Today's Pick: Brooklet Cowl

All finished!  This is my Camp Loopy project & also my Quidditch project for the final round.

Brooklet project page.

Wrapping Up & Winding Down

It has been too hot to spin the last few days but I did remember to ply up bobbin-fulls of yarn I spun earlier in le Tour:

156 yd 2 ply

232 yd 2 ply

I think they came out quite well.  I might be done spinning for the season - I need to make a knitting deadline Sunday and the only thing in progress now is that tan/ gray yak laceweight.  I can finish that up after Quidditch for a class deadline.

Sad news: Peerie the rat died on Thursday afternoon.  I am very, very sad to lose him this early (18 months) but glad he did not have a long illness or horrible tumors or such.  I hope Rory is not too lonely.  I hesitate to get him a buddy as he is also in his middle age and I don't want to ruin the pet equilibrium that I have.  Of course he was teasing the dog under the gap of the door yesterday... too bad they can't be friends.

Stage 16 & Catching Up

Today is stage 16 of le Tour; we are getting close to the end now.  My spinning project for the last few days has been some yak fiber.  It is both fun and frustrating to rememeber how to spin fine using long draw / double draft. Practice for cotton, I suppose.

This weekend I spun the teal gradient; I will be leaving it as singles.  There's around 250 yards.  It might make a nice hat or scarf.

That is the same background... maybe someday I will learn how to use my camera properly for true colors.

Finally, Flamingos

Stage 12

Still spinning away for le Tour. Yesterday & today I turned this 2 oz pile of half felted fluff ...

... into lovely, fine yarn.

It will go on the rack to rest for a few days while I select the next puff of fiber.  Part of me can hardly believe how little I have managed to spin in 12 days and part of me can hardly believe that I have made so much spinning time in a schedule I thought was packed.

Stage 9

My spinning progress on the turquoise / purple merino / tencel blend:

 Just a few little puffs left to go... about 3/4 oz

I washed some previously completed skeins this weekend, too.  The purple / green / white came out terribly - the rinse water was deep purple and the finished skein looks sickly.

However the lavender angora from this spring fluffed up to a lovely soft yarn.

Spinning in Stages

I am still meeting my Tour de Fleece goal of spinning at least 30 minutes per day. Most days I have been able to exceed that time and the more I spin, the more I find it's the only think I want to do.  Next year's goal will have to be an hour per day.

Interestingly, the two piles of fluff I've worked on so far are neither of the pictures from the last post.  The first was some white/ purple? black? / green mystery fiber from 2004 (washed and pictures will be coming later).  I pretty much despised spinning it, but there is a nice empty space in the stash cabinet now.  The second is some merino / tencel (?) in turquoise, cherry and purple.  It has hopped from stash to stash but is now in its forever home; soon to be a pretty 2 ply skein.  It might make a nice hat someday.

If I were a more motivated spinner, I would take some fiber and explore the ratios on my Millie... maybe by the end of the tour I will feel the need to branch out but for now I am enjoying hours of spinning light fingering yarn.

Melisandre pour Martha

The socks are done!  They are late in that they were supposed to be the April socks of the month, but early for Martha's birthday in August.

I dried them on the blockers after washing and they came out beautifully. Maybe I should use them for *blocking* instead of just photography.

Le Tour

The Tour de Fleece started Saturday last and I have been chugging along.  Above are two of the items in the "to spin" pile. There is also some lovely green-gold top and I am working now on finishing some white/ green / black roving from *cough* 2004.  It is ugly but I am powering through it.  About half of the last part is left.
My goal for the Tour this year is a time one (again): spin 30 minutes a day.  So far I have been above that mark but not trying to burn out.  Spinning strains the same muscles in my left hand and arm that knitting does.... I don't want to have a blow out.