Finally!

Yesterday there was little spinning toward the TDF goal. Why? Because my fleeces FINALLY came back in from Zeilinger's! Yay!

This bag had 3 pounds of this dusty-brown merino top. Yum. The woman I dropped it off with at the MDS&W suggested making it into top for a smoother fiber to process into a smoother yarn. She said that the short "neps" would come out that way, and make for smoother spinning. I believe her now, because there was a whole bag of "waste" as well-nothing but short, pill-y stuff that I'm assuming I can stuff a pillow with, but nothing more. Unless anyone else knows of something to do with fiber that has a staple length of about 1/8 of an inch!!

I am sharing this fleece with my sister, so I grabbed 4-ounce hanks and put them in separate ziplocks. I'll do the same with her half. Hopefully there will be a tad more for sampling when I've finished divvy-ing!

The spinning I DID do was maybe half a bobbin of the CJ Copek BFL that is on my list. I LOVE that fiber, and will try to content myself with that while I decide what I'd truly like to do with the merino. I have thoughts, but I need to make my spinning plan, do some sampling, and spin this stuff right. No messin' around with the merino!

Today, I am on my own for a bit, so I plan to do some work (a power-point that I really need for reading evaluations), then get back to the fiber, so I'm off to get busy!

:O)

TDF Check-In

This is a progress pic for my TDF spinning. So far, I've spun up these two bobbins that I plan to ply together - one is the "Cowboy Up" fiber in red, white, and blue, from Copperpotwoolies. The other (that I finished spinning last night) is some plain navy blue mohair. I think the two together will be wonderful. I am ready to ply, and that's today's main project.

I also want to spin up the rest of the teeswater/alpaca that I blended on my combs. I might even try navajo plying with that, since I STILL need to learn that lil' trick!


After that, I plan to andean ply some small bits of fiber that is currently taking up space on a few bobbins so that I have free bobbins for this Friday's spinning group meeting.

The Baltimore Spinners meet at Cloverhill Yarn Shop in Catonsville every 2nd and LAST Friday of the month, and lately we have been spinning different types of things together as a group. The last idea was to spin singles - I did one skein of a BFL fiber named "Emerge" from CJ Copek. The last skein/braid is still to come on the TDF plan! BUT! This time, we are going to take a lesson from Jody - a fabulous spinner in the group who is fond of art yarns. She's going to teach us how to do some of her tricks, so I need free bobbins, and to select a fiber to play with. That will be the last item on my "to-do" list for my free part of the day.

Sounds like a good afternoon to me!

:O)

The Tour, 2009 Edition

This summer, I am once again going to participate in The Tour de Fleece, a spinning-wheel take on Le Tour de France, a bike race. Related only in that there are wheels involved, and marathon-like goals! I participated last year with my Golding spindle, but this year, I get to use my Hitchhiker spinning wheel. She's just come back from being tricked out (i.e., made into a double-treadle wheel instead of a single treadle.)

Yesterday was the first day, and after returning from vacation, setting up my new flyer and tension knob, I was ready to spin. Here's the day's progress:

My first goal is to finish (spinning and plying) this yummy stuff from Coperpot Woolies that my sister sent me at Christmas. The name of the colorway is "Cowboy Up" and it's red, white, and blue. Very appropriate for a start on the 4th of July!

I also did some combing, and spun up 4 combed rolags of a teeswater-and-alpaca blend.

My comobs are new to me, and blending on the combs is very interesting. I have a little more than one ounce of the teeswater locks to blend with this yummy alpaca, and when the teeswater is gone, that will be it for this experiment. The Ravelry group Spinner's Study is the main reason for doing this - they study two different fibers each month and prod us to try fibers that are new to us. Since I'm so new to spinning, most fibers ARE new to me, so this is right up my alley right now! I do have more alpaca for spinning, and blending, though. Yum! A member of my spinning group was giving lots away at our last meeting, and my sister and I were quite tempted. We came home with this bunch of white you see here, plus a bag full of a gray color. Fun, fun!

