TdF 2016

End of Day One.

Storm before the Lull

8.5 oz of washed curls takes about 2 days to process.

Washed curls are combed and drawn out into top.

The comb dregs are carded into rolags.

Here we have curls on rolags, next to combed top.

This afternoon the rolags will be spun long-draw.

My TdF might be over in a week.  Nevermind - I just thought of another spinning project.

Equinox

3 hours into it, reflecting on the past quarter.

TdF 2013

...ended yesterday, apparently.  I'll gather the bits that were generated this year.  Not a huge production because my time was spent on other endeavors. 

This year I tried carding fiber as well as spinning it.  In the photo below, on the left are handfuls of Navajo Churro fleece in brown and white (natural colors), in the middle are rolags carded from brown fleece, and on the right are spindle-spun 2-ply yarns.  In all, there will be 29g of finished RUSTIC yarn.

Bastille Day

Big Fun at the Cal Expo State Fair again this year!  of all the things I saw this weekend,  I am especially taken by two pieces. Lynn Dau's "Endless Possibilities" (left) and Faye Schoolcraft's "Jackson Pollack's Ideal Woman" (right).

And I spent a bit of time in the kitchen making lemon marmalade (27C) and salted lemons (4 tall jars on the left in the photo).  Many thanks to the homegrown source and conversation that came with it.

TdF update:  another 12g carded and spun for the RUSTIC series.

Also - another installment of a written piece drafted.  I now look forward to first drafts.

And the Zimmerman acquittal disturbs me greatly.  Young ones of color are not safe.  Trayvon Martin could have been my son.  In conflict,  the presence of guns throws off any sense of balance. Maybe it's Florida which generally seems off-kilter to me, but I don't understand this verdict at all.

TdF 2013 - Rustic

Hey! it's day 14!

This is what I have to show for it: 3g was carded, spun and plied on a spindle yesterday. Another 8g was carded, spun and plied on a spindle today.

The fiber is Navajo Churro, and it was acquired at Santa Fe, New Mexico, in September 2012.  It has been in my fumigating bucket, and it reeks of mothballs.

This is my first foray into carding fleece before spinning, and the result is very lumpy yarn.  Carding occurs only outdoors because all kinds of non-fiber matter needs to get blown away, and thus is too messy to do indoors.

I will call this my RUSTIC series.

TdF 2012

Na lei hulu hipa (from inside to outside):
2-ply merino off a bobbin from SW 2011 (yep, pretty old);
2-ply "Salad Days" from several "first-try" bobbins;
TdF 2012 project of 2-ply cashmere-merino.
They've gone through the wet bath and are drying.

After the yarn was dry and hanked up I had a chance to mention the project to Lisa. When she asked if it had a tight spin I knew I had to revisit this yarn.

I put the hank on a swift and put it through the wheel again, adding more twist. This first pic was taken when it was taken off the niddy-noddy.
Looking good!

This second pic was taken a few minutes later as the yarn was no longer constrained with tension.
Looking wacky!

I made wool soup again. I love the aroma. We'll see what's up when this is dry in a few days.

Some things done

Saturday Jun 30: This afternoon dying occurred - turmeric, vinegar, soda ash in a boiling solution onto muslin. The aroma triggered a yearning for curry.

At 11:30pm I opened my eyes wide and realized I had not started my TdF. I found consolation in knowing I had my goal and fiber in mind, so re-affirmed those two thoughts and vowed to spin tomorrow.

Sunday Jul 1: Countless "birds" were crushed, maimed and killed with my sweaty right hand that held tufts of cashmere and merino. At least 3 false starts occurred in getting spun fiber onto the bobbin before my hands and wheel found their balance with this precious short-staple fiber blend.

When I took this picture I intended to stop for the day. But my hands wanted to feel the fiber so I continued, putting aside the desire to eat (or do anything else on my weekend "to-do" list) and spin instead. Hours later, 2 ounces were spun, with 2 ounces of fiber remaining for another day. I don't know if I can spin this fiber in short periods of time - once a rhythm is established it is difficult to stop and re-start without losing consistency of spin. I suppose the consistency will occur with more practice.

