come out. So I thought I'd make myself a pair and went looking for a new handwarmer pattern. I came across this pattern on Ravelry and thought it was really cute. I pulled out some of my left over handspun pink peach merino yarn and started knitting. I had to adjust the pattern to the 52 stitches I was casting on and that took a little extra time. However, once I finished knitting up the handwarmer for the left hand, I didn't have to much to adjust too much for the right hand. The diamond is a little off center on the right hand but not by much.

Since knitting them up, I've worn them several times and the keep my hands very warm. I now have 3 new items I've knit for myself this year and I am loving all my new items. I'm wearing my socks right now and wear my hat and handwarmers everytime we go out.

http://www.simplysockyarn.typepad.com/