**Blue afghan is finished, see pg. 2 for pics**

I am knitting my mom a huge blue afghan for Christmas...AND I'm spinning the yarn for it. When it's finished, I'll start one for my sister, I'm thinking off white. I'm using my Bond knitting machine, otherwise it'll never get done. Here is how the blue one is going...

The Fiber:

Moms Afghan Fiber by twiggins975, on Flickr

On the Wheel:

Moms Afghan spinning by twiggins975, on Flickr

The Yarn - 3 ply worsted/slightly bulky:

Moms Afghan Yarn by twiggins975, on Flickr

The WIP (still on the machine, about 1/3 complete) :

Moms Afghan ont by twiggins975, on Flickr

It was hard to take a pic while its on the machine. That pic only shows one small area. There are three rows of large cables and four rows of the smaller cables. There are also butterfly stitches along the sides (you can see one of them on the right side of the pic) and the edges are ribbed. I can tell its not going to be wide enough, so I'm going to knit two more strips of cables to attach afterwards (you can knit them on as you go.) Thank goodness I've got an extra carriage so I can do both at the same time.

My sister's is going to be a bulky 2 ply yarn and I'll weave it on my peg loom. I hope to get it started by mid Oct. I'll post pics then.

What a beautiful blue and just brilliant that you are spinning the yarn yourself. I love the pattern you are using, I like the effect that cable stitch gives.

How wonderful to be able to do all these steps in the process yourself, and what a gorgeous shade of blue!

Beautiful, just beautiful!! What lovely gifts those are going to be. The blue is awesome!!

This is just beautiful and to go from spinning to knitting is wonderful. And the blue is just a lovely shade. I'm so glad that you showed us this and look forward to more updates.

Carole

Thanks for the compliments everyone!! I'll be sure and post a pic when its finished.

I am always so in awe of those that can spin their own yarns. I could never do it as I am allergic to wool and getting that close would send me in to hives. But your work is wonderful.

Thank you Rose. There are a lot of fibers available for spinning besides wool: cotton, silk, soy silk, flax, hemp, linen, milk protein, corn, alpaca (supposed to be hypoallergenic), bamboo, banana, tencel/seacell, and nylon.

edit to add banana fiber

This is so beyond the level of cool.. I am floored!!! How amazing!!! It's looking great!!
Faith

Gorgeous! Incredible work from start to finish.

You are going to have two very happy family members come Christmas, they are going to adore their presents, I am so jealous, I have always wanted to have a go at spinning, I love knitting but like you would love to be able to do it all, you are clever, how did you learn to spin? Where did you get all that wool from?
Good luck with the next one and love to see all the pics.
Glen x

Thanks Faith & Wandatoo.

Glen - Thanks. Believe it or not I learned to spin from youtube. I first spun on a drop spindle and then bought a used wheel off craigslist. I also learned to knit and weave on youtube. I don't have anybody I know to show me these things.

I get most of my fibers from the internet - mostly The Sheep Shed Studio, some from Paradise Fibers - and I go to fiber festivals. Today I went to a local festival and bought a big bag of llama wool. Usually I buy it already dyed, as the blue above. But I do some dyeing every now and again too.

If I 'wanted to do it all' first I would raise the sheep, shear them every spring. Skirt, shake and wash the fleece. Run the wool through the picker, then either comb or card it, then dye it. I usually jump in at this stage and buy it already dyed and ready to spin. I will never do it all, but todays llama find was raw wool, meaning it's full of twigs and hay and 'um', drippings, and will need a thorough scouring. I don't fool with doing that very often, but the wool is so much cheaper that way, and that llama was sooooooo soft I couldn't pass it up. I don't have a wool picker either, so tomorrow I'll just put in a movie and start picking out that stuff by hand.

Teresa you are an inspiration to everybody, you picked it all up from the internet, just shows what we can all do if we try, I am going to have a look at spinning and it is all thanks to you. Thanks for the internet sites too.
Glen x

Yay I got someone interested in spinning! Let me know if you have any questions. Another fun website is The Woolery. And Etsy and Artfire are great for indie (independent), one of a kind items like handmade spindles, hand dyed wool, and specialty fibers like possum, yak, bison, etc.

Really lovely! Congrats.

wow, that's amazing, I've been knitting and crocheting for years but have never imagined spinning it myself (probably because I don't like the feel of animal fibers) but wow, the knitted up yarn looks perfect.

Wow, I'm so impressed that you're spinning your own yarn for this! It's a gorgeous colour too and lovely cable design. Can't wait to see it finished.

Wow! Just... wow! I couldn't be more impressed if I tried - this is looking GORGEOUS! I adore the colour and the pattern and I love that you're spinning the yarn yourself - how much more personal can a gift get?

Thanks everyone! I'm still working on the blue one. The main section is finished, off the machine and all thirty ends woven in. I'm spinning more yarn now to make it wider. I'll be adding another (different) cable design on each side.

I haven't even started on my sister's afghan, though I'm thinking about knitting it instead of weaving it. But now I have a 2nd spinning wheel that will really help. It has bigger bobbins so I can make skeins twice the size. That means less ends to weave in.

I'm learning a lot about this knitting machine, so I hope my sister's project will go faster.

Update on my moms afghan - I finished the right strip last night and cast on for the left strip. I estimate the afghan will now be 46.5" wide instead of 33"...MUCH better.

I have also started my sister's afghan on my peg loom. I've picked a variety of yarns in the colors of her living room - white, red, gray and black. Here is a pic of the loom partially warped (no weaving on it yet). I know it doesn't look like anything right now, but it shows some of the yarns I'm using, the thick white one being handspun.


Mohimowolo warp closeup by twiggins975, on Flickr