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*

Finished Object & Fiber

Finished Object & Fiber

I finished the scarf for my friend Meredith. I think she will really like it. Though the pictures really don't do it justice. The problem with the photos is that the alpaca fiber I spun is that it is dark brown & black. So it is impossible to show it off well!

Alpaca One Row Handspun Scarf with Silk Garter Edges

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Pattern:
One Row Handspun Scarf by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2006/10/12/one_row_handspun_scarf.html

Needles:
US 10 / 6.0 mm Knitpicks Options


Yarn:
NorthStarAlpacas Chinella's Baby Fleece Plied with Roving from Sonata & Berringer
~130.0
2 oz of each, so 4 oz. total
Purchased at
North Star Alpacas - http://northstaralpacas.etsy.com

Second Yarn:
Silk Hankie in Madrona Colorway
Purchased at
The Yarn Tree - http://www.theyarntree.com/

I really love the fiber from North Star Alpacas. I know I have mentioned Maple before, but I can't help but say it again. She has some lovely fiber.

I had spun the yarn specifically for my friend to make a scarf. I kept debating what I wanted to pattern I wanted to make given the fiber. Given NYC has been pretty cold as of late, I figured something solid would be a good idea rather than anything lacey.

The pattern was super easy so it was a fast knit.

I only cast on 22 stitches because I wasn’t sure whether I would have enough length if I did 26. It was definitely the correct choice.

For the edges, I looked at various stitch patterns. I tried casting on the silk single I had spun. But it was just way too thin in spots. It wasn’t work well. So I did a Navajo ply on the singles to create a thicker yarn.

I decided to just do garter stitch for the edge. I had tried a couple other things, but it didn’t work well. I picked up more stitches at the edge which was a mistake. The edges bell out a bit which wasn’t the intention. But I may be seeing my friend soon so I am blocking it as is. If she hates the edges, I can take them off and redo them. Or leave it plain. Though I think plain it might look a bit masculine with the brown & black.

But the main part of the scarf is luscious and super soft. The silk at the edge could be better. I do wonder if it won't haunt me enough that I will decide to redo the edges. But I have blocked it already. So I just need to step away from the project!

Fiber

I got some Tempted Hand Painted 80% superwash merino/20% Cashmere Fiber. I order it fro the The Loopy Ewe for $26 for 4 oz. So not inexpensive stuff, but for the cashmere in the blend it isn't a terrible price either. I fell in love with the red & black. Go figure. *chuckle* And the colorway is called Roxanne. As a big Police fan in my youth, it spoke to me.

Problem is when I opened up the fiber to do some predrafting, I found the dye hadn't penetrated all the way to the center of the fiber. So there are spots in the black that look brown with some white. And the red has spots that look kinda pink. The fiber from the outside looked just red & black.

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I have dyed things so I do understand how this can happen. I had hoped it would be less noticeable once I started spinning. But there are definitely areas where the color is kinda heathered. I really wanted to Navajo ply this to keep the colors solid. But now I am not so sure.

I just wrote someone from Tempted via Ravelry. I figured the dyer at Tempted should know they need to get more dye into the center of their fiber in the future. It is my guess they didn't realize it at all given the outside was very saturated with color.

I am debating what to do with it now. I had been thinking a scarf. But now I am debating if it might be thin enough yarn for socks. I doubt it. Also, the cashmere probably won't wear well for socks. I will see what the yarn says after I ply it.

Happiness Is a Long Weekend with Fiber

I am pretty happy. I took off last Thursday & Friday as well as this Tuesday. So I got a super long weekend.

Friday was my birthday. My husband bought me a POUND of black alpaca roving! He bought it from someone in Minnesota/Missouri/some M state in the middle. *chuckle* He found it through Localharvest.org. He was trying to find something close, but that is about the closest he could find. It is yummy stuff. *sigh* It has some pre-drafting done so it should be lovely to spin!

