Making new and using old

I finished that little skein of handspun Polwarth-Silk – it feels so soft and lovely!

I spun all three pieces onto one bobbin and just separated them by a little bit of red fiber.

Then I was able to wind them off onto separate storage bobbins before plying.

After my little sample, this large skein yielded 85 grams of 3-ply worsted-spun yarn, about 312 yards. I’m totally not sure what to do with it, but it’s done. It felt so good to return to my wheel.

Now for the older yarn. Some of the knitters in my group have made the ZickZack scarf – has that craze hit your neck of the woods yet? You are supposed to use two different self-striping yarns. The more different they are, the more spectacular the results. Kris and I decided to start ours over the holiday break, and I was just itching to choose yarn. I found every single skein (and partial skein) of self-striping yarn in my stash:

It was nighttime, sorry about the poor light. One of the most interesting things about this project is that everyone has completely different ideas about which colors to pick. I posted this on Instagram and got three different combinations, none of them using the same yarn! And none were what I was drawn to.

I start knitting with the Opal neon rainbow skein, which I planned to combine with the blue and brown Felici. As soon as I cast on, though, I started doubting my choice. This is a SCARF and it has to be soft. Opal sock yarn is rugged and toothy, not really neck material. So I went back to Ravelry to look some more.

That’s when I noticed that some people were using hand-dyed skeins that were not technically self-striping. HMMMM. I went back to my stash cabinet and looked for wild skeins that were also soft. Here is what I chose:

The green and purple skein is Knit Picks Stroll in a colorway called “Make Believe” – I think we’re supposed to think about fairies and princesses with the purple, and frogs with the green. It actually has quite a few different colors in it, which I like. I got it in 2009 (won it in a contest). The pink and yellow skein is Tess’ Super Socks and Baby. I bought it at MDSW in 2006!!!! 2006, people. I think I should get double points for using a skein this old. I never made it into socks because I knew it would pool like nobody’s business, but this seems like a good destiny for it. Both are merino/nylon blends, and the merino makes them a LOT softer than the Opal yarn.

Here is how they play together. The yellow is minimal, and the shades of pink and purple blend beautifully into a delicious plumminess. I think this will be a good travel companion over the holiday break.