Latest projects

Working on some pretty awesome projects as of late. On the first of the year I declared I would be doing a Spin 365 and today marks my 90th straight day spinning!  I've finished two yarns so far Floating Leaves a beautiful green tonal BFL braid I received from a friend on Ravelry and a Merino/Silk 50/50 braid that I've been spinning on and off since TdF 2013.

Four turtles in a row.

Floating Leaves dyed by  Regenbogenwolle and spun on 2 Aegeans & 2 Larks

Merino/Silk 50/50 dyed by Woolgatherings and spun on Egret

My big project of the month has been my Spin on ALL the Things 2.0 where I'm spinning a full 4.3 oz braid across my flock of a dozen Jenkins Turkish Spindles.

Spin on All the Things 2.0

For this project I'm spinning across a large variety of weights trying to achieve consistency across the entire gamut. It's been a lot of fun so far and super photogenic, reminds me of a Macaw.

My Swan started the spin as my heaviest spindle along side my lightest spindle a Finch.

Feeling quite tropical.

Currently I'm on the second spindle for this project, my Egret. It's one of my favorite spindles to spin lace weight on.

Jenkins Egret

Another awesome project I've been working on is testing out a super fun spindle by Classy Squid Fiber Co code named A Very Classy Spindle. It's milled aluminum and so pretty.

Test spin with A Very Classy Spindle by Classy Squid Fiber Co.

Once I finish a few more samples I'm going to be doing a full scale project with this braid. I think it's going to be a perfect combo.

A Very Classy Spindle with Merino/Silk 50/50 dyed by Woolgatherings.

Unfortunately with all these exciting projects going my elbow decided to give me a bit of guff so the past week I've been taking it easy but still spinning a wee bit each day to keep my spinning streak going. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend and hoping my arm will be good to go next week.

Evanita

Tour de Fleece July 15th - Fini

Wish I would have posted this earlier but it's been pretty busy lately better late than never. Here are the tales of my last half of the Tour de Fleece. :)

Day 15: Up to .08 spun on my Suri alpaca and only 5.6 oz left to spin of the Optim Merino. The day was lacking in the sunshine department so the photos were lacking their pizazz.

Day 16: Have spun .15 oz of Suri Alpaca. Things are going a lot more slowly being back home that that would change for the better guess not. Still making progress though :)

Day 17: I've come to the self realization that I'm completely failing at Stash Busting. I've only worked through 2 of my stashed items 1.18 of my Suri Alpaca out of 8 total on my Turkish Delight and 3.15 oz out of 8.5 oz Optim Merino. I think I'll blame being on vacation visiting family for 2 weeks with one week overlapping TdF and catching up with home life after being gone. Despite this I'm extremely pleased with what I've been working on. Both fibers I was hesitant to work with but I braved it out and really proud about it. :)

Day 18: I got in a little bit of spin time. so far I've spun 3.3 oz of the Optim Merino. Once I hit 4.25 I'll start on the second bobbin. It looks like this will be the only completely finished spinning project I'll get done for TdF. I'm going to try to get it finished and any left over time I'll put towards my Suri Alpaca.

Day 19: Spun more of the Optim Merino

Day 20: YAY!!!!! I finished half of the Optim Merino Today!!! 4.25 oz left more to go on a second bobbin.

 
Day 21: I half an ounce. I'm hoping to spin the rest tomorrow in time to ply on the final day but not sure if that's possible. I was also hoping to spin more Suri Alpaca.

The last remaining half of Optim Merino next to the finished half

 
Day 22: I managed to get a lot done!!! Between yesterday and today I've spun 2.25 oz of the Optim Merino. I could have probably finished it but my fingers are telling me it's time to take a break. I was thinking I could finish it all tomorrow and work on my Suri Alpaca but my dear sweet boyfriend had an amazing surprise for me when he got home from work. He's taking me to Orcas Island to see whales in the wild!!!(more on that in the next blog) I'll take my spindle with me for the drive up but don't expect to get much done.

Day 23: Took my Turkish Delight with me on my adventure to Orcas Island. I was able to get .15 done in the car and ferry.

End Results: By the last day of the tour I had spun a total of 1.33 oz of Suri Alpaca with only 1 oz completely plied for a total of 77 yards. I spun 6.5 oz of Optim Merino out of 8.5. I didn't really get anywhere near the stashbusting I was hoping for but I tackled two fibers I was nervous about spinning with and I'm completely happy with how they are turning out.

On July 27th I finished spinning the second bobbin of Optim Merino singles.

On July 30th Pling of the Optim Merino was finally completed. The final weight is 8.3 oz and I obtained 1,133 yards.  This is by far one of my favorite things I've spun. I love the colors and oh my goodness as soon as I pulled this off the niddy noddy the first thing i did was feel how plushie and soft it was and wrapped it around my neck. It is unbelievable soft. The skein hangs perfectly.

Next post: My Adventures with the Orcas :)

Tour de Fleece - June 30th - July 14th Update

I had a bit of a slow start for Tour de Fleece. For a recap here is all that I was planning on spinning for the Tour de Fleece.

