Tour de Fleece 2014

I'm always so excited when Tour de Fleece starts!  There is nothing more fun than watching all the gorgeous yarns spinners around the world create. 

This year my goal is to spin every day and to finish a few projects that have been languishing on the bobbins for quite some time. 

The lace here was started a month before TDF started. Hoping to knit a shawl with it before the summer is out!

Corespun mohair plied with a sequined sparkly thread for balance. 

Bought two Uniquely Yours batts in a destash a year or so ago and TDF was a great opportunity to spin a lovely pastel yarn!

This has to be one of my favorites so far. This yarn started life during a corespinning workshop held at the shop in June. It was spun using a blended wool batt, Moon Cloud, and Teeswater locks. 

A corespun Demented batt plied with sequined sparkly thread. 

One of my first spins of the TDF.   Corespun Demented batt with black Wensleydale locks plied with, you guessed it, a sequined sparkly thread. 

Black Wensleydale corespun. I have a huge fleece with many more skeins to come!

So far the Tour has been a blast and I will hate for it to end. But the spin will definitely go on!

Tour de Fleece 2012

The fun has come and gone from the Tour de Fleece... sigh... I miss it so.  In the event, you do not know what the 'Tour de Fleece' is, it is a group of fabulous crafty people on Ravelry who spin yarn during the Tour de France.  There are prizes, fabulous ideas and fantastically crafty and speedy spinners who share their yarns with everyone.  I find it to be very inspirational.  Had a fun time this year on team 'Breakaway' which is the hot spot for art yarns.  With out further ado, here are my yarns.....

One of my favorite yarns from the tour.  It is also one of the last yarns I spun.

This one is from a batt I traded for from Cobblestone Creek Farm.  LOVE IT!


From my Wicked batt



Sometimes my favorite yarns come from batts that are often overlooked at festival.  This batt hung out in my booth for the entirety of the 2011 Festival seasons.  So glad no one bought as I truly loved spinning it and adore how it turned out:)


The very last of my hand painted combed top was finished during the Tour.


Also spun up a quick little sample of my cloud for the shop during the tour:)  I also did a bit of spinning on my Bosworth spindle which I didn't finish in time for the tour to finish, but will post a picture of it soon!  All in all, I had an absolute blast as always for this years tour de fleece.  My only regret is that we have to wait for next year for the camaraderie to begin again!

2011 Tour de Fleece - Project #5

Like project #4, I think project #5 will be hanging out on my counter top for a little while so that as the abbominal snow man of Bugs Bunny fame says, I can pet it & hug it & squeeze it & call it George. I don't just like to tempt; I absolutely love when I am tempted by other indy artists' creations as well. Think this one came from Chimera on Etsy. Sorry to say it took me close to a year to spin it up! 100% Merino wool, 4 ounces & 300 yards.

2011 Tour de Fleece - Project #4

Finished yesterday evening. Washed, rinsed, hung from the chandelier & dry as a bone this morning. This corespun lovely has a fingering weight all wool center encapsulated in smooth merino, Tunis, Shetland, coopworth, mohair, silk hankies, silk noil, bamboo, firestar and last but not least lots of sparkly glitzy goodness. Approximately 150 yards and 4 ounces. Might have to pet this little lovely for a little while before putting a price tag on it.

Oh, I did the collages on an iPad app called mood board. Pretty cool huh!?!

Tour de Fleece

Project # 3 for the Tour is a core spun LunabudKnits batt. Chock full of yummy merino, Shetland, mohair, glitz, firestar, Tunis, and a few other tid bits that are slipping my mind at the moment.













It is of course Miss Kitty approved;)

2011 Tour de Fleece Projects #1 & 2

This year, I am numbering my projects in order they are to be finished.  So far, my starter project is done and while the spindling of the Merino & Yak is slowly progressing, the run of Shetland/Angora 60/40 blend is in line to be the second project I finish.

Crosspatch Creations batt purchased at Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival.  Started before the Tour started, but one of my goals was to finish it during.

One of my favorite fiber blends from Vintage Fibers that was traded for during Midwest Fiber & Folk last month.  Love this stuff!!

Tour de Fleece Start

Started the Tour de Fleece this year with a bang literally!  Bill frowns on bringing a spinning wheel to the lake when we go so this year, I opted for a couple of spindles.

After giving the boat a quick clean and hitting the dock kitchen for a greasy burger & fries, it was time to hit the water to drift in wait for the big 4th of July fire works show put on at our end of the lake.  This year it was between Kennedy & Sunset Marinas.  

This is the first year that my allergies have really gone hay wire.  I think that since I have quit smoking over a year ago my nose is really affected by all the things that never bothered it before.  I'm not complaining though as I very much so enjoy being able to breath after going for a short walk;)

Our boat.  Click to 'biggify'.  The arrow points straight at us.

Spindling before the big show.

The pre-show.

The big show about to start.

After the show, get out of the way or prepared to be run over.  This is a wall of boats heading our way to go back down the lake to their perspective docks.

Singles

Dropped the fiber into the lake.  No way am I going in after it.

You too can be protected from the big storm...lol  Amazing what you see on the way to the lake!

