The Tour continues, and so do I

Lance cannot hope to win, and neither can I, but I can finish, and so can he! I may not have spun the most, or the prettiest, or the artsy-est or the fastest, but I am approaching the end of the Tour de Fleece with my goal met and all the rest being gravy! This is the very end of the original 2 pounds (32 oz) of Ashland Bay Merino in English Garden. This mini skein is still not washed so it appears a bit twisty. Notice, not a blister to be found. I bet Lance can't say that! I must feel pretty secure about myself to show my feet to the world, but it is summertime and living is easy..........

And here is a basket o' yarn with the rest of the English Garden as well as the laceweight Enchanted Seas from Julie Spins.

With a few days to go in the Tour, I went up to my stash box and pulled out the Kai Mohair in the color Caribbean and began to spin so fine........ Even two ply may be too thin for my liking so I think a Navajo 3-ply is in order. This will stripe the finished yarn, so I will have to choose my pattern carefully.

Saturday was field trip day for Stacy and me. In the morning we drove up to Boulder for a tour of the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory tour. We were a bit disappointed that the machinery doesn't run on the weekends, but it was interesting anyway. We dropped a little bit in the Gift Store, and I thought the highlight was seeing the original artwork that was commissioned for the box art. It was incredibly whimsical and the boxes don't do the art justice.

After lunch at an Indian Buffet, a gastronomical flavor which I can say I introduced Stacy to, we went to a class taught by the famous Cookie A. All the sock samples from her new book were there and they may have to go into the queue for later. I have made several pairs of her Monkey Socks and this particular class was on chart reading. She went through the various charting methods and for practice we began a sample of a Celtic braid as shown.

Using her method for cabling without a cable needle was worth the price of admission, as Stacy said. I need practice, but I might just pick up the Slippery Socks again, using this method especially since it uses a one stitch cable repeatedly.

My cleaning break is over (any excuse from housework), and I must vaccuum the downstairs. The kids are coming and I am so excited, that it will be worth the effort, even it they don't notice!

Tour de Fleece, day 11

Finished the JulieSpins fiber in the color Enchanted Seas: 2-ply, nearly 400 yards and 4 oz.

Two more bobbins of the Ashland Bay Merino in English Garden.Tomorrow, I will post a cumulative effort so far.

Yesterday was a rest day from spinning, so I obeyed the rules. So what did I do??? I frogged back my Ishbel shawl which you can see to the right in my projects in its before state.. I took it back about 1 1/2 inches beyond the lace, because I was fudging so many rows to make the stitch count come out right that it was now totally wonky. Hopefully, this next time around, with all my practice on the pattern, it will come out closer to the way it was designed.

Edited to add: Looking at my spinning during the Tour de Fleece with my banner photograph, I definitely have to get out of my blue,green, teal, turquoise rut. I think I have more fibers in similar colors in my stash!

Tour de Fleece, day 4

Here are the results so far: 1 lb spun up of the Ashland Bay merino, 1 lb to go. I did get a running start with some spun before Saturday, but 2 1/2 skeins were finished since the 4th.

JulieSpins alpaca, merino, silk in Enchanted Seas. One bobbin of singles finished...about 2 oz.

My New Best Friend....

That would be my Salad Spinner, probably one of the original ones, imported from France by Moulinex in probably 1976. Back then, BK (before kids), I worked for a major department store in Denver and worked my way up to be a buyer in the Preteen department. That is a department that doesn't exist anymore with the advent of unisex styles, but it was for those girls who were too cool to be kids anymore, and not cool enough for the Juniors department. I was lucky enough to get to go to NYC twice a year for Seasonal Buying trips, and I purchased this salad spinner for myself at Macy's. At that time Macy's was a big deal...they had the parade and all and were not in every city from coast to coast. Carrying that back in my carry-on was a real hassle, but I thought I was the coolest thing ever. Of course, within a few months, salad spinners were everywhere, and like everything else, they are mostly made in China. So, I guess mine is nearly an antique...at over 30 years old and still spinning like a charm. Now that salad comes in a bag, it has been re-purposed as a spin dryer for my spun yarn after washing and setting the twist. Here is a skein of the Ashland Bay merino fiber after a good spin.

I have spun up 5 skeins of this fiber for a total of about 1 lb. Not all in the last two days, but over the last several weeks. I am really liking how it is coming out, and it will make a very soft and warm sweater. One pound to go...

For a change, I decided to start another spinning project from my stash: JulieSpins alpaca, merino and silk in the color Enchanted Seas. This fiber wants to be much finer..lace weight, so it will be slow going. I guess I will switch off between the two projects to stay motivated during the Tour de Fleece. I discovered that my satellite company is not carrying the channel that has the Tour de France (or else that is one of the channels we lost when we changed out subscription to save a few bucks) Catching up on my DVR with the season of ER, In Treatment, and True Blood will have to keep me entertained during my spinning through the 26th.

There was so much VM (vegetable matter), ie hay in this 100% alpaca fiber I purchased earlier this year at a local alpaca Festival that everytime I spun or handled the fiber, I had to vacuum.

When I thought I got it all while drafting, there was more during the spinning. Then there was tons more when I wound the singles into a center-pull ball to ply it. Then when I plyed it, even more came out. Still not sure if I got it all, but after several washes and soaks, it is the softest yarn ever. It is two-ply and about 275 yards. It hasn't told me yet what it wants to grow up to be.

One last thing. I just couldn't resist getting a second basket for my spinning, presumably to keep organized in the family room. It is amazing how much stuff spreads out all over the room. It was pretty misshapen when I brought it home, so I hosed it down and reshaped it, and now I really love it.

Finished one and Restarted Another

What ended up being knit with the Bright Hibiscus homespun discussed in an earlier post, turned out to be a foliage hat. I should have enough yarn for 3 of these hats, using the bulky weight directions.

I am "training" for the Tour de Fleece which starts on July 4 to coincide with the Tour de France bike race. I have spun up two bobbins of the fiber I will be spinning for the sweater. I am going for medium worsted weight yarn and I am striving for consistancy.

I frogged the Berry Season Socks from the book 2-at-time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes because the fabric was just too dense, and it almost felt woven. I began them again, this time using the top as designed in the pattern with Size 2 needles. So much better and more stretchy. The way the yarn shines in the stockinette section of the cuff makes me wonder if I should reconsider again and make a plain sock to show off the fiber. Hmmmmm.

I recall a blogpost by the Yarn Harlot where she knew all along that the socks were coming out too big and she knitted away in denial till the end...when they were indeed too big. It is one of the best lessons she has taught me over the years: Frogging in the early stages of a project is a whole lot less painful than once it is completed.

Today's nature shot:

How nice of him to stay put and pose for me!