Butterfly e-spinner modification

In 2007 I purchased a Butterfly electric spinner (e-spinner) from Jerry Womack. Shortly after I took a several year hiatus from most of my fiber arts, including spinning.  In 2012 I started knitting again and in 2013 resumed spinning.  I got back out my Butterfly e-spinner but was not happy with the WooLee Winder that I had gotten with my e-spinner. I tend to spin very fine yarns, and the WooLee Winder pull in was too hard and erratic for these very delicate yarns.  It works fantastically for plying, and I am sure it would be great for thicker yarns, say above lace or sock weight, but for extremely fine yarns from shorter fibers it would either not pull in or it would give sudden hard tugs at the ends of the bobbins where the direction turns.  Neither of these is conducive to happy spinning.

Since a WooLee Winder is only one of several flyer options originally available for the Womack Butterfly e-spinner I tried to contact Jerry Womack for options only to find that all contact info I had for him no longer worked.  I hope he and his wife are well, but my best guess is that they are no longer involved commercially in the fiber arts so I needed to figure out whether I could make changes to my e-spinner without assistance.

One of my regular spinning wheels is a Lendrum, for which I have all but the quill head, and several extra bobbins.  I checked the length and it looked like I could use a regular Lendrum flyer on my Butterfly, if only I had the right bearings.  So I took measurements and ordered a bearing for the front orifice.  This bearing didn't seem to want to come off of the WooLee winder flyer that came with the Butterfly, so I didn't try to remove it.  The rear bearing is smaller, but comes on and off easily.  It has to be removed every time the bobbin is changed.

The new bearing and my regular Lendrum flyer fit just fine on the Butterfly spinner.  There isn't any particular pulling like the WooLee Winder does when changing directions.  The most difficult thing will be remembering to move the flyer hook as I'm not in the habit of doing that with the WooLee Winder!

Bobbins Up!

As a spinner having more bobbins to hold yarn is important.  To make a multiple ply yarn you usually need to have multiple bobbins.  Even with a simple 2-ply yarn you need 2 bobbins of singles plus a third bobbin to ply onto.  Bobbins for spinning are fairly expensive, so having a less expensive alternative for storage and to ply from is a nice option.  This rewinding not only frees up your spinning bobbins for reuse, it also helps to equalize the twist through your singles which makes plying more even and thus more successful.

So I have been considering options for some sort of bobbin winder.  These tools aren't cheap, but with the price of spinning wheel bobbins it doesn't take to many to make the bobbin winder a relatively inexpensive option.  And storage bobbins are much less expensive than spinning wheel bobbins, making the long term cost much less.

When one is working on a large spinning project, say spinning a fleece, being able to store the singles until all the singles are spun can be a useful option.  My personal preference is to keep track of the order bobbins of singles are spun then mixing the order when plying.  So say you spun 6 bobbins of singles.  I would then either spin the first and last, or first of the first half and first of the second half together.  So numbering the bobbins in order by date of spinning, bobbin #1 would be plied with either 4 or 6.  Bobbin 2 with 5, and bobbin 3 with either 6 or 4.  This isn't a hard and fast rule, but since quite a lot of time can pass between my spinning sessions I prefer to average out differences in the way I spun the singles by mixing up the plying.

Some time ago I happened to learn of a product called Bobbins Up.  It looked like a very nice idea, nice large storage bobbins that could be filled with the use of an electric drill or screwdriver.  But I didn't order any at that point, figuring to do some more research before making a purchase.

Several months went by, then Spinzilla came along and I got to thinking more about bobbins.  So I did some more research and thought that I would just get a winder through a local shop.  Only due to Acts of Nature none were available for over a month.  I decided to try to find the other bobbins, only I couldn't remember what they were called!  Did some internet searches, but didn't see them.  Finally found the right reference and ordered some.

I've been really pleased with these bobbins.  I have weighed most of the ones I got and they were all between 30.15 and 30.19 grams, most were 30.18 grams.  Since they are made of a recyclable plastic I just marked on the end with a Sharpie the weight of that particular bobbin so in future when I weigh them with yarn I'll be able to tell just how much the yarn itself weighs.

Each bobbin comes with its own bit that fits into your electric drill or screwdriver.  You really only need one, but it is nice to be able to store each bobbin with its own bit so you always know you have everything you need.

