Jobo Designs

Years ago when I started spinning. I bought a 2 ounce braid of gold/yellow/red alpaca fiber from Fleece Artist.  I figured since I was just learning, it was ok to buy some small braids and just learn on them.  The finished yarn reminds me a bit of a roll of Life Savers candy. or maybe a bowl of Froot Loops?

I spun a small skein of Navajo 3-ply yarn and gave it to my Mom to knit something with.

Well, she decided to make a little pair of mittens and hold onto them until someday when a little grandkid came along. well BINGO! There IS a cute little grandkid, and now she is going to have warm little fingers all winter. They are still a little bit too big, but that's ok.

They're woolly and warm, and knit by her Grandma, and that's all that matters

Ever since learning about the fine wonderful lace of Estonia, Orenburg, and Shetland... I have been dreaming of spinning a truly cobwebby and fine yarn to knit something as authentic as possible.  These yarns are so fine, froghair fine, intimidatingly fine...

My latest yarn is actually not that far off of being fine enough to try ? ack!

To give you an idea... here is my 2 ply yarn compared with a skein of Knit Picks Lace yarn ?>

Their skein is 440 yards per 50 grams. (that?s approximately 4000 yards per pound)

Mine was 185 yards in 9 grams.  No that isn?t a typo.  9 grams. (That?s about 9300 yards per pound!)

I bet if my yarn was 100 % wool instead of having a silk component, the yards per pound ratio would have been lighter still...

To give you an idea... true gossamer threads used in Orenburg lace knitting are somewhere around 10000 ? 15000 yards per pound.  Cobweb is considered to be anything finer than 6000 yards per pound, or 40 wraps per inch.  My thread was around 50 wraps per inch.

:)  Maybe I can accomplish something like the old master lace knitters some day?  I guess I?ll keep on practicing!  Knitting with thread you can hardly see is quite a challenge also.  I find going back to sock yarn after knitting with this feels like knitting with rope...

A nice balanced 2 ply... super shiny... and with just a little halo!  As it is knitting up... the halo is gently rising to a nice soft fuzz...

Full Skein Glamour Shot:  9 grams = 185 yards.  Yes, it fits in the palm of your hand, literally!

As a post holiday treat (using some of the money I earned on holiday custom knits) I ordered myself some batts from a company I?ve been dying to try ? The Cupcake Fiber Company.  Their products are tailored to lace spinners? with smooth blended colors, fibers like silks bamboo and merino, 6 ounce put ups, and measured weight batts? basically I just have to grab a batt and start spinning :)  And don?t you just love the packaging?  So simple and elegant? and neat for storage too!

?Water? Colorway? Merino Silk

Maybe after I finish a few things, I can take this and start out on a new spinning project.  I?d like to aim for a soft and airy medium weight lace yarn? and maybe pair it up with some beads of some sort.  with the 6 ounces I should be able to get excellent yardage and hopefully make something larger.