Then I went into the kitchen (in the early evening) and saw the bowls of rhubarb and strawberries that I'd prepared a day earlier, to be put into jars. I could no longer postpone this so I just did it.

Recipe notes: 2# rhubarb, 2# sugar, 50g grated ginger, 1/4C lemon juice. 2# cut strawberries, 2# sugar, 1/4C lemon juice and a few shreds of lemon peel. Macerate fruits in different bowls for 2 hours then refrigerate for 24 hours. Bring strawbs to a boil several times, resting 5-10 minutes between each boil. This process gets the air out of the berries. Drain & divide juice & solids for each mixture (yields approx 4C juice, 4C solids for each fruit). Put 1/2 of each fruit's juice in pan, bring to boil until "set stage", skimming scum. Add 1/2 of strawbs & boil about 10min, then add 1/2 of rhub & boil another 5min or until "set stage". Yield 5C for this 1/2 batch (total yield 10C). Process jars.

I'm a bit tired. But I feel like I've put money in the bank.

TdF end

Today I saw an exquisite spindle, beautifully crafted on the top and engineered with a metal rim. It's a Golding (about 1oz) and belongs to a friend.

Here's my work this afternoon on my wonderful Kundert spindle. Lisa Souza's "Sedona" fiber is being Navajo-plied-on-the-fly. Not much has been done but it's really not about volume, is it.

It's about doing something that brings you joy. Despite grieving about the heineous events in Oslo, being totally dismayed about the bipartisan politics and corrupt businesses in this country that are jeopardizing our quality of life and our future, and wondering just what the hell makes certain people tick, this fiber is infused with sun and music.

TdF: eve of the end

Jul 17:
"Soft Green Seas", 4 of 6 singles completed.

Jul 23: Spun, soaked and dried.
From the right, 2 skeins "Salad Days" totalling 223yds; 2 skeins "Soft Green Seas", totalling 344yds; plus a little 3-ply remnant. A dime provides scale.

Observations:
1. The progression from a tight overplied yarn to a relaxed strong yarn is evident. I think that if I run "Salad Days" back through the wheel, I might get a little more yardage from the yarn becoming less kinked.

2. "Salad Days" is closer to sock-weight than "Soft Green Seas" which is a little heavier weight, closer to worsted or dk.

I'll use the spindle tomorrow.

Early August update: "Salad Days" was run back through the wheel, soaked and dried, with a more civilized looking outcome. Final stats: "Soft Green Seas", 119g, 344yds; "Salad Days", 105g, 242yds.

Progress

Ok I confess. I've skipped a day here and there. But I'm still making progress.

July 6: "Salad Days" 3-ply on the bobbin, 3-ply bathed and dried.

July 8: The bobbin yard was also bathed and dried. The first skein is definitely overspun, and will likely go back through the wheel later for corrective measures. The second skein is a little more relaxed but still overspun.

July 9: Prepped up 24x7's SW-BFL, "Soft Green Seas", 3.5 oz. I split it in half transversely, then split each half into thirds lengthwise. Spun one of the six strips into a bobbin of singles. These singles are more relaxed than those for "Salad Days". Hope these don't fall apart later when I ply.

TdF 2011

Tour de Fleece started on Saturday, July 2. My goal is to spin every day of the Tour. Another goal is to spin yarn suitable for socks. I started with 24x7's SW-BFL, "Salad Days", 3.5 oz. I split it in half transversely, then split each half into thirds lengthwise.

Hopefully I'll end up with 2 skeins of enough 3-ply for a pair of socks. Each ply is worsted long-drawn and the 3-ply will be hard spun. Given my natural tendencies, each ply and the resulting 3-ply will likely be so lively and energized that it will be unknittable. So I will need to focus and relax (those words can go together, believe it or not).

To those who say that this exercise feeds into my obsessive compulsive tendencies, my response is: no socks for you!!

Data and a trailer

I gather data, and I make lists.
So I weighed the little skeins I made during Tour de Fleece these past few weeks and I measured how much yardage I generated. Without listing all the detailed info I actually gleaned with my scale, tape measure, and calculator, here's the bottom line:

I plied 524yds from fluff. If I include the brown stuff I plied off the spindle at the beginning of TdF, that's 581yds total. And the skeins were 7g minimum, there were a few 8g and 9g in there - about 77g total from fluff.