Another really nice feature of these bobbins is that one end has a whorl.  Having a whorl means that you can use your tensioned lazy kate when plying to keep it from back spinning.  Ingenious.

My order arrived in 2 days.  In fact, before the mail came that day I had sent an e-mail to the supplier asking for an estimated arrival time.  I was sent a tracking number but the package had since arrived.  I thanked them for the fast service and was told that if an order is placed before 3 PM ET it will usually be shipped out the same day.

Just in case you are wondering, no, I am not affiliated with this supplier in any way other than as a satisfied customer.  So, if you are looking for a nice, affordable, option for storage bobbins, consider trying Bobbins Up!  I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Final Spinzilla Results

Finished measuring the last of the Spinzilla singles yesterday.  Here's my final submission photo.  I tried to insert that as an image, but it wouldn't accept it.  Weird.  In all I spun 3217 yards in a week.

I've got a bobbin winder on order, which I'm waiting to come in so I can put some of these yarns back onto bobbins ready for plying.

Spinzilla!

The first full week of October is Spinning and Weaving Week.  So this year there was a contest called Spinzilla.  I joined Team Stringtopia (#teamstringtopia) spinning up a number of different fibers during the 7 days the contest ran.  Each team can have up to 25 people, and the Spinzilla pages explain about all the details.

As someone for whom spinning is a relaxation, a way to relax and enjoy fiber going through my hands to become yarn, enjoy the process as much or sometimes more than the end result, the production spinning for yardage was a bit of a jolt.  However, I put aside all my knitting projects and spun as much as I was able.  Now mind, I work full time outside the home, we have a multi-pet household and I take some classes of an evening, so the amount of time I had to spin was limited.

Knowing myself it was important to have multiple projects to work on during the week so I selected a number of different fibers.  Some were single batts, some larger amounts.  Prior to the beginning of the week I cleared my spinning equipment of yarn so I could start from empty bobbins/spindles, making it easy to keep track of just what I did during the week.

I have 2 spinning wheels, a double treadle Lendrum, and a Mazurka, and a Butterfly Electric Spinner.  The Butterfly I have been spinning up some bouncy carded dark grey wool, so using an empty bobbin I spun more of this.  As of noon on Sunday I had spun 732 yards of this wool.  The Mazurka I spun some light grey CVM cross batts.  I had recarded the wool the week before so it would be soft, fluffy and easy to spin.  And it was.  I ended up spinning 901 yards of this.

The Lendrum I used for all the other bits of fiber that took my fancy.  In September I took a class at Stringtopia called Color Blending on Drum Carder.  We made a number of interesting blends as well as batt structures like layered batts and taking a roving off through a diz.  Several of these were spun up as part of my Spinzilla spinning.  I found it very helpful to be able to switch around to different projects either as my eyes got tired or I just needed to do something different for a while.  All in all I spun over 1168 yards of singles on the Lendrum.

In addition to all this wheel/electric spinner spinning I also took a carbon fiber micro trindle spindle and bison down fiber with me when I carpooled to work.  Over 4 days of commuting I spun 3.15 grams onto one spindle then 6.63 on another.  The 3.15 grams yielded just over 61 yards of yarn.

I still have to measure how many yards are in the 6.63 grams of bison fiber and how many yards I spun on the electric spinner last evening.  However, as of this writing I measured over 2800 yards of singles spun over last week.  In addition to the measuring of yardage I also need to get a photo taken of what I have spun.

Tour de Fleece 2013 and other fibery things

I've been a member of Ravelry since February, 2008 but haven't used it extensively until this year.  Oh I'd added some of my books to the library area, put a few yarns into the stash and made some projects.  I even took some photos of my work and yarns and attached them in the appropriate places.  But I didn't use it extensively.  Then for various reasons I put my fiber stuff on the back burner for a few years.  I missed it, but was so busy with other things that there just wasn't time to do much about it.

Then in December 2012 my older son graduated from Marine boot camp at Parris Island, SC.  There were several days of family activities before Graduation Day, as well as a very long trip there and back.  Lots of time to knit and not lots of other things that had to be done!   So I dug into my languishing WIP's (Works in Progress) and found a pair of socks that were a few inches long with lots yet to do and some pretty purple yarn that I decided would become a hat.  I had a book with an interesting construction for a hat, so that's what I took.  I made a small version of the hat to better understand the construction, then made a full sized one.  I finished the hat on that trip except for the I-cord strings, which I finished shortly thereafter.

