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Spinning with Turkish Spindles: Singles to Plying

My second Fiber Arts related course through FiberyGoodness. This self paced course can be started at any time, and has three sections: S...

Monday, June 11, 2012

Pike Place Market and Tour de Fleece

It's been pretty hectic lately. Looking forward to summer and hoping it'll be a relaxing one. We are in the long process of getting our first home and I cannot wait as the area is so much more quiet outdoors than our current place. I'm planning on spending a lot of quality time outdoors spinning, reading, even hope to be able to work while outdoors to soak up that tranquil nature!

Last weekend we took the bus down to Pike Place Market and wow it sure was busy!!! It's such a wonderful place to see local goods whether they are fresh produce, crafts, photography, arts etc. My sort of people! It's such a joy to walk around soak up all the positivity, find really cool stuff, and enjoy the weather. We also checked out the Seattle Aquarium while we were in the area. Was so awesome!!... just wish I had my camera.. I know I know a nature and wildlife photographer at an aquarium.... without a camera. It ate me up inside seeing all those people with their cameras snapping away and all I had was my iPhone. Next time I will be better prepared! We sure did a lot of walking and by the time the day was through my knee was screaming at me. Hoping to go down to the market again and need to bring home some Eastern Washington apples and other delicious noms.

It was a beautiful day today 70F sunny with a slight breeze. Spent a few hours outside spinning on my Turkish Spindle. It's such a joy to spin with, I can take it anywhere and so long as I have a little bit of space whether it be standing or sitting I can spin. I even took it with me on our trip to Pike's and spun while on the bus. I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took some in progress photos of my project. I'm still working on the All Spun Up December Spin Along "Water Lilies". I accumulated another 8 oz for a grand total of 16oz.

I love how it shimmers in the sun
A little over a month ago my Aunt Linda visited and we explored Pike's Place Market for the first time. Had no idea ahead of time that I would find the most perfect bag for my spindle!!!


3 2 oz skeins finished plus 1 oz between the fiber and spindle
Just to note only the spindle and the unspun fiber fit in the bag :)

I've spun and plied up 6 total oz and I think for the final 10 oz I'm going to Navajo ply it instead for a completely different project. I love the two ply but with some Navajo plying under my belt I think it would do the color transitions a whole lot better as a 3 ply. I adore this spindle so much for so many reasons, it's compact so I can take it practically anywhere, the end result is a center pull ball, and how it displays the transitions layer upon layer is gorgeous a piece of art in itself. Once Jenkins reopens their store I'm wanting to order their standard size the Swan so I can use it for plying. I'd also eventually like to get their Kuchulu size for spinning even finer.

Talk of the Tour de Fleece has been popping up on Ravelry. I've sat on the sidelines the past couple years and looked at all the beautiful fiber being made but never actually participated in it myself. I think this is the year! I think it'll be a great learning experience for me to get to know my Aura better along with improve on my lace spinning on my Jenkins Turkish Delight spindle. I'd also like to improve on my Navajo plying. I have quite a bit of fiber in my stash to go through so it'll be the perfect opportunity to clear out some of my older stash.

Here's some of the fiber I'm hoping to work with.

8oz Cinnamon Teal Optim Merino Wool by MsGusset
13 oz 85% Mixed BFL/15% Silk by Allspunup
10.4 oz Superwash Merino by Allspunup
8 oz Suri Alpca by Woolgatherings
7.3 oz 50% Merino/20% Angora/30% Silk by Woolgatherings
4 oz 70% Silver Alpaca/30% Tussah Silk
That's 50 oz worth of fiber! I'm planning on spinning the Suri alpaca and the April 2012 club fiber on my Turkish Delight and the rest on my Aura. I also have some natural fiber that I'd like to spin as well but unfortunately no photos of those. I should be receiving my June and July Fancy Pants club fiber in time as well *fingers crossed*

I'm hoping that now that we've figured out the whole public transport thing that we'll be able to take more trips to Seattle especially to check out the market activity and I'd also love to go see the Aquarium again along with the several art museums and galleries.

EWM