Category: Tour de Fleece

Knitting · Tour de Fleece

tDf: Wrap up post

Jen2 Comments

Well, I definitely did not finish the Tour De Fleece and I had hoped to. I did manage to make some very lovely yarns though, and so I am happy. All together I came in at just under 840 yards of yarn, which isn’t too shabby, actually, and once my mini dehumidifier arrives I can get that alpaca yarn dry once and for all and start spinning again. In the mean time, I finished a dishcloth:

 [ravelry]

And started a baby sweater using my hand spun:

Oh my goodness, y’all, this baby sweater is so freaking pretty, I can’t even words.

Lolly · Tour de Fleece · yarn

tDf: Day Whatever

Jen

So you may have noticed that the shine has gone of my enthusiasm for the Tour de Fleece and the reason why is this: all that yarn I washed back on day 8 IS STILL NOT DRY.* I am starting to worry that it might started to become mildewed, although I know intellectually that this is unlikely since wool is naturally mildew resistant. Still, OMG YOU GUYS THIS YARN IS STILL WET! It’s not super wet, you can feel just a little bit of wetness in the center of the yarn when you squeeze it. I made a post on in the Florida Spinners group on Ravelry (also Facebook), and while there have been a few responses, it’s nothing that I haven’t tried already. Also my cat is starting to eat the yarn. Lolly is such a dumbass, you guys. She thinks all this yarn hanging around is a special buffet I’ve laid out just for her. Yesterday when I was moving the yarn to a drying rack underneath the ceiling fan I found several severed strands where she has eaten who knows how many inches. ARGH. And so I figured that I’d better slow my yarn production until I can figure out how to get it dry more quickly so I can get it tucked safely into the stash before the damn cat gets to it. So far, in addition to all the normal stuff like hanging it with a fan nearby to blow on it, I have put it in a container of rice and am now considering sticking it in my electric food dehydrator.

*Actually, that’s not entirely true, the singles I made dried up beautifully. Their beauty shots are here and here.

Spinning · Tour de Fleece

tDf, day 13: More plying.

Jen

Today I andean plied the merino from Webs. I’m so happy with it!

Tomorrow I start on this:

I might have a little thing for Woolgatherings.

Snowflake · Tour de Fleece

tDf day 12: Cat picture!

Jen

I’m resting today, so instead you get a cat picture.

See you tomorrow!

Spinning · Tour de Fleece

tDf day 11! Rest day, whut?!

Jen

After two off days with very little spinning accomplished, I was eager to spend more time at my wheel today. And who could blame me? Look at how pretty this stuff this is.

It was so pretty I spun up all I have!

I guess I will take my rest day tomorrow. Hah.

 

Spinning · Tour de Fleece

tDf day 10!

Jen

Day 10, whew. I am a bit behind on my housework and so I didn’t get much spinning done today, although I did do a little.

And, as a bonus, look who I found clinging to a beach towel in my laundry basket today:

This wee tiny little thing was so cold from being in the AC that she could barely move. Not sure how she got inside or how long she’d been in here, but she was definitely happy to be back outside in the heat. She scampered off as soon as was warm enough.

Spinning · Tour de Fleece

TdF day 9

Jen

Oops, I almost forgot about day 9. I didn’t do much, actually, since I didn’t feel well today. I think I might have a virus. Blah. Anyway, proof that I did spin a little bit today:

Are we there yet?

 

fiber · Spinning · Tour de Fleece

tDf day 8

Jen1 Comment

Wash day!

Now I have 6 finished hanks of yarn for a total of 838 yards (give or take)! They are all drying now, so pretty pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. After I washed all those hanks, I cracked into the undyed BFL I mentioned yesterday. Except it turns out it’s not BFL, I’m pretty sure it’s Merino. The staple is nice and long like BFL, but it’s about a thousand times softer and squishier. Also it’s harder to spin, argh. Ah well, tomorrow is another day!

fiber · Spinning · Tour de Fleece · yarn

TdF day 7

Jen3 Comments

So, I ended up doing a chain ply with those pretty polwarth singles:

Argh, I kind of suck at chain plying right now. I mean. To be fair, this is only the 2nd time I’ve ever done it and it took me quite a while to find a rhythm that worked for me, the single, and my wheel. (Which reminds me, spinning slowly is very hard. I guess I should practice that too.) That being said, I do like how the yarn came out (although I do wish I’d been able to end up with a more balanced ply). I love the long color repeats, probably as much as I love the marled effect when you do a plain 2-ply.

So, with the first week of the tour happily behind us, I’ve spun through almost all of my fiber stash. All I’ve got left is the Romney fleece and some fluffy undyed BFL I got out of the bins at Webs the last time I went, which means I am kind of in the market for some pretty fiber. I’m thinking about joining one of the Woolgatherings clubs, but I’m certainly open to other sources. Who is your favorite indy dyer? Link spam me people!

fiber · Spinning · Tour de Fleece

TdF Day 6!

Jen1 Comment

Today I actually spun through the rest of that gorgeous fiber form Woolgatherings, but now I’m confused about what to do with it. I was really hoping to ply them together so I would end up with these long color repeats. But as I was spinning today, I realized I made a HUGE error when I divided the braid. Even though the two pieces were kind of close in weight, one half was considerably wider than the other. Which ultimately means that the second single I made, which is only a quarter of an ounce larger than the first one, has much longer color repeats than the first one I spun.

Still, they came out beautifully enough. Maybe I’ll leave it unplied.