In the process I reaffirmed how much I love knitting and the fiber arts.  I kept knitting, on the way to and from work, in meetings, on conference calls, while walking the dogs, whenever I had a few minutes with nothing else that had to be done, and whenever I could multitask and do it.  Finished the knee socks.  Knit garters for knee socks.  Made another pair of knee socks.  Started another pair.  Got sidetracked by shawlettes, a shorter, crescent shaped shoulder shawl.  Made 2 of these in very different yarns using the pattern English Ivy.  I now keep them at the office as a bit of extra warmth in the A/C.

Right after Easter my new local fiber studio, Stringtopia, had a 'seasonal activity' where we dyed some tussah silk using Easter egg dyes.  I started to spin up one of the 2 lengths on a trindle, thinking to make a reasonably softly spun 2-ply.   Then a little at a time I started to get back out more of my spinning equipment, first my Mazurka wheel then the Lendrum.  The Lendrum needed new drive bands and treadle connectors, so those got replaced.

Then along comes the end of June and there is talk on Ravelry about Tour de Fleece.  The basic premise is to spin every day that the racers in the Tour de France race.  I decided this was a good way to help me focus on spinning some every day.  I'm posting photos here on Flickr.

More Wrist Warmers

I like my Cabled Wrist Warmers (details on Ravelry.com) so much that I am using some other handspun Merino to make another pair. This project is serving a dual purpose, to make another pair of wrist warmers, and to see how the K1B technique may work with socks. These K1B Wristlets are a simple tube with no shaping or patterning. I'll get an idea how the fabric behaves with the K1B.

I've finished the first one of these, except for weaving in the ends, and started the second. A fast, satisfying and useful project.

I've found using wrist warmers/wristlets to be a great way to keep comfortable on a chilly day, indoors or out. Since these leave the palm of the hand open they work at the computer, too. Styles that cover the palm interfere with using a mouse.

Spinning of Spudnick's fleece is done

I finally finished spinning Spudnick's fleece Sunday. I took 2 days to ply the 3 nearly full bobbins, winding one into a center pull ball and leaving it on the winder so the yarn would 'set' in the ball. I then plied the other 2 bobbins until one ran out of yarn. I did all the spinning, of the entire fleece, on my Mazurka, and all the plying on my double-treadle Lendrum with the plying head.

That was Tuesday evening I started the plying. Wednesday I finished plying the rest of the remaining bobbin with the center pull ball, and when that was gone the other end of the ball, finishing what has been, for me, a very long journey. I skeined, washed it and hung it (unweighted) to dry. It is now wound up and in the box with the rest of the yarn. Next step: get pictures then figure out how I want to do the yoke. Who knows, maybe I'll finally be able to wear a sweater made from this yarn next winter!

After I finish the Spiral Dance Shawl. Back to the border!

K1B Knit One Below, Wristlet

I've been working on several projects lately, mostly Spudnick's fleece and the Pink Spiral Dance Shawl, but this is one that I just restarted as a completely different garment. I had started this on size 3 US needles as a hat, using these small needles to make a more dense fabric for warmth. It made a thin, but pretty tight fabric, but the colors from this yarn spun from Ohio Valley Natural Fibers Merino core roving in black and white, was streaking shades of grey.

When I realized that I had made a mistake a couple rows below, not getting enough increases in, I decided to try something else, using the techniques from the Knitter's articles and what I've learned reading the book 'Knit One Below: One Stitch, Many Fabrics', of which I've posted previously. I decided to start another pair of wrist warmers/wristlets. I really like the way this lofty hand spun is knitting up in K1B fabric. It's very flexible, but feels like it will be thick enough to stop some wind, and yet thin enough to wear well with other clothing.

Wrist Warmers

Sunday I finished up the Handspun Mitts I've been working on, and since I was riding in the car with another hour or so in front of me, needles and yarn in my lap, I decided some more comfort was in order. The Mitts were knit in double-knitting, at 4.5 stitches per inch, so I made a rough estimate at 4 1/2 * 6 3/8 and got 29 (28.6875). I wanted ribbing, both for elasticity and for added depth to the fabric, so I decided to cast on 36 stitches and start off in 2x2 ribbing. I wanted cables, so ended up with 7 baby cables and 2 cables crossing over each other every 8 rounds to make a chain, crossing over the purl stitch next to them accordingly.