Some perspective for me: 524y/77g is equivalent to 340y/50g (I think in terms of skein weights I see in the marketplace). Sock yarn is about 200y/50g, so I'm spinning finer than sock weight.

And here's the trailer, a pic of 7g of "Silver Lake" (Lisa Souza) fiber still in progress. It feels as lush as it looks. What a pleasure.

Milestone

End of Tour de Fleece today, and here's what I have.

But Wait! Last weekend I had to go to A Verb for Keeping Warm to engage in commerce. AVFKW is my local resource for spinning - they have wonderful fiber, yarn, spindles, wheels, combs, books and classes, as well as people who are very personal, engaging and warm themselves! Go check them out.

So I acquired and plunged into Pigeonroof Studios "Forest" - 50/50 SWmerino/silk, and spun & plied 7g.


And this is the lineup today, from L to R, each skein is 7g plied:
_dk brn plied
_"Sedona"x2(Lisa Souza),
_"Flame"x2 (Fiberfiend) really shows the varying colors in the fiber,
_"Ocean Rudeness"x1 (Out of Step Dyeworks),
_"At the Tank"x2 (Knitflix),
_"Silver Lake"x1 (Lisa Souza) plus 7g fiber,
_"Forest"x1 (PigeonRoof Studios),
_plus "Ocean Rudeness" in the tank.

What fun to move from one fiber to another, one color / element to another. This rookie lantern rouge is continuing to learn! Thanks very much to Knitflix, who got me going on this and also tries to help me with my blog posts.

Love the spindle and the "spontaneous generation" of strong cord from ethereal fluff.

Progress & Observations

Progress:
Keeping up with my daily spinning goal. Increments of 7grams are small enough for variety (and a sense of accomplishment) and large enough to make a respectable hank of fine gage plied yarn. The ritual of sitting and posting simple blog posts has not yet set in (despite the deliberate thought and intention to post, but I pick up the spindle instead - hey what can I say - I just go with the spinning), so here is the erratic entry.


_Lighter than air - Lisa Souza fiber - "Zen Top", "Silver Lake", 50/25/25 - merino/tussah silk/bamboo.


This is incredible fiber that spins to a fine thread.

I became one with the arachnids.


_Aquatics - a surprise gift (lucky me, thank you!) from knitflix, who dyed this! - "At the Tank" (a very local inspiration based on the San Jose Sharks) , SW-BFL


_"At the Tank": 7grams fiber plus an Andean ply bracelet of 7grams


_"At the Tank": 7grams plied on the spindle atop the "mothership" bundle of fiber


_another 7grams of "Flame" from fiberfiend plus a second 7grams round of "At the Tank" from knitflix.

_"At the Tank" is in the tank, setting twist.


Observations:
_I am learning that fiber color becomes very intense when spun. This observation is logical in hindsight but not fully realized by me until these bundles were completed. So I'm beginning to see color in fiber differently, i.e. in spun form instead of fiber form.

_Additionally, I am delighted to get to know these various fiber types - SW corriedale (wonderful) , any mix with bamboo or silk (WOW what a sensation, and how thin can I make this anyway?!), SW-BFL (incredible staple length).

_I love the smell of drying wool. Reminds me of childhood.

_Although I am still spinning very fine gage, I am beginning to control the amount of twist, which in my case means that I'm trying not to overspin the singles. My spindle drops more (gak) but I suppose I'm also learning how to splice more effectively too.

_In addition to the surprise gift (thank you again!) of fiber from knitflix, I also rec'd a few simple blogging tips, but I haven't used too many of them and I'm still wading through html, so apologies to all y'all.

Long Blue Run

Blue sky and other blues sat with me as I continued spinning. Two segments of fleece are spun and plied, and the wool that was pulled off the spindle during prep was finally plied.

1. "Sedona", SW merino from Lisa Souza: 7g fiber and 7g plied.

Fire or earth?

2. "Flame", SW corriedale from Fiberfiend.

Label says fire.

2a. 14g "Flame" fiber

2b. "Flame" 7g fiber plus 7g plied.

Fire? looks more like earth.

3. The brown single, pulled off the spindle before TdF, finally got plied.