1&2 - All Spun Up BFL/Silk Roving 13 oz
3&4 - All Spun Up Superwash Merino Roving 10.4 oz
5&6 - Woolgatherings Fancy Pants Club April 2012 50% Merino/20% Angora/30% Silk 7.3 oz
7 - Woolgatherings Fancy Pants Club June 2012 85% Mixed BFL/15% Tussah Silk 4oz
8 - Woolgatherings Fancy Pants Club May 2012 Silver 70% Alpaca/30% Tussah Silk 4 oz
9&10 - Woolgatherings Suri Alpaca 8oz
11 - Ms Gusset Optim Wool 8oz

I also purchased these three right before I left. Polworth/Tussah Silk (85/15) dyed by Woolgatherings

 Day 1: The first day June 30th I was spending at my Grandparents for Grandpa's big 80th Birthday. Had a great time with all my family most of which I hadn't seen in over a year, some a year plus. I had brought with me all the fiber I was planning on spinning on my Jenkins Turkish Delight and I thought I'd start off with the Suri Alpaca which ended up being the most difficult fiber I've ever spun with. Now that I look back on it I'm glad I picked it but I sure struggled along the way. The biggest trouble I had was I can't draft a long portion of it.. only a few inches which expands to 5-7 inches. The predrafted bit loves to fly around and stick to everything. Also while spinning I had to find the fine line between over spinning just enough to keep it together but not too much that it started to feel like wire.

Here's my photos on the way to Kokomo.

This is the fiber before spinning

Spinning on the way back from Kokomo.

Day 2: We planned a trip up to the Butterfly House in Whitehouse Ohio so I didn't get too much spinning done. I did however get a photo of a butterfly with my spindle. With the difficulties I've been having spinning this I'm a bit concerned about how well Navajo plying is going to go.

Day 3: Getting on much better terms with the Suri Alpaca and making quite a bit of progress. At this point I had spun .36 oz out of the 1 oz I was planning on spinning. This was my first day back to work so my progress is slowing some down.

Day 4: Was only able to spin .07 oz this day. it seems like such a miniscule amoutn when I think about it. Spun a total of .43 oz up to this point almost half way there to a total ounce.

Day 5: Spun a total of .57 oz up to this point. I'm loving the slow gradual color transitions and can't wait to see how it looks once it's Navajo plied.

Day 6: I got a lot of spinning done while over at Leslie's. Spun a total of .21 oz on this day for a total of .78 oz so far. The small bit of fiber left is all I need to spin in order to hit a complete ounce.

Day 7: Hit .93 oz only have .07 to go before I hit a full ounce and get to start Navajo plying. I wasn't anticipating getting much done the next day as it was the day before I was flying out. Knitted item it's sitting on is my Weekend Shawl.

Day 8: Finished the whole ounce with time to spare to start Navajo plying. I've noticed I'm having some problems making sure my turtle of singles behaves itself. I had to unwrap the top layer and wrap it around to make sure it didn't unravel and a mess of things.

1 full ounce completed (ended up actually being .95 oz)

 

unraveling turtle

Day 9: Managed to ply quite a bit while I was on the flight back home. I'm extremely pleased with how things are going so far at this point and I love how super soft and squishy the singles ball is. The plied yarn feels really nice and makes me feel so much better after all the trouble I had in the beginning with this fiber. I finished plying this later the same day.

Day 10: Finished plying this the night before but couldn't skein it until Day 11. I asked Leslie for recommendations on what to spin next for my first Aura TdF project and she recommended the Optim Merino dyed by Ms. Gusset. I've had this January of 2010 and had been to nervous to spin it hearing that it was difficult to spin plus liked to be spin really thin. I was hesitant at first but I'm so happy Leslie suggested it as it's been a breeze to spin. I think with all the fine spinning I've been doing on my Delight and the difficulties I had with the Suri is making this Optim so much easier to spin. I have a total of 8.5 oz to spin of this beautiful Copper and Blue beautifulness. So far I've spun .65 oz and it feels great to be spinning on my Aura.

Optim Merino dyed by Ms. Gusset. Copper and Blue

Day 11: I was able to skein up my gorgeous Suri Alpaca. I ended up with .95 oz 77 yards. This small skein of Suri Alpaca is absolutely irresistible. I can't help but pick it up and give it a gentle squish whenever I see it. I should have approximately 640 yards total with the complete 8 ounces spun. Not sure what I'll knit it into. All I know is it's going to be lacy and gorgeous!! At this point I've spun a little over an ounce of the Optim. It amazes me how versatile the Aura is. I hadn't imagined being able to spin this thin on my Aura before I purchased her. I had never been able to spin this thin prior to having this wheel. I had come close with my Wee Peggy but spinning on the Aura is such a breeze.

Day 12: Spun .35 oz of Optim Merino. I also started spinning more Suri Alpaca but not a whole lot on there to be photo worthy. I'm loving the copper tones on this Optim... it's so shiny and brilliant just like actual copper.

Day 13: Spun half an ounce of Optim Merino and working on some more Suri Alpaca. I've found the most difficult part of spinning the Suri Alpaca is starting it. Once the spindle gets some weight on it, it seems to be a lot easier.

Day 14: So far I've spun a total of 2.6 oz of Optim Merino so far and will spun another 1.65 before I start on the next bobbin.

That's all for now. Will update more soon. :)

EWM