Thursday I asked Paul if he wanted to go up to the Adirondacks which is always pretty unfair as questions go. I don't know if he has ever said no! *laugh* We are still going up Columbus Day so I didn't know if it was really feasible. But we decided that if we brought groceries and didn't eat out much we should be good. So we head off Friday morning.

In the car on the way up, I finished the Argosy Scarf in Unique Designs by Kathy Handspun. I *really* need to take some pictures of it. But I want to wait until I block it. Which if I am good should be tonight. But I don't honestly know. It is already 6:30 pm and I haven't left work yet. So we shall see.

I like the pattern a lot and think it works well in Kathy's Handspun. I am hoping it will look even better after it is blocked. *crosses fingers* I will post more details when I get the pics done.

I have some Scout's Swag Superwash/Tencel Sock Yarn in Socktoberfest that I got from a trade with Silvercat. It has some orange in it which really isn't my colors. But I figured I really should do them up for Halloween. (There is also greys & purples which definitely are my colors! *smile*) So after finishing the scarf, I cast on the Zombie Socks. (Ravelry only pattern)

I wasn't sure if the pattern wouldn't be way too busy for the yarn. But I really like the way it is coming out. I got about 6 hours of knitting on the way home on these as well. I really like them.

The pattern has drop stitches which isn't as scary as I feared. I think these will be fun. Though the drop stitches do cause gaps. And I do wonder if they will indeed be warm enough for Halloween! But just have to see.

Saturday I stopped at the Adirondack Woolery in hopes of picking up some more roving. No luck. It was during their hours. But my guess is that the women who run the place were away for the long weekend. Too bad as I really want some more of the grey sliver roving and maybe some other stuff. Their prices were good so I will stop by over Columbus Day weekend.

Paul and I walked around the Newcomb Visitor Interpretive Center.

We did the Sage Jr. trail (yellow) and most of the Sucker Brook Trail (blue). There is part of the Sucker Brook trail that you skip to make a longer loop. I think we did the Peninsula Trail (green) a couple years ago. And I know we did the Rich Lake Trail (red) in the past as well. It was a beautiful day.

Though of course, fiber was still lingering in my mind. So I asked Paul if he wanted to wander off to Lake Placid. Luckily, he can be bribed with the lure of some tasty Ubu at Lake Placid Pub. (And I was smarter than to every think about yarn shopping *after* the beer... I need every bit of willpower I can get! *grin*)

On the way there, we stopped at Adirondack Yarns.

in Lake Placid. I really like the place. I stopped there last year. That is where I got hooked on Catalina yarns last year.

This years addiction may become Great Adirondack Yarn Co. *sighs lustfully*

I got this lovely Great Adirondack Yarn Co yarn. It is called Silky Sock. There were a lot of lovely colorways. I decide I wanted the Charcoal colorway.

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It is 70% wool, 20% silk, 10% nylon.

This yarn feels so yummy. The silk makes it amazing to touch. I kept rubbing it against my face. Can't wait to see how this knits up.

I also got some Schaefer Yarn Lola in different purples.

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It is 100% Superwash wool. I got some Lola at Rhinebeck last year and love it. It was th first superwash wool I purchased to see if it would irritate me. It definitely doesn't. It is super smooshy and soft.

Mind you, this is thicker so it definitely makes house socks/winter boot socks. But I love my Lola socks in the reds. So when I saw they had the Lola I had to get some more. The purple is brighter than I normally would get, but I really like it.

Sunday & Monday were a whole lot of spinning.

Most of the time was spent spinning the Adirondack Woolery natural wool carded with colored fibers into singles.

It is 6 oz. of natural colored wool carded with colored fibers. I purchased this at the Adirondack Woolery over the July 4th weekend but this is the first I have spun it.

I am spinning this for my mother-in-law for Xmas. I was going to create a 2-ply it with the same fibers. But given the random colors and the combos that could happen, I think that is a bad idea. I am going to pick up some other fiber to pair with it. But I don't know what yet.

I could use a grey easily as there it a lot of grey in the blend. But then there will be large segments that are all grey and I am not sure I want that. If it were for me, I would default to my beloved black. *laugh* I need to hold this against some reddish brown fiber. I don't know why, but I think that might really work well. I need to find the right one, but I am hoping to find something that would work.