I finished the first one later in the evening, and started its mate. It's comforting to start and finish projects so fast, and I really need the added warmth sometimes. More details are on Ravelry.

Handspun Mitts

The white mitts are made from my own hand spun yarn, from Targhee wool. The pattern is one I've been working on for a while. I've actually made several pairs of these mitts, but the others I've given away as gifts. I'm still doing some minor tweaking to the pattern, and may have to make another couple of pairs to decide what will make it 'perfect'. My goal with this pattern is for the backs of my hands and wrists to be kept warm while my fingers and the palms of my hands to be open, free to knit or do whatever other activity I may feel like doing. I often walk and knit, and when it's cold out I sure appreciate some additional warmth! Oh, and these are accurate for my historical reenactments, too. Sure hope life eases up soon so I can get to some!

I need my Mitts!

It has been cold at the office lately, so I've brought in a pair of mitts to wear. They are described on Ravelry.com. I've made 2 pairs of these, one for a friend and this pair for me. The yarn used was less than a skein of Berroco Jasper, a randomly space died single ply Merino wool yarn. I need to get a better picture (this was taken with my phone under fluorescent lighting).

It sure helps to have something cozy to keep my hands and wrists warm, while leaving my fingers free to type.

I'm working on another pair out of handspun yarn, using a pattern I made up that a couple of years ago. These will leave the palms of my hands open, which will make using the computer mouse much easier. This is probably the 4th or 5th pair of these I've made, but I've given all the rest away as gifts.

Spudnick Update Pictures

I've been getting some spinning in, and this fleece sure is wonderful. I've had hundreds of hours of fun with it and I've got a lot yet to go. Here is a picture showing some of what I've gotten spun up. The big gray skein is from what I spun last summer, as is the small silver-white ball. The rest are what I've spun this winter.

The 2 shades on the lazy kate are singles, not yet plied. I'll wind them into a center pull ball to ply them. I'll be starting on the next shade, a much lighter gray, like a mix of the silver-white and lightest gray shown here.

I posted 2 pictures as they came out slightly different due to the flash, to give an idea of the shades in different light.

Spinning again

Over the weekend I finished spinning and plying the last of a dark gray/taupe CVM fleece on my Mazurka. This is the fleece I wanted to finish spinning before I started back on Spudnick's fleece, as both have been spun on the same wheel. The carded weight was 3.2 lbs. I've got 6 huge skeins of fluffy yarn. It was spun fairly softly, with lots of loft and will probably be knit on a size 8-10 US needle, maybe larger, when I get around to swatching. I've got in mind a mid-thigh length jacket/coat, probably garter stitch similar to some that Elizabeth Zimmermann or Meg Swanson have written up in their books. At least those were the books I ended up pulling off my shelf and finding what I was looking for!

Haven't decided if I should do some big cables on it, which would preclude the garter stitch, or if I should spin up some of the other, lighter gray CVM I've got around to make a contrast color to make it more interesting. Decisions, decisions!

Once I finished that on Sunday I got out all of Spudnick's carded fleece, putting part of it into the now-empty box that the dark gray/taupe was in. If I stack all 4 boxes/tubs that these carded batts are in they'll be about as tall as I am! Woohoo!! I got out some of the darkest set of batts, 3 or 4 of them in that bag, and started spinning to match my sample. The texture is a little different, not quite as smooth and soft, but otherwise similar. I need to get some pictures of the 2 shades crossing each other to show the color variation. I've really got my work cut out for me with this fleece, but it is so wonderful to work with. I definitely won't have my sweater done for this winter, but maybe I'll finish the spinning and knitting in time for next winter. Or the one after!

Processing matters

I've been spending quite a bit of my holiday processing Spudnick's wonderful fleece. I'm using a process similar to what Margaret Stove uses for superfine Merino, using a wide-tooth dog comb to open up each lock of the fleece, sorting (somewhat) by shade of color. I put the opened locks in an box, then when I finish opening all the locks of a particular shade, I card it, cut-ends first. I've still got quite a bit yet to open, but it's going well.

Spudnick Fleece Pictures

I finally got the camera out and got some pictures of the lovely fleece that I'm making my sweater out of. When I found the tub with the bags in it I was very pleased to find the tag describing it. This fleece is from a ram named Spudnick.

