After experimenting yesterday with the thread and yarn purchased Monday, we returned to the store for even finer thread and smaller hooks. Really fine thread is necessary to create lacy patterns in circles less than two inches in diameter.

In addition to the size 3 (2.1mm) thread crochet hook originally purchased, I now have a size 7 (1.65mm) and a size 10 (1.15mm) hook. I also have some #30 crochet thread in addition to the much larger #3 thread originally purchased.

I have learned that I have serious gauge and consistency problems at extremely fine sizes. I’m trying to work three to four rounds in under two inches. The first round is single crochet into the starting loop which is then tightened. To achieve a lacy look, I must then work two or three rounds out from there. Right now, I’m adding lots of stitches per inch using a smaller hook and finer thread, but I’m working so loose and inconsistent that my row gauge – or whatever you call row gauge in the round – hasn’t decreased between the size 3 hook on size #3 thread and a size 7 hook on #30 thread.

The good news is these little embellishments will be quick and easy once I figure them out. The bad news is I’m working so tiny I’m scared to even try the size 10 hook at the moment.

Sorry. No pictures today. No spinning, either and only a couple stitches on the sock.

I picked up a new toy and some new yarn at the store last night.

Here is the new toy. This is a size 3 (2.1 mm) thread crochet hook. I’ve never worked with a thread crochet hook before.

The white ball on the left is the new yarn. Technically, it’s size three mercerized cotton fashion crochet thread. I’m surprised by how stiff the thread is. Not only does the thread have no drape, it’s stiff enough that the tight corners in fine crochet are difficult – at least it’s much stiffer than the handspun and millspun alpaca of similar diameter that I have worked with.

The gold and red cones on the right are from the stash. They’re approximately the same size as #3 crochet thread, but they have more drape. These were purchased years ago as warp yarns for the loom that is long since sold. (We owned a 45″ floor loom for a number of years, but it functioned mostly as a clothes rack so we sold it.)

And here are the first two finished objects created with my new thread crochet hook. These are “embellishments". Scrapbookers (or is it scrappers) will recognize the term. Pam is a scrapbooker – actually, she focuses on stamping and cards. This will be her website when she gets time to develop it. Pam will use these small finished objects in her craft.

For years, Pam and I have wanted to craft together, but our crafts have seemed incompatible. I admire, but do not covet her pretty papers. She admires my fiber and suggests some blends when carding, but she has absolutely no interest in my yarn. I stamp a little bit on occasion. Pam does a little needle felting on occasion. Our crafting interests simply don’t intersect.

In the past, I have made hand crocheted scrunchies from leftover scraps of handspun alpaca yarn. Scrunchies are great projects because they’re quick! It occurred to me that I could work make small embellishments for Pam’s cards and they would be similar projects – small and quick. Handspun alpaca isn’t really appropriate for cards and my crochet hooks are all pretty much too large for these tiny objects, hence yesterday’s trip to the store for thread and a hook.

This is the promised third finished object. I didn’t finish it, the our tomato plant did.

Sock progress – about three stitches. Spinning, none.

File this entry under blatant advertising, but it’s almost a food and cooking post and occasional food posts are allowed in fiber blogs. Besides, I’m advertising for some people who own alpacas, so this counts as an alpaca post. Ok, I’m cheating, but not by much.

Attention wine drinkers. Here is a great way to take that wine to your local concert in the park. Some alpaca friends of ours – Ipo Nani’s first humans – have a new enterprise. They are making Winestems which are outdoor wine glass holders. These nifty little devices are great holding wine glasses without spilling. The design allows you to reach the glass while sitting on a blanket or lounging in your portable chair.

You could use these while spinning or knitting at an outdoor public event. That makes Winestems an unusual spinning tool. Therefore, this really does count as a fiber post.

I continue knitting on the sock. Some days, progress is two or three stitches. Other days, progress is substantial.

Note that it has an ankle now and it’s actually looking like a sock. I don’t know how much more ribbing I need to make, but I’m close to the point where I get out my favorite worn-out work socks and start comparing ankle heights.

Still no spinning progress.

I forgot to mention it in yesterday’s entry, but our first tomato of the year is starting to ripen.

There are days – sometimes weeks – when I just don’t know what to write. I don’t even really feel like writing. Other times, I feel like I “ought” to write something in the blog, but nothing that’s happening in my life seems to be something appropriate for this blog.

