Finishng up TdF2014!

So I wasn't quite as productive as I wanted to be, even though I did reach my ounce goal, but the traveling threw me off my game. Anyway here is what I got done!

Four ounces long wool in Thick'nThin

Four ounces merino/silk singles

Four ounces 2-ply gotland

Four ounces 2-ply chunky targhee

 

Three and a half ounces 2-ply fingering alpaca and four ounces long draw 2-ply merino

 

All told, that makes 23.5 ounces in a 20 day event. Not bad, and I certainly went through a lot of my fiber stash (though I did get a new shipment from Paradise Fibers at the very beginning of the Tour).

 

I guess it's time to check the graphs...

I have plenty of fiber left, but I did make it through quite a bit of my stash. It's sure a good thing that I have all those bags of fleeces in my garage. I'll have to start those up again next week.

 

I'm very excited to see what I get this month in my PF fiber club, hopefully it'll be something new and exciting! I'm sure it will be, they always put together a great  shipment. Which reminds me that I still need to post about last month's shipment, maybe over the weekend.

 

 I've also been working hard getting ready for my first fair, well as a knitter/spinner. I've taken my horse to fairs several times, but that was about 20 years ago. It's all a bit different this time around without my mom to take care of all the logistics. Anyway, that means the Tapia mitts are done! I'll have to get some pictures of those up sometime soon too!

Catching Up

 

So here is what I have been working on. The purple is Ashland Bay 100% Merino in a color called Rose Quartz; it's a nice purple, but it's not rose quartz. The yellow is a cream Baby Alpaca that I dyed yellow. Both are about 4 ounces and two-ply.

 

I was traveling from the 11th-19th. I did a bit of drop swindling, but as I was getting a blister from wrapping the single onto the spindle, I didn't get much done.

 

There are only a few days left of the TDF, but time is getting tight for finishing projects for the Fair also. The TDF is done on Sunday, and items must be postmarked for the Fair on Monday... cutting it close.

 

Once I found out how close the Fair is, I decided to switch from spinning and keep working on the Tapia mitts. Only 17 rows and the thumb left. Hopefully I can get that done today.

 

I am also plying my Thick'nThin wool yarn with some cotton thread, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. I want to just stop, but I kind of feel that I should get it on the niddy noddy first.... so many decisions. Well right now the priority is finishing the mitts, and mowing the lawn, blah.

 

 

 

Day 5, Long Draw

So I got some new fiber from the Fiber Club, and it had more of that lovely vertically dyed wool. Also, my yellow alpaca was not dry, so I figured I would try something new.

Ashland Bay Merino Top "Rose Quartz"

 For whatever reason, I figured I should try some long draw. It's coming slowly, but it is coming together and the long draw is doing much better things for the dying, though we'll see how it looks once it's plied- though I could always chain ply it and preserve the more solid color sections. I'm getting a lot of pigtails on the bobbin, but I'm not overly worried about that as I can work them out in the plying- though maybe not as easily if I chain it... this will require more thought...

I started on the merino last night after the euphoria of the chunky Targhee, and it's not going badly, or even terribly slowly, but we are leaving town on Friday morning and I have been busy with prepping for that. Hopefully I can finish the first two ounces of the Merino tonight.

I'm also working on dying some other alpaca too. I'll let you know how that comes out another day. Right now it's time to keep packing...

Day 4 Chunky Yarn

I used up my Targhee, and I am so thrilled! I think we need some comparisons for this one, probably not, I just want to.

Before

After

I went with a thicker yarn this time. I had a much better time stripping off very small sections rather than drafting, I think in the end I was working with 32nds of the yarn if not a few 64ths.  There's just one problem, clearly this is hat yarn, but I don't like hats... I don't know what I'm going to do with it...

The Targhee was very fluffy and a bit sticky, but it was great and I would love to spin more of it!

Anyway, it's been a while, well not really, but I felt like I needed to update the Progress chart.

 

So I guess tomorrow is the day to start on the alpaca. I've been working on dying it, but the yellow should be good to go for tomorrow.

Day 3 10:30 finish

Last night was a late one, but I did finish my 4 ounces of Gotland, which I am quite proud of since I only had 2 ounces spun in singles at 8:00. So I finished my other 2 ounces of singles and plied it last night too! Yay me!