I've been remembering it as CVM, but the tag says that he is a mix of Corriedale, Polypay and Cottswold. It was shown by Clyde A. Vair, of Eaton, CO, and took 5th place. I guess I was told it was similar to CVM, and that's what I remembered.


This picture is of the largest bag of fleece awaiting processing. It is dark silver in color.

This fleece is soft, cushy and has a nice sheen to it. Truly lovely.


This is a close up of the bag of nearly black fleece. It is a mix of some completely black, some dark gray, some mixed silver and black.

This is a box of one batch of the fleece that has had the locks combed with a wide-toothed dog comb. In the lower left corner is a single, darker lock, from the nearly black bag, next to a tube of lip balm. This box contains medium-dark silver, just a shade darker than the medium silver shown being carded below.


Close up of the single dark lock with tube of lip balm.

This is my new Strauch carder with the medium silver going through for the 2nd time to blend it well. I ended up with 11 batts of this shade which I then split lenghtwise into 3-5 strips, attenuated, split that attenuated length into half again, and spread the attenuated strip out flat before feeding it into the carder. I used one strip from each of the original batts until the carder wouldn't hold any more.

It may have been more than I needed to do, but the blending has been very even from this method. I've currently got 5 nice recarded batts, and enough strips to make 2 or 3 more.

Sweater Update

As I may have mentioned, I got partway along on the body and sleeves of my lovely gray sweater only to realize that there wasn't enough yarn to finish it as the yoked sweater I've been dreaming of. I put it down and went on to other things, trying to decide what to do. Well, as fate would have it, I was looking for some angora/silk/Merino yarn the other day and lo and behold, I found a tub with some wool in it! I brought it in, hoping and praying that some of the bags of washed fleece was the same gray fleece that I spun over the summer. Eureka! It is! I've got nearly-black, some more similar gray, and a 2-4 times the amount of darker gray.

Yay! I may rip back to redo the yoke with the dark as well as the light, but I should have plenty for a nice yoked sweater, no problem.

Well, other than preparing to card, carding and spinning, of course!

I've got one of the bags of medium gray carded. Took me a while to figure out the best process. I have got it to where I'm using a dog comb on each lock to tease/comb it open, then laying the carded locks all parallel. Once I've got a decent amount ready I'll run them through the carder. I've run all I've got done through once, but need to split the bats, thin them down then recard them to finish blending the silver & darker gray.

Hats and Socks

I got 4 mitts, 2 pairs, out of a single ball of hand spun yarn, with a little bit left over. The double kit fabric is thick enough to be cushy and warm, but not so thick as to be uncomfortable. Since I'm working on such things, I dug out a very old WIP (Work In Progress) and decided that the best thing was some Frog Stitching. This WIP was a Stahmann scarf that I was trying to knit up in hand spun quiviut but I just didn't have enough yarn to make it. This was the 2nd thing I'd tried to make from this small amount of yarn. I kept thinking I'd get some more fiber and spin up matching yarn, but well, it's been several years now and it isn't happening.

So Frog Stitched it, rewound it into a ball and started knitting a hat. I'd hoped to have enough to make a fine cap with ear covers, but no joy. Then inspiration struck. I remembered a similar weigh of yarn that I'd spun up not long after I got my first spinning wheel, the Lendrum. It is a fine white yarn of 50% superfine Merino wool, 30% Bombyx silk and 20% angora. After poking through my boxes of fiber and spun yarns I found it! Amazingly enough it is an exact match to the quiviut. I'm not sure I could have spun it that perfectly to match if I'd been trying. Ironic I did them the same at totally different times over several years. Running your fingers across the join between the 2 yarns the texture is the only thing different, and that's not by much.

I decided that I'd make a reversible, doubled hat. It's over 1/2 way done now, and I expect will use up nearly all of the angora blend. The taupe/brown of the quiviut should look very nice with a nice fluffy white brim.

I've also been working on the socks using Cat Bordhi's new book, "New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One". I'm using I think it's Riverbed, where the shaping is under the arch of the foot. The socks really feel good on my feet, hugging in on the area where they are usually a bit loose.

Sweater on hold; Making Mitts

Well, After I got a bit done on the sleeves and the body I decided I didn't like the way it was coming out. Things have been really hectic these days, so I haven't had time to figure out if I messed up my calculations, but that's what I expect. When I get some time (after marching band season) I'll redo my calculations. I expect to have to rip back a few inches of the sleeves and body, readjust and start that part over.