Spinning and fiber aren’t my only interests. I’m also interested in energy – conservation and alternatives, birds, books, gardens, and some other things. In this blog, I try to keep the scope limited to fiber.

When we had our alpacas on the farm, I included alpacas as part of the animal husbandry side of spinning. We no longer keep our alpacas on our property, so one of my major alternate blog topics is not nearly so readily available.

Gardening and cooking seem to be fair game for knitting blogs, so I include some in my blog. However, this is a fiber blog, and there is only so much one can write about a three-pot garden on an apartment deck.

I spend a bit of time watching and looking for birds. There are some open fields and two small retaining ponds between here and work, plus there’s a horse pasture and hedgerow near the apartment complex. I walk to work over half the time and I watch for birds on the way. So far, I have identified 39 species in Madison County, AL since moving here at the end of January and I’ve seen 32 species in the vicinity of the apartment and work. (As opposed to the 81 species observed on or from our property in Oregon in the years 2000-2006.) I do occasionally include birds in my blog, but they’re not a particularly popular topic for fiber blogs, so I try to keep the content minimal.

Then there are the topics I simply don’t want to write about in public, or feel the need to keep separate from this blog. My employment in the retail sector, for example, provides plenty of blog fodder, but so long as I need that paycheck, very little of the negative or quirky content will end up in this blog. Similarly, I have lots of thoughts on energy, food safety, food quality, agriculture, and related topics – all have little to do with spinning. Hints of these will show up in this blog, but I’ll force myself to keep that content minimal.

So, what have I been doing since that last post? I’ve gone to work five days a week, added two inches of ribbing to the sock, read one and a half books, done some family stuff, identified ten new (to me in Alabama) species of birds, picked up the first two deliveries from our CSA, cleaned, cooked, and a bunch of other things.

Yeah, I’m still here. I’ve been doing some interesting activities and many mundane chores. It’s just that none of them fit this blog.

The heel of the sock has been turned. I’m starting up the ankle and into the ribbing. The heel is adequate, but I won’t call it perfect.

There are still holes, but they’re much smaller. There are some inconsistencies, but they’re livable. I’m willing to live with the sock as it is and I’m willing to wear the sock as it is. A first pair of socks is supposed to be a learning experience, and I have learned.

I’ve also learned that I probably need to do the heels when I can focus.

Anyhow, I’m now to the ribbing.

In garden news, our tomato plant is doing well:

But the fruit aren’t turning red yet!

Emmy Wrote:

I hated short row heels. Enough that I knit my next two pairs of socks top down (I’ve only knit three pairs of socks so far). I’m planning on using one of the heel flap modifications for toe up socks on my next pair…

Thanks for the comment, Emmy.

I have some difficulty following patterns exactly. I do much better when I can start with a basic concept and knit to shape. I figured it might be easier to knit a toe-up sock, because I could work to size/shape more easily. The way I think about the world – trust me, nobody else sees it my way – a toe-up sock is all patterns so long as one keeps stitch count in mind.

Since deciding to work a toe-up sock, I have realized that I need to count the rows on the first sock in order to make the second sock the same size. Oh, bother! I may try a top-down sock next time.

My problem with the heel turned out to be that I was allowing the color change to fool me – and perhaps making the color change one loop too late. The way I made the color change, I ended up with one main color stitch on the needle when I started my short rows. The pattern calls for knitting half the sock, then wrapping the next stitch in the turn. I then purl back half the stitches in the sock and wrap the next stitch to turn. What I think I did wrong was to rely on the color change instead of counting stitches – meaning I wrapped the first main stitch instead of purling it and wrapping the second. I have corrected this error and we shall see if this makes the heel go more smoothly.

I need to do some reading on color changes, because I think I should/could have switched yarn one stitch earlier to avoid the carry-over main color stitch.

There is still the issue of holes in the heel. I’ll let you know how that goes in about sixteen rows.

Three rows of heel. Knit, purl, knit.

Count stitches.

Somehow, in three rows of short-row heel, I have dropped a stitch. Actually, I haven’t dropped the stitch. I’ve misplaced it. I’m short a stitch on the short-row heel section and long a stitch in the part of the sock that’s not getting knit.

I never did figure out where the problem was on the first pass, but symptoms were similar. The lost stitch may have been at the first turn from knit to purl. I’m wondering if that’s where the problem is this time.

[sigh]

Lets try this heel again.

I finished knitting the heel of my sock yesterday and eagerly switched back to the main color to resume circular knitting after the short rows. As I completed the first circuit, I noticed some holes where the short rows met the circles. As I completed the second curcuit, I noticed the holes were growing.

