Handspun silk, part 1 - Bleached tussah and rainbow

This is the first of two posts on the theme, 'handspun silk'. Oddly enough, two projects have come to me (I don't choose the projects! They choose me!) that deal with handspun silk. This is the first, originating with one gorgeous, rainbow skein of handspun silk.

It's called 'Festivale', and it's from the fabulous MySweetSpot2 on Etsy. She sells gorgeous handspun yarns as well as fiber. When I saw this yarn, I knew it had to be mine.




There's one catch - it's 140 yards of fingering weight yarn. How can I show off this little bit of precious yarn? I have to make something spectacular, which will use up every bit of it. Along with the skein of yarn, I also bought 4 ounces of tussah silk roving.

My idea is to spin up the silk - which is absolutely gorgeous, by the way: it's bleached, but still has a hint of the golden blonde color characteristic of tussah silk - and use them together in a small project.



I want to knit something lacey, definitely. I'm thinking a lace scarf with the center in white, and the border in the rainbow. Either that, or a little triangular shawl. If anyone has any pattern ideas to throw at me, please be my guest. I'll have 140 yards of the rainbow, and then however much I spin up of the tussah silk roving - I have 4 ounces (somewhat more than 100g). It'll spin up into a light fingering weight, I think.

Whatever I end up making, I'm super excited about it. I love silk. I really love silk. The shine, the smooth texture, everything about it just screams luxury to me. I'm also super excited about my second handspun silk project, which I'll tell you about tomorrow (My swatch hasn't dried yet). Stay tuned.

~Joyuna (by the way, all the sock yarns are now listed in the shop)