Here's the finished skein. I love it so much! I can't wait to wash it and see how it finishes. I went a bit slower on the second set of singles to see if I could get fewer coils and then really worked on keeping coils out during the plying and in the end it just hung stick straight when I took it off the niddy noddy! Another first, yay TDF!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. There isn't a ton of yardage, but I am so happy with it that it might end up being one of those yarns that gets hung on the wall.

The Gotland was fun, but interesting. It was very sleek and smooth in the singles, but then when plying the other direction, things got a bit rougher, again we'll have to see how it washes.

Overall, I am thrilled with this yarn. It's definitely going to the fair!

Now to start in on attempts at thicker yarn with that great Targhee...

Day 2, 2 Skeins

Here's what I have to show at the end of Day 2...

The picture is a bit bigger than usual to ensure that the color shows. This was very vibrant fiber, but it contained strips of color running the length of the fiber, and it was VERY difficult to keep any of the colors separated, in addition to the white silk running through. I think I did better on the bottom skein.

I had planned on chain plying this, but I think I am going to stash it for a while and combine it with some other darker merino/silk blends I have for a very soft, if a bit scrappy, shawl at some point in the future.

This is what I was planning on combining it with. I got it at that fiber festival last year. It is spun, but apparently I don't have any finished photos of the yarn.

 

Here are the three fibers together. Looking at them together, I might change my mind. The festival fiber has great long jewel tone color sections, and today's is much more mottled. I was going to use the black and white and a buffer. It would certainly be scrappy... but I don't really know what else I would do with these yarns otherwise. It gives me 12 ounces with them all, and I have it in I would say roughly lace weight singles, but I haven't figured the WPI's.

 

Looking at it more, the festival fiber does bring out a lot of the colors in the new yarn...

I guess I have time to think about it as I certainly don't have time for a new knitting project between the TDF, the mitts that I am still trying to finish before the fair, and the Moscow Coat that I am making some progress on. Tiny has also requested a sweater for the fall, and I have been dying some merino for a pair of convertible mittens for a friend for Christmas. Yeah, I guess I have some time.

 

Day 1, Skein 1

Yay! Very happy to have finished 4 ounces in one day, granted doing a single helps.

It's the Wild Berry from Louet. I got it from the Paradise Fiber Fiber Club in April I think. I did this in Thick 'n Thin, it was interesting, but it did take a bit longer having to stop my wheel and "bite" more fibers for the thick sections. It's probably something I would get more used to as I did it more.

Yay; happy me! I am going to have to update the charts, but as I still have several hours left in the day, I think I hold off until later. 

Pre-Tour Nerdiness

So I guess I really am a massive nerd here. Though not enough to get all the formatting figured out...grrr. Anyway. The Tour de Fleece starts tomorrow and I wanted to make sure that I have some fiber stats so that I know how much I get done. This chart does not include my fleeces that may or may not get washed and spun during the Tour. 

Please indulge my nerdiness as I make a few more charts and graphs...

 

Below is the big one. I hope to update it daily, slowly replacing the blue with the red. I will be getting another shipment from the Fiber Club soon, so then charts will have to be adjusted, but I think I can handle that. 

I think tomorrow will begin with the Triple Berry Jam Wool I have. I'm going to try to do a Thick/Thin single, so that should be interesting. Yay!

Tour De Fleece Day -1

Swift!

Happy Independence Day for all those in America!

Yay, my swift is here! It actually came last Wednesday, but the whole basement thing kinda kept me off the computer.

Here it is all put together with it's own bag. I don't plan to carry the swift around much, but it's always nice to have another project bag.

It's a very nice swift. It moves well, Tiny can use it without any problem. I may let her skein up a few acrylic balls just for the fun of it. Of course it also works very well to make balls from skeins. Maybe one of these days I'll get a ball wonder too....

One of the things I really like is that the end pegs are adjustable. I may even mark a 2 yard skein or something and skip the Niddy Noddy on some of my spinning projects. It's just a thought, we'll see how that turns out.

That's about it for now. The plan for now is to get everything set for the TDF to start on the 5th! Part of the Tour on Revelry is to post daily updates online about progress. Not sure if I want to do daily posts here too, or just end up with some longer posts for a few weeks, I guess we'll see what kind of time Tiny leaves me with.