This was not a small hole, this was a large hole. Were it in the toe of the sock, it might allow an entire toe to escape. These socks are intended for winter wear in a cold climate. The objective is to keep the cold out. A hole this size will let in not a little cold, but a lot of cold. Far too much cold to be tolerated in an alpaca sock.

I stopped.

I examined my knitting.

I counted my stitches.

I noticed I was short a few stitches.

I examined my knitting again, noticed why the holes were growing, and put the whole thing down very, very carefully. Using a crochet hook and this fantastic repair method, I picked up the dropped stitches and got all the loops back on the needles.

Catastrophe averted, I examined the knitting again.

The holes were only slightly smaller.

I counted stitches again.

I was still short a stitch.

I sighed. I looked for the error. I re-examined the knitting.

And, I ripped out the entire short-row heel.

From reading various blogs, I know there is a problem with holes in the knitting where the stitches are picked back up after the short rows. I have read of various schemes to avoid these holes and I thought I executed one properly. Evidently, I was inconsistent. One side of the heel was very nice. There were no holes on that side and the seam where the short rows meet was essentially invisible. The other side was a ladder of dime-sized holes in the sock. The symptoms suggest some sort of difference between a knit turn and a purl turn at the end of the row. Whether the problem is a difference in tension or execution, I don’t know.

I never did figure out where that missing stitch went.

Wish me luck, I’m about to try turning that heel again.

Jan from Critterville (sorry, no link) wrote:

Hi Guy,

I have searched many sites trying to find the best way to prepare raw Suri fleece. It is very long 6-9 inches. I believe it is too long to hand card and not damage. Using a flicker gets all the tangles out but seems to be wasted fiber. Should I have hand carded or continue? When I spin the long flicked fibers should I try and spin from the cut end or should I fold them over my finger to spin a fine yarn.
Finding general info is great but I need more details.

I love your site and blog.

Thanks a Lock
Jan from Critterville

My response is as follows:
Suri can be spun from the lock. I have never been happy with my results spinning suri from the lock, but I have heard of spinners who have made very nice yarn spinning from the lock.

I have heard of, but not tried, spinning suri from the fold. I have read about very nice yarn being made from the fold. My concern about spinning from the fold is that when I accidentally fold long suri fibers in the spinning process, I can feel the folds as poky bits in the yarn and I try to avoid folding long suri fibers.

I have heard of spinners going through a very long-staple fleece and cutting the fleece in half lock by lock so that it could be carded by conventional equipment.

I have carded long (over six inches, I don’t know about nine) suri fibers with my Ashford hand cards. The results were spinnable, but not great and I did break some fiber in the process.

I have successfully carded the same fiber on my Louet drum carder. The Louet has a larger main drum than some carders which helps with long fiber. The fiber would wrap all the way around the feed drum, so I fed it over the top of the feed drum directly onto the main drum – essentially drafting out of the lock onto the drum. After the first pass, I was able to feed it through the normal way. There was extra work involved in cleaning up the feed drum after carding, but the roving was nice. I did break some fiber in the carding process, but it wasn’t a big deal. I was much happier with the results from my Louet than from my hand cards.

I have had wonderful results blending long suri fiber with huacaya fiber. I talk about the results in my May 15th entry.

Eventually, I sent the balance of this very long fleece off to be professionally processed. The mill rejected the fiber as too long for their equipment.

Regarding your specific questions about suri fiber, my best advice is to go with what the fiber gives you. If I had the fiber in my hands, I would play with various techniques until I was happy with the yarn. Without having the fiber in hand, my thoughts are as follows:

Have you tried using the flicker to just open the tips of the locks? Don’t flick or card the whole lock, just loosen an inch or so at the tip. I think this might open the lock enough that you can draft more easily while spinning from the lock.

My preference is probably to continue carding, using either hand cards or a drum carder with an oversize drum.

As stated above, I prefer to spin from the tip when working with suri because I have poor results with folded fibers. However, if you can make good yarn by spinning from the fold, then by all means spin from the fold.

Finally, I would try to find out how Icelandic wool is processed. Icelandics are a double-coated sheep and the outer coat can get very long. I know there are special uses for this outer coat and I am assuming there are special ways to process this wool, but I don’t know what they are or if they are relevant to processing suri.

I hope this helps you, Jan, and I hope it helps others out there. Good luck with that fleece.