Tour de Fleece Project #5 & #6

I have two Tour de Fleece projects to report for this post. I certainly hope it makes up for a few days of non-sharing;)

Project #5 was spun as a thicker single graduating through the rainbow's color scheme. I know, I originally planned to spin two bobbins of singles and ply them together, but you know me, I'm an instant gratification girl! After going through the first rainbow graduation, I decided to continue spinning on the same bobbin and reverse the colors. Then I wound the single off using a center pull ball winder and plied both the beginning and the end together. I have heard some folks say this method will leave you with skewed yarn, but I have never once had this happen to my finished yarns.

Oh, yeah, almost forgot.... I did something else a little different too..... I spun the single 's' or counter clockwise and plied 'z' or clockwise. Yeah, I know, big no-no in most books, but I am very happy w/ how the yarn turned out. The project it is slated for is a felting one, so I seriously doubt that will matter! Final yardage is 222 and weight is 186 grams or 6.5 ounces.

On to project #6 in the Tour de Fleece challenge. Remember those poppy petals I made the other day? Well, I put them to good use with this yarn! I started with one of my Demented Batts at my shop. This one is full of luscious hand dyed Tunis lamb, merino, mohair and silk noils. It was topped off with a healthy portion of glitz, hemp, sari silk, milk fiber and a smidgen of firestar. Each flower was put together using the yellow circled I made the other day and several other pre-made fabric rose petals. The flowers were spun in as I was core spinning the base yarn. Total yardage is 56. Weight is 88 grams or 3.1 ounces.

Tour de Fleece Project #5

Rainy, rainy day in Central Kentucky today. I have been a tad under inspired as of late so have decided to spin some merino top into graduated rainbow colors. Once I have two bobbins full, I plan to ply both together for a big ol' rainbow surprise;) I figure that will give me a good kick start into spinning more alpaca!

Sunday Bloopers

Well, in all honesty they really aren't bloopers. I just thought the title sounded cute;) Sunday was a day of semi-organization and gardening.

Our neighbors are re-landscaping their yard and this pretty much consists of ripping out every single flower. I got some day lilies and iris's which are now planted along the back fence. The blooms have promptly died off, but that's OK they should be gorgeous next year;) Our tomato plants are officially taller than me and full of green tomatoes with the exception of the black cherry tomato which produces 3-6 little cherries faithfully every week. I'm sure it would produce way more except I decided to plant it in a pot as the tomato bed was running out of room. Planted another little red cherry from some seeds that bill sprouted a few weeks ago. Not to worried about it being late in the season as cherries grow like weeds!

I also created flowers of a different sort using a polyester satin. I'm sure you know that when heat is applied to polyester it melts and normally not in a pretty way. That is the main reason why I avoid wearing polyester. But, when the melt is controlled in a well ventilated area, you can make the prettiest of poppies.

Finally, I organized my spin-ins basket. It is full of tulle, ribbons, beads, flowers, flower petals, fabric strips, fun fur, eyelash yarn, pom-poms and a few other fun bits that escape my mind right now. Had to re-organize because I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and got way more fun stuff than a girl actually needs. You can see examples of what I do with fun stuff in my previous posts about the Tour de Fleece Projects 2 & 3.

Tour de Fleece Project #4

Here is project # 4 in the Tour de Fleece.....

Hand dyed and Kentucky grown BFL cross locks which were corespun. After dying the locks, I then slightly picked each one open and spun them as is. The result is a sinfully scrumptious bite of heaven that is face squishy goodness.

Clockwise from top left: Finished yarn, yarn on bobbin, dyed fleece & picked fleece.

Tour de Fleece Project #3

I am very much so enjoying the challenge and opportunity the Tour de Fleece gives me to be creative every day

Project #3 for Tour de Fleece on Ravelry......

Corespun Merino, Sari Silk, Firestar, eyelash, Handmade Flowers, Tulle, Fabric and a few other fun bits;) Spun thick and thin with fabulously sparkly slubs and a multitude of ribbon flowers.

Yards: 50

Weight: 82 grams 2.89 ounces

Tour de Fleece Project #2

Corespun Merino, firestar, glitz, hemp, sari silk, silk noil and mohair with fun bits of tulle, fabric, flowers, and eyelash yarn.

Yardage: 82

Weight: 82 grams / 2.9 ounces

Worsted to Aran weight yarn that was spun thick and thin with fun slubs. Plus with the add ins I don't think WPI would be accurate;)

Tour de Fleece

Well, I've finished my first skein for the Tour de Fleece. I have to be honest here I'm not really watching the race on the telly....lol But it is great to have a bit of encouragement handy to get my idle fingers in the groove of some mighty fine spinning time.

Fiber is Merino, Alpaca and Silk Top which was spun thick and thin with the thick sections only in certain sections of the black. This top was originally listing the shop under the colorway 'White Stripe' named after the band of the same name. Anyhow, I had it for a while and thought I might as well spin it up to show folks what they are missing out on;)

After spinning the single, I wound it off on the ball winder and plied it back on itself while leaving coils and hives in my wake. Total yardage 160.

The fiber.

The Singles.

The almost finished yarn.

Off the bobbin and ready to wash.