Also, I am *very* tempted to go with something much softer. I found some of the wool in the blend is nice and soft. Some was hard with a lot of tight crimp. So I would like something else to balance that out and make a nice yarn. I am leaning towards alpaca. But I am not sure yet.

I also finished plying the Ember superwash wool from Etsy.

I got this roving from The Ranches Angoras aka theranch Etsy shop and had created the singles for the Tour de Fleece. I had already plied part of it but was glad to finish plying it.

This is my first 3-ply yarn. I am hoping to use it for socks. I will have to see if it has enough give or if I will need to do something else with the yarn.

So all in all it was a great long weekend filled with fiber. Hooray!

The Tour de Fleece Continues

Day 7 Continued - Friday

I pretty much decided that I was going to just ply the natural sliver with itself. But I did spend some time untangling pieces of the silk/merino blend. I may decide that that I will try plying that with itself in hopes that it will work well in combo with the natural sliver.

Here is the natural wool sliver I got at Adirondack Woolery plied:

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It is kinda rough. I think I am still overspinning the fiber some. Though I hope it will loosen up a bit after a soak it and let it dry. But I do think I am getting better at spinning which is good. *smile*

There is a very small ball of the natural wool sliver plied with the merino/silk blend. I really like that one and wish I hadn't messed up the bobbin.

I did spend some time Friday night trying to sort of the merino/silk with some hopes of saving it. I was able to do one decent piece. But the rest are pretty short. I may still try plying it together and seeing what happens. Figure it is better than just wasting it completely.

Day 8 - Saturday

Saturday was a light spinning day as I was out of the house from 10 in the morning til at least 10 at night. I just spun some more of the Decadent Fibers Jelly Roll in the morning.

On the plus side, because I was going to be in the car for a long while, I finally got around to casting on the socks I have been meaning to start since I got my friend's feet measurements.

I wish I knew why I *always* seem to have trouble with casting on 2 socks on 2 circs! Every time I miss it up in some way. But I got it moved into the correct position on the needles. I got the cuffs done which is good. I didn't have a row counter with me so I had to wait til Sunday to start the pattern in the leg.

Day 9 - Sunday

I continued working on the Decadent Fibers roving. I have a lot of this still. So I will keep plugging away at it. I filled the second bobbin. So now I need to ply them which I may do tonight.

Here are the two full bobbins together:

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I decided to try a new fiber. So I picked up the superwash wool I bought from Etsy. The shop is The Ranches Angoras. It is commercial dyed fiber that is blended by the seller. I really like it. Here is a current listing the seller has for sale.

I am surprised. It wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. I am able to draft it out much thinner than other fibers I have done in the past. That may be about my skill level increasing. But it may be because it is much more slippery. So it slides very easily. I have more trouble making sure not to do it too thin that it will break before I can get enough twist into it.

My only concern is the twist might be too tight. Thus, it would take out a lot of the elasticity that is needed for socks. But I figure at worst I will just not be able to use this for socks and make yet another scarf. *laugh*

Start of Day 10 - Today

I did some checking and I think it makes the most sense to do a 3-ply with the superwash wool if I want to try to use it for socks. I am still not sure I am leaving enough elasticity in it given the amount of twist in it. But I am hoping it will work. *crosses fingers*

I divided up the fiber into three equal parts in hopes of creating the 3-ply. It may not work perfectly, but I am hoping the yardage will be roughly equal.

I should get some more spinning in tonight. But I also want to skein off all the wool I plied over the weekend. So I think I need to do that before I start any other spinning tonight. It needs to be soaked.

I am thinking that it makes the most sense to ply the Decadent fibers stuff. I need to get that off my bobbins as well. So it would make sense to do it. But I will see how I feel when I get home. I am on summer hours which means I have to work until 5:45 at the very least. And I have a lot of work I should tackle today that isn't done. *sigh* So it will depends on that too as to what time I get home.