I finished this handspun over the weekend…

It’s 100% merino, single-ply lace weight.  I spun it from roving dyed by The Dyeing Arts, which I purchased from The Loopy Ewe.  It was an absolute dream to spin.  I’ve spun merino-blends before, but never 100% merino.  I really think I’m in love.  When I pre-drafted it, I couldn’t get over how incredibly soft it was.  I just wanted to curl up in the basket of fiber.

There’s just over 450 yards on the skein, so finally I have enough yardage to actually knit something!  I washed it Tuesday night to set the twist, and tonight it was finally dry enough to use.  I decided to cast on a new project with it, even though I have tons of other projects on the needles already.

I didn’t even have to debate or search for a pattern: the yarn immediately told me it wanted to become the Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery. The thought of having this super-soft merino knitted into a simple, airy lace scarf to drape around my neck is just heavenly.  It seemed the perfect match-up of yarn and pattern.

So I wound a center-pull ball.  It was exciting to wind my own handspun for the first time.  It’s far from perfect; as I wound it, I could feel occasional lumps and bumps sliding through my fingers.  It’s okay though.  I’m hoping it will give my scarf some unique character.

I only knit about three rows on it tonight, so unfortunately I can’t see the pattern taking shape yet.  I’m really eager to see how the yarn and this pattern interact.  I’ve already ripped it back once because the recommended size 3 needles were a bit to small for my liking.  (I tend to be a very tight knitter too.)  So I cast on again with 4’s and that seems to be going much better.

I think this will become the next project that travels with me.  I’m almost done with the socks I’ve been knitting during lunchtime at work, so this will replace them, I think.  But unlike those socks, I think I’ll bring this home with me everyday rather than leaving it in my desk drawer.  I want to finish it as quickly as possible because I can’t wait to wear it!

And don’t think because I’ve cast on some of my handspun that I’ve abandoned spinning more.  I got an entire pound of natural dark BFL fiber in the mail from Hello Yarn today.  I’m thinking perhaps it will become a shawl or maybe a project from A Fine Fleece.  I’ll have to see how it spins up.  Here are a couple other skeins I’ve spun recently…