I’ve been on a bit of a designing kick lately and have been charting, swatching, and writing like mad. Unfortunately, most of these projects will have to be kept to myself until closer to their release dates, but for now, here’s a peek at my latest swatch:
Yarn is Knit Picks Stroll (75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon [462 yds / 100 grams]), colorway Foilage Tonal.
I meant to post my wrap up right after the Tour de Fleece ended, but lots of things got in the way. Now it’s two weeks after and I’m finally able to get around to it. Timely, I know.
I’m pretty proud of what I was able to accomplish. Not only did I meet each of my goals (spin every day, try new things, improve), but I also spun a pretty impressive amount. In the end, I managed to take 31.6 ounces and turn it into 1766 yards of finished, usable yarn.
Clockwise, from top left corner: Touch the Rainbow (100% Polwarth wool, 244 yds), Barbe à Papa (100% Rambouillet, 134 yds), Sunrise in Taos (100% Merino, 300 yds), Constellation (100% Targee wool, 282 yds), Douglas Fir (100% Falkland wool, 180 yds), Electric Lilly Pad (100% Rambouillet, 382 yds), and Deep Blue Sea (100% BFL, 244 yds).
Not pictured is the 50% Merino 50% Tencel blend I purchased from Spincerely Yours. I was only able to get half of it spun during the Tour and still haven’t managed to finish it.
I’m eagerly looking forward to next year. I can only imagine what I’ll be able to do once I’m a more experienced spinner.
Congratulations to every one who participated this year. I hope you were all able to best your goals as well!
Tonight marks the official end of the Tour de Fleece! I decided to end on a great note and finished my rainbow Polwarth singles:
I’ll be able to ply it tomorrow night and then I’ll have the final numbers for yardage and weight spun during the twenty-three days of the tour.
It’s going to be strange waking up tomorrow and not having the Tour to look forward to. Ah well, I guess I’ll just have to wait for next year to roll around!
My day job has been throwing extra hours on top of my usual shifts and, quite honestly, it’s been driving me a bit batty. Lately it feels like I spend most of my time there! This simply will not do, so I decided to take advantage of my single day off this week and head out of town for a few hours. The husband and I drove down to Santa Cruz (only about an hour and a half drive from us) and ventured to the Natural Bridges State Beach. Neither of us had been there before, but we heard there were tide pools and wanted to see them. It was a lovely beach, if somewhat kelp-covered, and we had an enjoyable afternoon scrambling over the rocks, spotting small crabs and other sea life, and snapping photos of all the natural wonders we found.
Back from the beach, I got to work on my fiber obligations. I skeined and washed up both the Poppy Flower Fibers BFL and the Ambrosia & Bliss Rambouillet. Both skeins are currently hanging up to dry so that I can snap some photos tomorrow, time permitting. The newly freed up bobbins meant that I could dive into the special surprise I ordered for myself from the Loopy Ewe!
There was a braid of Perchance to Spin Polwarth dyed like a brightly colored rainbow that caught my eye. I had to have it, so I ordered it and a few other items. Everything got here Wednesday and today, Friday, so I was eager to get started as soon as possible. I’m having a great time working my way through each color, even if I am feeling a little guilty for pushing the 50% Merino / 50% Tencel roving I was working on yesterday to the wayside.
The rest of what came along with the Polwarth:
In the pile are some returning favorites of mine (Dream in Color, Madelinetosh, Trekking XXL) as well as some new (to me) delights (the Sanguine Gryphon, Julie Spins, Fiberphile, Loopy Ewe Solid Series). Most are for a secret project I’m currently working on, but a couple purely for pleasure skeins did sneak their way in. I can hardly wait to dig in, but alas, I will have to as my replacement ball winder won’t be here until Monday and I’m much to spoil to wind them by hand anymore.
I can’t believe it’s day twenty already! Time certainly does seem to fly when you’re having fun.
I have been diligently spinning, despite what my silence for the past four days would lead you to believe. It’s been hard to find time to slip away and commune with the wheel, but I’ve tried to grab every opportunity possible. We have family visiting us from France currently, so that’s where most of my attention has been focused (as it should be).
Tonight has been quiet, however, so I took some time to ply the fiber that’s been sitting on my bobbins for far too long.
I’m really hoping to be able to invest in some new bobbins soon! Four regular sized bobbins and one jumbo is very limiting when I’m trying to piggy back projects as much as I have been lately. I keep trying to catch a restock at either Paradise Fibers or the Woolery, but I seem to always be out of luck.
Any one know of a good, reliable source for Lendrum bobbins?
The past couple of days have been incredibly warm around here. We’ve been seeing temperatures in the 90s and even the nights have been uncomfortable. Spinning in this kind of weather is quite unbearable, so even though I did manage to sneak a few minutes in here and there on days fourteen and fifteen, I mostly found other things to do.
Tonight was cool enough that I was able to get some substantial spinning done, so I finished up the last of the singles out of the pink Rambouillet top from Ambrosia and Bliss.
I hope to be able to sit down and ply it tomorrow evening. I still haven’t plied the teal BFL I spun up before this one, so I have lots to get done!
Just a quickie tonight as I’m in a bit of a rush.
The green Rambouillet purchased from Ambrosia & Bliss finished drying last night, so I took it outside to grab a photo before adding it to my ever-growing stash. As far as actual spinning goes, I finished the second bobbin of Poppy Flowers Fiber BFL, so I pulled out another braid of Ambrosia & Bliss Rambouillet to spin while I wait for the BFL to rest. I managed to get about a third of the way through and should have it finished by tomorrow night.
The first bobbin’s worth of the Poppy Flower Fibers BFL is now complete. I got a head start on the second bobbin tonight, as well, and it’s now about half way done.