In the mean time I've been aware that the lovely warm weather we've had is not going to last, so I found a ball of natural cream color hand spun Targhee wool and invented/unvented a mitt pattern. My goal was to be able to knit or spin while keeping my wrists and the backs of my hands warm. I wanted my fingers and the palms of my hands free to work.

I started by hand-chaining a length of the yarn long enough to fit around my middle or index finger, put the loop on a wooden double pointed knitting needle, then picking up one side of 3 of the chains. Turned, then knitted across those stitches, knitting into the front and back of each loop, thus doubling the number of stitches. Then I started in to make a 2-faced fabric by double knitting. After the first double knit row (k1,s1 across, turn, repeat on the other side) I did an increase at the 2nd from the end of every other row.

When this ever-increasing triangle was long enough that it would fit around my wrist it also seemed to be long enough to cover the back of my hand, so I joined, crossing the first 2 stitches of each fabric face to prevent a gap. Once joined I knit on 6 dp needles until the wrist cuff was about 4.5 inches long, say 11 or 12 cm. Long enough to give good coverage for my wrist, but not so long as to go over the larger part of my lower arm.

After wearing them some I think if I make more that I'll change the increase rate for the last few flat rows (say 5 or 6 increases) before joining to every 3rd row, making the part of the back of the hand a bit longer before joining. They are working, but I'm finding that my thumb moving around as I'm wearing them is affecting how they ride on my hand.

Silver Spudnick sweater - Yoke into Sleeves & Body

Last night I was walking with my kids, dogs and neighbor while trying to work on my sweater. I was trying to count 252 stitches, decrease by 14 stitches around while putting in markers, listen to the conversation, and put in a comment or so when I had a thought! Didn't work very well. I kept loosing track of my count, or increasing instead of decreasing.

I ended up just sitting down with it later in the evening. Decided I didn't like the last half-inch or so. I ripped back a couple of rounds, did the decrease round earlier, to remove the extra stitches I'd added to make the color pattern area big enough to match the rest, put the markers in to tell where I'll break out the sleeves and body, then went to bed.

This morning I've gotten to the point that I'm ready to cast on the underarm stitches for one of the arms, and start to split the yoke into 2 sleeves and a body! Yay!

When I get home tonight I need to take the 2nd skein of yarn and wind it into a ball. I rewound the light silver-gray I had left after making the yoke pattern. Sure is a much smaller ball! I don't know if I'll be able to do the same pattern on each cuff again, or not. I guess I'll have to see when I get there.

Silver Spudnick Sweater In-Progress

I've still got a lot to do, but here it is as of this morning.

I spent 2 wonderful days enjoying the Cincinnati Celtic Festival, sneaking in a few hours up at Wool Gathering at Young's Dairy Sunday morning. This gave me quite a bit of time to knit on the Silver CVM Sweater as I wandered around.

As previously mentioned, I cast this on so I could knit both directions from the base of the neck ribbing. I ended up knitting a couple of rounds of the neck ribbing on the same size needle as the body of the sweater, then switched from US 9 to US 6 to tighten up the ribbing. I then left the neck till later, after I'd done the patterned yoke so I'd have enough of the light silver white.

I knit the yoke patterning, but didn't like the way it came out. I hadn't added extra stitches before doing the color pattern, and the pattern sort of bunched a bit around my shoulders. I also decided it should be lower, on my upper arms, instead of just on top of the shoulders. So back I ripped, taking out the patterning, then continuing in the dark silver. I had about half a handspan (wrist to fingers) from the neck ribbing when I Celtic Festival. I knit another 2 or 3 inches on the yoke, at one point during that I decided I'd better finish the neck ribbing so I could try it on better. As you can see I put 3 stripes of 2 rounds each of the light silver in the neck ribbing. I cast of on the US size 9 needles to give the edge plenty of flexibility while staying stable.

When I figured the yoke was long enough I added some extra stitches, enough that at the end of the 26 round pattern I'd have the proper number of stitches for the number of rows I'd have, then started the pattern. As you can see, it's coming along well. In one of the typical vagaries of hand spinning, even though all of the yarn was spun to the same sample various sections of it were a bit thicker or thinner. The silver white has been a bit thicker than the surround dark silver. The silver white is thus slightly more prominent in the yoke than the gray.