So, one of the ideas behind the TDF is that each spinner spin toward a set goal - time or an amount, etc. I think I will aim for an amount. I want to get to some yummy things I've been dying to spin up while my wheel was away from me. So, I'll set as my goal for the end of the tour, the following:

1. Spin and ply the Cowboy Up with it's matching blue alpaca roving.
2. Comb and spin the teestwater/alpaca blend. Ply it (not sure "how" yet).
3. Finish spinning my light/dark Coopworth yarn (this involves combing half of it and making rolags, so long process!)
(4. "Emerge" singles to match skein/hank 1)
(5. Pick a fiber from stash to practice skinny spinning for 3-ply yarn.)

I guess I don't really need five separate goals, but I'm assuming the first three will be easy-peasy to finish. It's Summer Break, after all! Heh.

:O)

Secret Pal #14!

Wow - has it been that many already? The last one I did was LAST summer, so I guess I'm about due!

Here's my info:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? My very favorite yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, but anything soft and beautiful is good! What fibers do you absolutely not like? “Fun-Fur” types of gaudy acrylic.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I was gifted a circular needle holder, and I love it. My straits (what few of them there are) are stored in a roll-up bag made by my auntie.
3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Knitting for about 12 years again now. Taught by my mother as a teen, didn’t do much with it until I was given some old needles, yarn, and a pattern booklet by my former MIL. Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? Intermediate/advanced knitter.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? NO
5. What’s your favorite scent? I love natural scents, like lavender, sandalwood, and patchouli.
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Yes Favorite candy? Junior Mints and Skittles
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Spin and process natural fibers (card and comb). Do you spin? YES!!!!!
8. What kind of music do you like? Jazz Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? Yes (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Reds and greens are my favorites, although I’ve been on a purple jag (especially with spinning fibers) lately. Sometimes I get myself in a rut. I also love the yarns and fibers with browns in them lately. Any colors you just can’t stand? I’m not a big fan of pink, although when you put brown with ANY color, I’m definitely a fan.
10. What is your family situation? This question always cracks me up! I am a single mother with one son. We live with my parents and one lovely standard poodle. We also have two hermit crabs that entertain us from time to time!
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes to scarves, hats, and ponchos (occasionally). No to mittens.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Sweaters (all types) and lace shawls knit in sock yarn.
13. What are you knitting right now? I keep a sock going all the time (sometimes not too quickly, but it’s going!). I’m also knitting the Medallion Cardi from Vogue for me, and the Entomology shawl for a dear co-worker.
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Of course.
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I normally use circular, wooden needles, but some of my favorites are a metal pair from JoAnns, and a small plastic circular needle!
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Both
17. How old is your oldest UFO? About 1 year old – it’s on my list of “fixes” for the Summer (a tank I put aside for some warm weather knits, but really, really need to finish!)
18. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas What winter holiday do you observe? Christmas.
19. Is there anything that you collect? Turtles – sculptures, figurines, pictures, paintings, etc.
20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? See favorites above for yarns. I’d kinda like to have a pair or two of the Harmony circulars in sweater knitting sizes (5-7) cause of their lovely pointy tips!! What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Currently – Interweave and Knitter’s, I usually buy Vogue and Vogue International as well as Spin Off.
21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn? The techniques I am interested in now are for spinning – different plying techniques, and blending for color.
22. Are you a sock knitter? Yes What are your foot measurements? Size 9 shoe, 9.5 instep.
23. When is your birthday? May 6th.
24. Are you on Ravelry? Yes. If so, what’s your ID? Heather219

:O)

O.M.G!

Wow. Summer. Busy. Super busy. Wow.

Summer vacation started one week and one day ago. I think I've lived 4 lifetimes since then. I'm going to borrow a trick from my bloggy pal Adrienne and give short updates.

~I have done very little actual knitting. Not nearly as much as I wanted.

~My wheel came back from being turned into a double treadle. The flier was missing. I still cannot spin. Dang.

~The Boy is on the local swim team this year. He keeps getting DQ'd by some crazy judges who need to get a life. Yes, I'm bitter. That's my baby!