My big project of the evening, however, was a homemade “Handy Andy.” I sketched out the basic design and desired measurements and my husband kindly cut a section of pvc pipe up for me. The whole thing takes only seconds to assemble and then collapses back down for easy storage when not in use. I picked up the basic supplies at Home Depot for less than five dollars.
I got off to quite a bit of a late start tonight thanks to other obligations, but I did accomplish quite a bit regardless. The green Rambouillet was skeined and washed. It’s now hanging up to dry. I also got started on a braid of beautiful BFL from Poppy Flower Fibers (now Wabi Sabi Yarns).
Today was one of the two official “rest” days for the Tour. Although I had no intention of letting my wheel sit unused today, I did decide to focus on some other things that needed my attention.
I worked on my much neglected socks that I was supposed to have finished for the Socks Knitters Anonymous June challenge. The gusset is now finished which means I just have to power through the last two and a half repeats and do the toe bit. I’m still working on the written pattern for this design, as well, but I hope to have that completed and off for testing by the end of the month (I’m making no promises, however).
I also plugged away on yet another Noro striped scarf. This time I’m actually using Noro. I despise the stuff, but it was what my husband selected, so I’m sucking it up for the time it takes me to get through sixty or more inches of 1×1 ribbing (cry!).
Today was also a great opportunity to work on my Hindi lessons. I love the language and have been meaning to learn it for years, but haven’t had the tools to do so before. My husband was kind enough to pick up the Rosetta Stone language pack for me and I also found a CD-based learning set at a used bookstore. The CD lessons have been loaded onto my iPod so I can take them with me when I’m on the go. It’s a hard language, made extra difficult by the fact that I’m no longer young or mentally spry enough to pick it up right away, but I’m slowly absorbing it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to hold a conversation!
Of course I didn’t leave my wheel alone today. At the very start of the Tour I decided that I would forgo the rest periods and keep on spinning daily. In keeping with that goal, I spent several hours Andean-plying the electric green Rambouillet. They’ll be ready for skeining tomorrow night, so I’ll snap a quick photo then.
I greatly enjoy the lack of waste associated with the Andean-ply, but it cuts off my circulation no matter how loose I try to wind it onto my hand. When I try doing it from a center-pull cake, I end up with nothing but tangles no matter what tricks I try. I think that I may make an investment in a Handy Andy very soon.
See you again tomorrow!
I finished up the last of the three bobbins full of Rambouillet I’ve been working on for the past few days.
I’ll let them rest until tomorrow night and then Andean ply each bobbin separately. This will free up bobbin space for a scrumptious braid of Blue Faced Leicester top that I’ve had sitting in my stash since Stitches West.
I also have two finished yarns to show!
Left:
Colorway: Douglas Fir
Fiber: Falkland (wool)
Source: Girl on the Rocks
Weight: 4.7 ounces / 133 grams
Ply: 2-ply
Total Skeins: 1
Total Yardage: 180 yards
Right:
Colorway: Sunrise in Taos
Fiber: Merino (wool)
Source: BoHoKnitterChic Spins!
Weight: 4 ounces / 113 grams
Ply: Navajo
Total Skeins: 1
Total Yardage: 300 yards
We’ve had a lot of guests at the house since yesterday which has made spinning difficult and updating even more so.
I have been working on my wonderfully neon Rambouillet top, however, and managed to finish one bobbin.
Two more bobbins left to go and then it’s time to ply again.
Day six is all about Rambouillet!
I reached into my fiber stash and randomly grabbed something. It turned out to be a 4 oz. braid of Rambouillet top in greens/blues/white that I recently purchased from Ambrosia and Bliss!
As I started spinning my singles, I noticed that the colors seem to have gotten distinctly neon. I am hoping that plying will cool them down a bit, but even if it doesn’t, I have a feeling I’m still going to love the end result. I’m thinking that this skein will end up destined to be a baby garment of some kind. It would be near impossible to lose sight of a kidlet running around in colors this eye-searing!
Rambouillet is one of my favorite fibers to spin, so there’s more where this came from (though the others might be a bit more subdued in color).
The first two skeins of my Tour de Fleece are now complete.
Colorway: Constellation
Fiber: Targhee (wool)
Source: Abstract Fiber
Weight: 4 ounces / 113 grams
Ply: Navajo
Total Skeins: 2
Total Yardage: 282 yards
This was a great choice to start with. Targhee spins very similarly to Merino and is very enjoyable to work with, especially for a newbie like myself. It’s soft, squishy, and drafts smoothly. The roving did have a few neps, but I believe that was more a result of being handled and moved around a bit at the shop and in my bag after I purchased it, rather than being a fault of the supplier. The next time I’m at my LYS, I’m going to poke around in their fiber pile and see if I can find any other colorways that catch my eye.
Today was a major plying day.
I started off by trying to two-ply the BoHoKnitterChic Spins merino that I finished spinning yesterday. I somehow got it into my head that winding the single off the bobbin and into a center-pull cake would be a great idea because it would allow me to use both ends. What actually ended up happening was a horrible, tangled mess. After trying to work through the mess, I eventually gave up and just Navajo-plied the darn thing! I still got tangles due to lack of consistent tension within the cake, but they were manageable with some patience and another pair of hands.
In contrast, the plying of the Falkland wool Girl on the Rock singles from yesterday went like a dream! Originally, I was going to try Andean-plying each bobbin on itself, but I instead ended up pulling out my Lendrum’s jumbo plying head and plied the bobbins together. It turned out beautifully!
As I like to let my spinning rest in between moving it on and off bobbins, I will have to wait until tomorrow night to skein both bobbins up and wash them. It’s hard to wait, though, especially for the Falkland wool!
