Handspun from the holidays

I had a little bit of relaxation time during the holiday season, and it was nice to be able to sink my teeth into some fiber projects (both new and old).  I did start a bunch of knitting projects, but I also had time to take my spinning wheel for a, um, spin.

First off, I had to finish the roving that I was already working on.  I had purchased some really beautiful indie-dyed fiber at the 2011 Sock Summit marketplace from Wonderland Dyeworks, and I had started working on it right away.  I was spinning very fine singles, though, and it just seemed to take forever.  The extra day off right after Christmas was the perfect time to dig in and finish up that squooshy merino.  I chain plied this yarn so that I’d get shifting shades, ending up with a 3-ply fingering weight yarn.  I have 3 other colors of this fiber (plum, rust, and a dark stormy teal) that I want to spin the same way and use together in a stranded colorwork project.

This roving was some Polwarth from Woolgatherings that I purchased at the Oregon Flock and Fiber festival – it was lovely to spin, the drafting was so smooth and easy.  The colorway is unsual for me, all peach and salmon with those shots of turquoise and brown, but I thought it might be cute knit into a little baby vest for my cousin’s next kiddo.  I chain plied this into a 3-ply sport weight yarn.

This is one of my favorites!  Also from Woolgatherings, this one is Bluefaced Leicester dyed in some crazy bright colors.  I made myself a pair of rainbow mittens last year out of my handspun, and I think this is a contender for my new pair.  This yarn is a 3-ply worsted weight striping yarn too.

I’m not sure what to do with this one!  My final Woolgatherings BFL roving turned into a a heavy worsted self-striping 3-ply, but I don’t know what to make it into.  Any ideas?  It’s a little more than 100g, plenty to make into a hat or mittens or another small accessory – let me know if there’s a pattern that you love and I’ll check it out!