~I want/need to buy a new car this Summer, but I don't want a new car payment. Heh.

~My 20th HS reunion is next month. Dang. Really?

~I am addicted to this swap group on Ravelry. My favorite is the "Yarn for Fiber" board. Yum!

~Took a dyeing class with Karida from Neighborhood Fiber last weekend. Made some yummy yarn. Two sock colorways, and one larger batch that will be for a shawl.

~The shawl quantity is being knit up into a prayer shawl for a co-worker. That's going to be more praying than I've done in about 4-5 years!

~My sister has introduced us to Geocaching. Similar to Letterboxing (which we tried last Summer, briefly). We are WAAAAAYYYY to into it!

~I have way more planned for the summer than we will be able to get to.

~I just want to knit, knit, knit, and spin, spin, spin!

That's all for now. I'll give pics of the yarn I dyed in that class later, promise!

:O)

AWOL Once Again!

Wow! It's been over a month since I've blogged! Not for lack of material, but rather, lack of TIME!!

Here's a quick captioned post to update those who may be wondering! As I tell my students, the stuff with a picture and a caption around it is probably the important stuff!! LOL.

Just before Sheep and Wool, I got a chance to visit a spinning friend's house where we helped with skirting fleeces after her sheep were shorn. Great fun, very educational, and I came home with this (that I was willing to process on my own) half fleece:

Just before hitting the bathtub.

And nice and clean after! The yellow bits, despite The Boy's thoughts, are NOT pee, they are sunburn. I have a slightly yellow fiber once it's prepped and spun, but it's oh-so soft.

Hence, there's been lots of fleece cleaning. Turns out, I lurrrrrve me the smell of sheep-y wool! It's all lanolin smelling and scrumptious (well, except for the bits that still have poo attached!!) I've been washing it in small batches, so that I get the smell every so often. I think I'm addicted! Strange, huh?

I also had one of these:

Don't look too closely at the candles. Nothing to see here, folks, nothing to see here!!

And for those of you who DARED to look that closely, I'll quote a movie character and just say "And I STILL look good! Hmpf!" :O)



I participated in an Indie Dyer swap through Ravelry. I can't wait to spin up that yak/merino blend from A Verb For Keeping Warm (that's the green fluff at the top of the shot). Thanks, Liz!!

Since my beloved Hitchhiker is still with Dave, getting tricked out - I mean DOUBLE TREADLED, I've been knitting more than in recent weeks. My mother, sister, and I are knitting the Mandarin Collar Jacket from the cover of this Summer's Vogue Knitting. I'm using Cotton Fleece, so I'm really, really in love with this project, despite all the times I have to K3tog!
The sock is what I'm working on at The Boy's swim practices (well, actually we've had ONE so far - the other three this week have gotten rained out!).

And finally, The Boy had his annual violin recital. Ask me how many different variations there are for playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a violin???? My favorite is the "Huckleberry" style, but he did "Mississippi Hot Dog" for the recital. Thank GOD he switches to a new song next year!!!

And that's it for this time!

:O)

Maryland Sheep and Wool, 2009

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of introducing my sister to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. She was appropriately overwhelmed and excited. As it should be.

We both set out with a budget in mind, only went slightly over on wool processing, and both came home happy. Here's how it happened:

Whose Fleece?

When we arrived at the fairgrounds, it was just before 11:00 am. We were waved past the main gate, and made to turn into the "exit" lane of the parking field, which meant we walked - RIGHT INTO THE BACK GATE BY THE MAIN BOOTH! Thank you so much, festival parking crew - you let us out right where we wanted to be. I quickly grabbed the fleece I picked up at my friend Gregory's farm two weekends ago, and we hit the main barn to find a dark colored fleece we would share.

We thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the fleeces for sale, and finally managed to narrow it down to two - a chocolate-y Lincoln (I think - it was lovely locks, that I do remember), or a dark, fine merino. Since Gregory herself was working at the fleece tables, we asked her opinion. After getting the "okay" for both, we finally decided on the merino (from a sheep, apparently, named "Branaugh" - perfect!), hoping to find some sort of lock-type fiber for her in a booth later in the day. We also considered a small Karuk (?) fleece - very long, hairlike, and apparently a bit coarse, but decided against it.

