Polish merino

I didn't know what Polish merino was, but I knew I wanted the four colorways that Phia had grouped in her Little Shop of Spinning. After spinning it up, I bought more. And more. And I will probably buy some more. I am simply enamored with this color combination.

Polish merino is a dual-purpose breed of sheep that populates Poland. It all started with some sheep from Spain, and those were later mixed with a bit of this and a bit of that. The result is a wool that is comparable to Blue Faced Leicester, Corriedale, Dorset Down or Llama. Kromski carries a bazillion colors of Polish merino roving.

This blog notwithstanding, I wish I kept better notes with details of just what I am up to on the wheel. From what I can gather, I initially blended the four colors on my drum carder, then spun and chain plied the results. This luscious skein is going to be submitted to the county fair.

Then I spun and paired each color with each other, ending up with six skeins of 2-ply. I like some of the combos better than the others.


Finally, I spun the darkest color for a core yarn, then blended the rest and used them to create an "art yarn" that I later wrapped in gold silk thread. It looks better in this photo than it does in real life. I need to perfect my core spinning skills. (As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the pairings turned out uber kinky. I'm going to call it an art yarn, too.)

I have ideas of what to do with all this yarn, but we'll have to wait and see what I settle on.

Meanwhile, I have even *more* of this fiber to spin, probably as (better) art yarn, but for now, I'm taking a break from the wheel. Other projects are demanding some attention.

Art yarn

The program at the spinning guild featured a demonstration of "art yarn" and core spinning. I did a little research first, so arrived with some core already spun and some fiber to add to it. I also deconstructed the art yarn from the last cowl project. The light blue is the core, the dark blue the main fiber, the metalic thread the wrap.

My results from the core spinning were a bit loose and wonky, so the next day, I wrapped my sample with gold silk thread. I'm not sure what I will do with it.

Knitting: Marching along on the socks, with no problems (so far). The Lempi sweater is approaching the third button hole; my stitch count was off due to an increase that did not belong, but I was able to correct the problem without ripping back.
Spinning: I'm wrapping up my adventures in Polish merino (separate post to follow). The yarn I spun at the last spin-in was SO tight, I'm not sure the result is usable unless I do something - but what? It's really kinky.

Weaving: The county fair is next week, so I have been working on a few almost-finished wall hangings to submit to the adult craft event. The Great Grizzly is warped and the hem of a rag rug started on it.

I decided that if a project sits on a loom too long, it is never going to be finished, so I might as well remove it. I cleared the Peruvian diamond project from the 24" rigid heddle loom and the krokbragg project from the inkle loom. The latter has been in limbo since before my first shoulder surgery, and the former just wasn't working out and I couldn't bring myself to work on it. It was time to cut bait or fish!

Simple Rules Cowl

I thought I had knit this pattern before, but it was one called Bamboo Bloom Infinity Scarf and Cowl. Not much difference between the patterns as they both use thick 'n thin "art" yarn, the thick purled to bring it forward in the fabric. Both are free through Ravelry.

Pattern: Simple Rules Cowl, by Stash Lounge
Yarn: Art yarn, created by Terry Guenther
Needles: US10 (except cast on and bind off using US10.5)
Modifications: Besides purling the thick, I also purl into the thick

My granddaughter actually thinks this is pretty (she's very discerning, hard to please), so it may become hers.