OK.
Judging from the radio silence, you guys don’t share my love of naughty words.
Sometimes I just can’t help myself.
But today…
Today I have something completely not naughty to share with you.
This was my project for the November 2012 Woolalong (the ongoing breed study inspired by Clara Parkes’ Knitters Book of Wool). In November, our breed was Suffolk, which is a down-type wool.
Nice and crunchy. Soft, but not too soft. A nice woolly wool. (Be careful when shopping for Suffolk, by the way. There is a gray/silver wool that is often labeled as Suffolk, but it’s not the real thing.)
I ordered some lovely two-ply yarn from Shady Side Farm in Michigan. They took a strand of lighter and a strand of darker wool, added a little nylon for strength, had them spun up and plied against each other, and then dyed for this nice effect.
(Look! If you really like it, there’s a skein of this exact color and everything, available right here. And there is also roving, if you’d rather spin your own. And and and! There is Polypay roving and yarn in the shop as well. Plenty of goodies to pick from. If you’re not me, that is. Because wool diet, remember?)
It knit up beautifully. And once I got through the holiday knitting and was only working on these socks, they were done lickety split.
Pattern is Cabin Socks from the KBOW. No mods. Just happy happy socks.
I think the dog is impressed.
I have some top of fake Suffolk as you say, but I also have a fleece that I got for free. I’ve been dyeing it in bits and pieces, now it needs to be flicked for VM, but much of it I have to admit I’d like to put to a drumcarder, it’s quite short. Nothing over 2″. Socks look great!
Drum carding makes sense to me. I have some of the Suffolk roving, and it begs to be spun woollen.
Also, I am super-impressed with you for working from fleece. I actually really enjoy the prep process, but usually don’t want to take the time to do it.
Problem is, I don’t have a drumcarder, so the Suffolk and Dorset will have to bide their time.
So it was interesting to read your experience with it. I got the fleeces for free from my hay supplier, so I thought I might as well give it a try.
Bummer! A drum carder is one of those things I think might be good to save up for. But that’s a lot of saving!