We asked at the checkout about processors and were given several names, but finally decided on Zeillingers, since they were just out the back door! The prices were great (only $30 to wash my 6 pound fleece from Gregory, and just over $100 - at an 8% discount - to process the merino into combed top). I can't wait until I get it back! It will be a good project to start over the summer, since that is when it should arrive, and hopefully can be spun up to keep me busy all Winter long! My goal is to "need" a new fleece by the next year's festival! Wish me luck!

My only regret is not at least taking a picture of the lovely merino fleece before it was sent out. Next year's game plan will include at least one of these three options:

1) take a damn picture, already!
2) pull off at least one lock, put it in a ziplock, and hold onto it to see the difference in the original and the final product. I could've sworn this was a dusty brown fleece, but it's listed as gray by the processors on my receipt - my sister confirms it was more steel-y gray than brown, so it should be interesting to see what arrives on my doorstep in a few months!
3) Grab a good hunk to keep and process myself. After washing my own fleece on Sunday (more on that later), I think I could handle it, but at the time, I just didn't want to muck up that lovely fleece!!

Live and learn, right?

Make Mine A Double

One of the best parts of this year's Sheep and Wool is that I got to meet Dave of The Merlin Tree. I bought my lovely Hitchhiker wheel from him just after Christmas, and have been spinning like a madwoman since. After renting an Ashford Traditional for my sister to try out while she's visiting, I decided that I really wanted a double treadle wheel. So, I took my wheel to the show, and dropped it off with Dave to be converted to double treadle. It's really an inexpensive upgrade, and I think the payoff will be well worth it. I can do a good deal with the wheel as it is, but I think I'll be much happier with it as a DT.

Dave in show mode.

And also - you just can't beat the customer service of a true Vermonter, or a Vermonter at heart. Dave is both. Kilt and all.

LOVE him!!

Man Candy

While we're talking men here, let's get a little lewd, K? The following may be found offensive. You've been warned!

Those of us familiar with the festivals know Tess' Designer Yarns is a big hit. Well, this year, she may owe some of the hubub surrounding her booth to the LOVELY, LOVELY MAN. CANDY. she had working the register. Here he is striking a pose.


I mean, COME. ON. As if we weren't drooling before! Do the triceps do it for anyone else out there?

If I were a competing yarn vendor, I'd be mad. That's what you'd call an unfair advantage, Tess! Shame on you!

But, um, please feel free to bring him back next year!!

Oh, The Lovelies

And now, I'll stop babbling and get to the good stuff. Here's the haul from this year. Don't forget, there's unphotographed fleece out there in never-never land. 8 pounds of it!!

-2 ozCormo (!) roving - beautiful red color - almost a watermelon shade?

-4 ozBrown and blue rambouillet from Spirit Trail Fiberworks. Yum - but I can't find the pic!!!! Ack!
-A skein of Creatively Dyed (!) worsted. Ahhhhhhhhh.
SO glad she was able to take advantage of a last minute cancellation - I was so excited to see her there! It really made my day to see her reaction to my completed Whisper Cardigan, done in her sock yarn. She LOVED it and had her daughter snap a picture. Maybe I'll be a superstar!
-4 oz bamboo and 1 oz nylon for blending into other fibers when I spin. No pic. Kinda ho-hum.
-Some gifts that shall remain unnamed for now, as they're for a swap partner, and I don't want to spoil the surprise!
-WPI tool from a really nice woodwork vendor - The Spanish Peacock.
-Upgrade to my wheel, plus two more bobbins when he sends it back, from Dave at the Merlin Tree. Again, Dave is wonderful, and so very nice and friendly. I'm very glad I bought one of his wheels!

Anyone else? Did you visit this year? Do you plan to visit the next time it's on a nice, dry weekend, rather than a wet, cold one? I'd love to hear all about it!

:O)