Have You Seen My Stash?

I thought that the end of the Tour de Fleece would be an appropriate time to show my stash. Clockwise from the very top: Merino, merino, merino, merino, BFL, and alpaca, alpaca, alpaca. The green/blue and brown ball are Wonder Why.

I seem to have a merino problem.

Well, I suppose as long as I don't run out, it's not a problem.

Here are some bits and pieces, the odd stuff I started off spinning. One day I'll make a really weird lap blanket or wrap with all this.

My last posting was about spinning cable yarns. I really enjoyed doing this -- now I want to do it with everything. I'm considering cable plying these two colors ... what do you think? Too much? I want it to be two very different colors.










In other news, I've become a beading addict.

Purple beads on green Meriboo.

I got the idea from Dutch Hollow Acres
and Wind Rose Fiber Studio.










In true Spinster Beth fashion, though, I went overboard:

There's a bead about every 12".

The only addition I made to the tutorial was to use a crochet hook to reach through the needle threader.

I'm spinning right from the beaded fiber tufts, one after the other, joining them up end to end.










I leave you with two stacked cats. Saves space, you know.

On the Straightaway ...

Tour de Fleece Day Six ... I've hit the straightaway, just easy coasting.

The past three days I've taken it pretty easy (after my mammoth 4 ounce Monday).

For Team of Wonder, Wonder Why Alpaca on the Kromski (formerly on the Zebisis Spindle, moved to wheel)

Team Kromski: Also the WW alpaca!

Team Bring Me a Shrubbery: Meriboo in a nice shrubbery green, on the Trindle (Also Team Trindle)

And the tangerine Corriedale for Team Spindle.

I have 3/4 of a pair of socks finished:

The Button Up Socks. I have the leg of the other one knit, so I still have to do the heel flap, heel, gussets, foot, and toe.

They look kind of odd. The ones in the book looked different. Perhaps my gauge was off. Anyway, they fit! I have to get buttons for them still. I love to buy buttons. I don't mean a can of buttons, I mean taking my project to Jo-Anne's and searching the buttons on the cardboard backing until I find the perfect ones. I need ten for these socks. And they're functional buttons, too, not just decorative!



I enjoy spinning a little each day, and the variety keeps it interesting, but my left thumb is really sore. I'm not going to overdo it again!

Happy Tour de Fleece, and Fiber Arts Friday!

I Can't Believe I Spun the Whole Thing

Ok, I actually spun HALF the whole thing ... this lovely merino was already half spun from earlier, and I finished up the other half, about 4 oz, all in one sitting. It took me two episodes of Bones. My thumbs are sore, and I actually started using the pinky and ring finger on my right hand to pull the draft, instead of pinching it. It spared my right thumb, but the left one is sure sore!

Here is my day 3 Tour de Fleece total:

Saturday was Team of Wonder day, so I spindle-spun some Wonder alpaca on my Zebisis spindle (the light green fiber). This lovely alpaca, a native of Michigan, traveled again to D.C. and back to Baltimore, so it has been around!

Sunday was Team Trindle day, and I spun some natural alpaca I've had as a WIP for months. It's from Pacific Wool and Fiber. I spun two spindles-full yesterday, and plied it today and gave it a bath.

And then today was Team Kromski day, the blue merino. It was not my intention to spin so much at once, but I really didn't want to stop. I have lots more for Team Kromski, so I'm not too worried about running out.

Here, the Trindle ogles his fiber while it takes a warm bath.

Full disclosure: I didn't ply on the Trindle, I put the singles on bobbins and used the wheel to ply. I know that's lazy but I just didn't feel like fighting with the cats. Yarn unspooling rapidly from toilet-paper tubes just about makes them insane, and it's tough to spindle and fend them off!

I know I only made such great progress because I was off work today, and the tour has just started so my enthusiasm is high. I'm a bit more concerned about the amount of yarn I'm going to have piled up, waiting to be knitted --When's the next Knit Olympics? Crikey!















I'm off to roast some garden fresh vegetables for dinner!

(Not roasting the cucumbers, obviously, they just happen to be in the shot!)

Tour de Fleece Goals

My first Tour de Fleece! I'm so excited!

I don't seem to have any pictures of excited cats. Sorry.

Anyway, I am excited, because Tour de Fleece means setting goals, and I have been a little lax in that area since finishing my college degree this past December. And since that degree took a ... well, a few years ... okay, I'm a bit of a procrastinator. This blog and the Ravelry group will keep me on track!

Oh--for my muggle friends who are still reading (heh), Tour de Fleece is exactly like Tour de France, only without the sweating, tiny Lycra shorts, and bicycles. And no France. Well, unless you LIVE in France. Anyway, here are two of the five guidelines from the Ravelry page, directly copy-pasted:


Guidelines (NOT RULES):

1. Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 2nd through Sunday July 24th. Days of rest: Monday July 11th, Monday July 18st. (Just like the actual tour)
   
2. Spin something challenging Friday July 22nd. (The Tour’s toughest mountain stage over the Col du Galibier for the second time, and finishing up on Alpe d’Huez.)
   

I have joined five groups, and here are my plans for each.

Team of Wonder: From the Wonder Why Alpaca Farm, where I get alpaca. I don't have any WW alpaca at home, so I felt obligated to go on Etsy and purchase some ... what a tough struggle I had with myself over that one.

Team Kromski: My spinning wheel is a Kromski Prelude. I plan on finishing up some blue merino and yellow merino. I have 6 oz of yellow and .... maybe 4 oz. of blue.

Team Spindle: An any-kind-of-spindle team. Since this picture was taken, I have added two spindles.

I plan on spinning this gorgeous orange-ness on spindles. I doubt I will finish it, I have 6 oz.!

Team Trindle: My Trindle, and some alpaca from Pacific Wool and Fiber. 

 And, for Team Bring Me a Shrubbery (chuckle) the Meriboo I bought at MD S&W. Or is it Bamberino ... I figure it's silly enough for this team.



So I am looking forward to this, but I don't want to spin everything I have. Then I'd just have to buy more and for goodness sake what I really need is a project to USE UP my handspun, not just create more!





For the challenge part of the tour, I will either spin Icelandic on my new Russian -- a spindle I have not had any luck with so far -- or spin some camel from last year's MD S&W, which was difficult, so I set it aside.


Oh, and here are some gratuitous garden shots:

I finally mowed and weeded and tidied, so I'm not embarrassed to take pictures of it now.

What was I thinking, planting THREE cucumbers. This is just one part of one plant!

And the raspberries. The birds get a lot of these ... they're not quite as flavorful and juicy as they should be, so I probably need to repot them. I had them in the ground, but raspberries are so invasive, I pulled them up a couple years ago to keep them contained.

Thanks for visiting!