Tour De Fleece 2009

I know, I know. This is long past due. But July was a rough month and this is the first I have gotten to post pics and write a bit about it.

I started the Tour with a lot of vigor. I spun a lot over the July 4th weekend, taking my Babe Double Treadle Production wheel with me to the Adirondacks. It was lovely getting to spin there.

Problem was when I got home from the long weekend, my cat was sick. I have posted about her on my non-knitting journal. If you read it, you will see that it was a rough month. In the end, I had to let her go. It still hurts so much. But it was her time to leave us I believe. I still get all teared up just thinking about her. I miss her a lot.

Between all the trips to the vet, caring and spend time with her and the sadness involved, I didn't get as much done for the Tour as I hoped. But I did complete 8 oz. of fiber.

I spun a single of the 4 oz. of DragonFibers Superwash Merino/Tencel fiber over the July 4th weekend. It is lovely to spin. I really want to pick up more from DragonFibers as they do some lovely fibers.

Thanks Silvercat for sending it. It really is lovely stuff.

DragonFibers Superwash Merino/Tencel Fiber from:
http://DragonFibers.etsy.com
Colorway - Heart of Darkness
Present from Silvercat

Though I confess, the pinks in there are *bright*. It is the reason I knew I didn't want to do a Navajo ply with this one. It just would have been too bright in sections.

I debated what to ply with the DragonFibers. I wanted something superwash as I was figuring this was going into something baby related. And given my wooly allergies, I don't really want to have any wool on the baby other than superwash. Superwash is specially treated and doesn't set off my allergies so I am hoping she has the same response.

I tried predrafting some superwash fiber I bought from Etsy in a darker colorway. But honestly, I am not thrilled with the way it was drafting. So I put it back and looked at my other fibers. I have a lot of fibers that either didn't match or weren't fibers I want to put against baby skin.

I finally remember the superwash/silk blend I bought from The Fiber Denn. http://thefiberdenn.etsy.com It is a beautiful fiber. And the silk gave it a nice long draw with some great petability. I figured the silk shimmer would compliment the shine of the tencel. So they would work well together and the violet wouldn't seem dull by comparison.

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So I plied the two singles together and got ~398.0 yards of the two fibers together. I had some of the Fiber Denn single left. I was able to make a small skein that was about ~47 yds.

Honestly, this was the only thing I accomplished for the Tour. I am saddened that I didn't get more done. But under the circumstances, I actually did pretty well. I didn't spin every day that I should have. But given things with my cat, I got a lot more spinning done than I would have otherwise.

Spun on Babe Double Treadle Production Wheel. I love my Babe wheel. *smile*

I will confess though. I haven't done any spinning since the Tour! Ack. Once this was off my wheel, it has been dormant. I have been working on baby knitting or just too wiped to do anything.

Less than 6 weeks until my due date. So it isn't surprising that I am a little preoccupied. *laugh*