Day 7: Something New

I don't do much for myself, as I really don't need much.  The kids are growing and learning and experiencing; it's much easier and nicer to do things for them.  But, for Miriam's birthday in September, a wonderful yarnie friend from Ravelry gifted me a handspun skein of yarn that she created herself.  I instantly knew what I wanted it to become.  A hat.  For me.  There was only 90 yards, but it is a gorgeous 90 yards.  I found a simple hat pattern, but as I was knitting, I realized that no way was 90 yards enough for a hat on my head.  I started contemplating finding a coordinating yarn to add stripes to the hat, give it a little interest and extend the use of the special yarn.

Then, this past weekend, my mother took me to a small Llama farm/fiber studio that was having a great sale.  I found this amazingly soft, cuddly, and perfect Merino and Mulberry Silk blended top in a perfect white color to go with the pops of white bamboo spun in the special yarn.  I cannot wait to spin this up so I can finish my hat!!

Taken on the Manual setting (F/2.8 and 1/6 shutter speed) and edited in Picasa with Saturation.

Day 6, Tour de Fleece

Miriam had a hard time falling asleep tonight, so I only got my 15 minutes in. It seemed to take forever though!

Day 5, Tour de Fleece

Things are slowing down! I spun for an hour today, but it was broken up into lots of 5 minute chunks throughout the day.

Day 4, Tour de Fleece

Day 4 finds me back at work. I nanny for 3 small children, in addition to watching my 2 babies, so spinning during the day has become impossible. That is the reason I set my goal for spinning 15 minutes a day! Today was a lot more thick and thin spinning than yesterday, but I was sort of rushing my drafting because I'm exhausted!

I was able to finish up what I couldn't spin yesterday. I take my roving length and split it into 4 strands. I had been spinning from all four strands the first 2 days, but yesterday and today, I only spun from two of them.



And to give you an idea of how fine my thread is, I've included this picture. When plied (twisting 2 spun threads onto each other to create a stable yarn), I should have a fingering weight yarn.



I'm getting sick of looking at all this turquoise. Are you? I better start thinking about what I want to knit from this yarn so that I'm motivated to keep spinning from this roving!

Day 3, Tour de Fleece

Day 3! I only got 1/2 as much done as I had the past two days, but I did spin twice my goal time. (For a reminder, my goal time is 15 minutes a day.) I'm so excited that I'm feeling more in control of my drafting! I'm still doing "park and draft" but at least it's becoming a consistent amount of fiber in each draft. Now, I need to work on being consistent in the timing of my draft. That will allow me to let go of the "park" and spin on a spindle like the pros!

Day 2, Tour de Fleece

I actually got an hour to spin tonight! Well, I usually have that hour on a regular basis, it's just that I chose to use it for spinning instead of something else. I just about doubled the amount of fiber on the Trindle, and I am getting a more even and thin single. I bet by the end of this tour, my singles should look pretty passable!!

Tour de Fleece

Well, the Tour de France has started today! However, in even more exciting news, the Tour de Fleece has started as well!! What? You've never heard of the Tour de Fleece? But it's only the most grueling and demanding spinning competition ever!

Okay, it's not grueling or demanding, unless you want it to be. You set your own goal, be it yardage, finished product, or time invested. You join teams based on your personal interests, your talent level, or your spinning instrument of choice. There's a huge group of spinners on Ravelry who are participating in the Tour de Fleece, like over 4300 huge!

I've joined Team Rookie (because I've been actively spinning for less than 1 year) and Team Trindle (because that's the type of spindle I've chosen to spin on). My goal is to spin a minimum of 15 minutes a day, with letting go of my "park and draft" method when we get to the mountain stages (same day the Tour de France does!). I'm hoping that by the end of this TdF, I'll be a more confident and even spinner, perhaps enough to justify more fiber purchases at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in September!



I am spinning from a turquoise 6oz Corriedale roving on a 13 gram Trindle.